The Shops at Ithaca Mall

i’m from binghamton, and i grew up with the Oakdale mall in johnson city. it was great back in the day, but now it’s kinda mediocre, and even though i feel like a zombie every time i go there, it’s still better than the shops at ithaca.
first off, there’s no clearly marked main entrances from the outside. i had no idea what was in here until a few female friends of mine set me straight. they had lived in the ithaca area for a while, and they argued that this mall was better than the oakdale mall. one reason they said it was better was because they had a food court instead of the restaurants beings spread out like at the oakdale mall. PSH! not once while i was here did i desire to dine at their bleak empty corporate food court, which consisted of a subway, and nothing else that stuck out in my memory. also, they had to tell me how to get inside the actual mall, because i went in best buy and target a few times and didn’t even notice an entrance to another area! i will say, i got a lot of great deals on CDs and DVDs/​blu rays at best buy, i love that store, but it doesn’t need this mall, it could exist anywhere else in the ithaca area and survive just fine, same as target could. it’s kind of a funny location too. if you’re at cornell, it’s super easy to get here in like 10 minutes if you take the back roads, but if have to go through the city of ithaca it’s gunna be at least a 20 minute ride, and route 13 can get pretty busy.
overall, there were times when i came here and found what i was looking for, and other times i walked away empty handed. on the bright side, you’re never gunna have a problem finding parking here.

One of the smallest malls I’ve ever been too. Maybe that’s why it wasn’t crowded on a Saturday afternoon the way a typical mall is. It has your mall basics (Best Buy, Dick’s,…etc) but nothing that really stuck out in my mind. A few empty store spaces tell me this mall has seen better days. If you’re willing to make the drive, the malls in Syracuse are definitely the better option.

This mall sucks. Looks as though Bön Ton is on it’s way out. Any other Bön Ton I have been to is ten times better than this one. Same goes for the Sears here. The mal has no sit down restaurants, as Friendly’s just went out. Nothing good in this mall unless you are 15 years old– and even then it’s minimal. Oh, but good thing there are two places with bounce houses! I only go to this mall for American Eagle if I need jeans in a pinch– other than that I will drive out of town to spend my money. Sad. we used to have at least somewhat of a mall back in the 80’s. :(

The saving grace of this mall is the The Gap and Target… not much else, but for the area, not many choices!

This mall is sad. Several empty storefronts from stores going out of business. The Bön Ton and Sears are the department stores anchoring the mall… like I said, sad.

I’d give the Ithaca Mall or once known as the Pyramid Mall, two stars at best. Growing up in the area, I remember when the department stores left leaving huge empty holes. Those empty department stores were filled with the Halloweeen pop up stores and decorations for Christmas.
Mall is only anchored by a very dirty Bön Ton and Sears. Nothing special… yes, there is a Target. Target, though, doesn’t make the mall better as the store would do perfectly fine anywhere else in Ithaca.
Come for American Eagle and Gap. Not to sure what else there is left as the drive to Syracuse is under an hour…

This mall used to be decent, but since the global recession, a bunch of stores have closed down and now the selection of stores is very limited, it’s almost not worth coming to at all. Every time I come home and I happen to go to this mall, I see that more and more stores have closed down. It’s kind of sad, really. Don’t come unless you have to.

There’s not a lot to enjoy in Ithaca commercially. It’s a college town with lots of mom and pop shops, and it’s definitely got a hipster vibe to it. So this mall just seems really out of place for such a progressive yet low key town.

This mall is pathetic. It is merely a combination of random stores. This is not a high end shopping mall! It is a very small mall (one floor) with a narrow selection of stores, as well as food choices. The one restaurant featured at this mall is Friendly’s (the Fribble machine broken) and the rest are located next to it in the food court (offered about 6 choices of food). One vendor recently having been shut down temporarily for using illegal meat (as I was told by several employees of the mall). gross.

The only mall for Cornell students and the selection of stores is VERY small. However, since it’s the only one, everyone comes to this one. The only good part is the Target here for all your basic needs. The mall is really small, but has all the basic stores like Old Navy, Gap, American Eagle (typical womenswear fare). They also have a Borders where you can just sit and read. I just wish they had more stores.

Oh Pyramid Mall — I used to visit you when you were small, before you were able to woo me with a Target. I used to stock up on supplies at the 99 cents store, where I would spend upwards of $ 50. I knew you when the highlight of visiting you was GAP.
Here’s a little dirty secret though — I mainly visited you because you were only ONE bus ride away.

Honestly there is not much to do in Ithaca. The mall is limited in stores. Everything that goes in there goes out of business. We had a Steven Berry’s for like 2 weeks and then it was gone. The only highlight in the mall is the movie theatre and that only caters to the college students, the people who actually live here never get a break in price!
Now the mall is call the shops at Ithaca mall (I like Pyramid better!)

Living in Ithaca, my weekends consists of driving to downtown Ithaca to the Commons, Wegmans, Barnes & Noble, and Farmers’ Market
or
Pyramid Mall and Tops Friendly Markets.
The main attraction here is the Target (I once bought the 64 pack of toilet paper I hand carried onto the bus and to my apt that I used for ½ a year), but there’s also an Old Navy, GAP, Best Buy, Borders, Regal movie theater, etc that I usually hit. I had my replacement glasses done at Sterling Optical and was satisfied with my purchase. See website for complete mall directory.
On lazy weekends I come here for lunch at the food court, which consists of Subway, Arby’s, Friendly’s, Sicilian Delight Pizza, Easy Wok, Cajun Café, and Auntie Anne’s Hand-​Rolled Soft Pretzels. I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t have the runs eating here at times, so beware!

The Pyramid Mall is a strange little place. Target, Best Buy, Border’s, A.C. Moore, and Dick’s Sporting Goods are attached to it while the only large department stores are Sears and The Bön Ton. There is also an Old Navy, Victoria’s Secret, Pac Sun, Aeropostale, and Abercrombie and Fitch. Oh, and recently Steve and Barry opened across from the new stadium-​seating Regal Cinema theatre. Yet, there are also weird little stores (Amish Market and Andean jewelry and clothes) that somehow manage to pay rent. Oh, I’ve left out the Gap, Spencer’s, EB Games, and American Eagle Outfitters. This mall exists mostly for Cornell students. It’s not a terrible mall, but real shopping definitely constitutes the 45 minute drive to Carousel Center, Syracuse.