Neisners is seeing the light of day! Thanks to Ellicott Development’s renovations to the Courtyard Mall at 460 Main Street, the faAade of the former five and dime can be seen for the first time since 1980.
The E.W. Edwards & Son department store occupied 460 Main Street until 1937 when it was leased to Neisner Brothers. The Neisner chain operated a variety store at the site for more than 40 years. Neisner Bros. was a “five cent to one dollar” chain of general merchandise stores founded in 1911 in Rochester. Their stores were primarily located in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Colorado and Wisconsin. Locally, Neisner Brothers had stores in the Broadway/Fillmore neighborhood, Niagara Falls, Grand Island and possibly elsewhere. The firm was purchased by Ames Department Stores in 1978 and many locations were shuttered.
In 1980, the building underwent a complete interior and exterior renovation and opened as the Courtyard Mall. The Permanent Saving Bank occupied the ground floor for a number of years while the basement was a popular food court until the Greenhouse Food Court at Main Place Mall opened. The property has been vacant since 1990.
Oliver Tyrone Pulver and Corporex Cos., both large out-of-town developers, at different times studied the possibility of building a high rise office building on the site. Both developments failed to materialize and Carl Paladino’s Ellicott Development purchased the property in 1995 for $367,000.
Ellicott Development has not circulated a rendering showing what changes they have in store for the Main Street faAade. The 73,000 sq.ft. building is currently being turned into office and retail space with underground parking. The New York State Division of Parole has signed on as an anchor tenant for 15,000 sq.ft. in a relocation from the Donovan Building. Ellicott Development also owns the adjacent Baker’s Shoes building where additional retail space plus 12 upscale residential lofts are planned. The status of that project is unknown.
Photo credit: Mark Byrnes at All Things Buffalo