Broadway Mall opens where farms once sat
The 68-acre site at 358 North Broadway in Hicksville had a life before storefronts. Saint John's Protectory sat here, along with a Catholic Church-run dairy and vegetable farm. In the mid-1950s, the property was cleared and rebuilt for the postwar spread of Nassau County.
The anchor arrived first. On October 12, 1956, Gertz Long Island opened as a six-level, 325,000-square-foot department store, billed as the tallest suburban store of its era.
Mid-Island Shopping Plaza opened on October 25, 1956, as an open-air center designed by architect Lathrop Douglass. It was laid out with a main retail level and a basement system, backed by 8,000 parking spaces.
Opening day was treated as an event. An "atomic lighting spectacle" tied to a Long Island-grown potato, Mimi Benzell performed, and Vaughn Monroe served as master of ceremonies.
By December 1956, 41 stores were operating, including J.J. Newberry, Bond Clothes, Oppenheim-Collins, National Shoes, Horn and Hardart, Food Fair, and First National supermarkets.
Mid-Island Shopping Plaza becomes a civic landmark fast
Under the plaza, a nearly mile-long truck tunnel kept deliveries out of the way. In September 1957, it was designated a Civil Defense headquarters with capacity for more than 9,000 people in an emergency.
Above ground, the area was already serving as a public square.
Beginning in July 1957, the Mid-Island Plaza Merchants Association held July 4 fireworks; at its peak, crowds were estimated at around 20,000.
A metal arch held up a huge, brightly lit star in many colors that became a well-known sight at night. At Christmas, the plaza staged "Christmas Around the World" with a large tree set beneath that star.
The place drew political and celebrity traffic, too.
On September 28, 1960, Vice President Richard Nixon delivered a campaign speech at the plaza while traveling to Grumman, with local volunteer firefighters serving as a ceremonial guard.
On June 6, 1963, Mets players Duke Snider and rookie Ed Kranepool met fans between Gertz and Newberry while the Hicksville High School band played the Mets' theme.
Miss Rheingold, 1963, Loretta Rissell, appeared with them. Attorney General Robert Kennedy visited in 1964. Mid-Island Plaza was still young, but it already knew how to draw a crowd.
Mid-Island Plaza adds twin theaters and later encloses
In May 1964, Mid-Island Plaza added a freestanding twin-plex, the Town and Country Twin Theatres, with about 2,000 seats. "Cleopatra" opened the screens.
Later, in 1968, the theater showed "2001: A Space Odyssey" using a 70mm Cinerama film, using this format to show what the theater was capable of.
Mid-Island Plaza also used free attractions to keep the property busy. Paul Miller's "Big Top Animal Circus," promoted as "The Greatest Show," set up caged wild animals and brought in aerialists and unicycle acts.
The midway could stretch to as many as seventeen rides, including a Ferris wheel, a roller coaster, and a carousel. It was built to pull a crowd and keep people on site.
The major structural change came in 1968, when the open-air concourse was enclosed.
The project expanded the north end and linked the original buildings to a three-level, 230,000-square-foot S. Klein store, dedicated on October 8, 1969.
After the enclosure, the official name was shortened to Mid-Island Plaza.
Air-conditioning was added as part of the upgrade, and the new indoor design put the mall in direct competition with newer shopping centers that also had climate control.
Tenant turnover and the 'Islands of the World' makeover
Mid-Island Plaza moved through the 1970s with a tenant list that kept changing. First National transitioned into Shop Rite and then Pathmark, and Pathmark closed in late 1978.
Food Fair became Pantry Pride in 1972 and Hills in 1977, and Hills closed in early 1979.
The supermarket names changed, but the routines stayed the same.
The north-end department store shifted, too. S. Klein became Korvettes in mid-1975.
In January 1977, the mall began an $8 million interior project called "Islands of the World," splitting the concourses into themed areas tied to places like Japan, Nantucket, and a "Fantasy" section.
By late 1979, the theme was fully installed, turning the corridors into staged settings instead of plain walkways.
Crowds still formed when Mid-Island Plaza gave them a reason.
In May 1976, an estimated 2,000 fans gathered for a John Travolta appearance tied to "Welcome Back Kotter." Travolta arrived on the roof to sign copies of a record album, and multiple people were treated for heat exhaustion by the Hicksville and Jericho fire departments.
The Bay City Rollers visited the Korvettes record department in the late 1970s. On December 24, 1980, Korvettes closed, leaving a large vacancy that remained after the décor faded.
Delco's renovation and the arrival of IKEA
The main anchor changed names in the early 1980s. In early 1983, Gertz was converted into Stern's, ending the Gertz name at the property. In 1985, Delco Development acquired Broadway Mall and moved toward modernization.
A major renovation began in November 1987. About $190 million was spent on a refurbishment designed by Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum and R.A.I. Associates.
It brought in neon, skylights, and upgraded finishes, and it expanded the tenant count from about 110 stores to about 180.
National chains like Victoria's Secret, Benetton, Limited Express, and Lane Bryant joined the lineup. In 1989, the property was renamed Broadway Mall, adopting the name it would carry into the next era of retail.
The early 1990s brought the sharpest physical tradeoff: entertainment space for an anchor that could pull daily traffic.
The on-site cinema, by then expanded to a six-plex, was demolished in early 1990.
On March 13, 1991, IKEA opened as a two-level furniture store not connected to Broadway Mall, operating on its own parcel with a dedicated multi-level garage.
It was Long Island's only IKEA at the time. In 2003, IKEA expanded, strengthening the one part of the mall that did not rely on fashion cycles.
Korvettes to multiplex, then JCPenney to Target
Broadway Mall went back into redevelopment in 1995, aimed at keeping the property busy and giving shoppers more reasons to stay.
The former Korvettes building was gutted and reopened as Broadway Multiplex Cinemas, later known as Showcase Cinema De Lux.
The same round of changes added a food court with eight places to eat in the old Korvettes space, giving the mall a main spot inside where people could meet and take a break between stores.
The anchor lineup shifted again at the end of the decade. In October 1999, a roughly 100,000-square-foot JCPenney opened on the west end.
It did not last long. JCPenney closed in January 2003, and the building was demolished.
Target opened on October 10, 2004, bringing in a daily-need anchor that helped keep that part of the mall busy, even when other areas were quieter.
Department stores consolidated as well. In May 2001, Stern's was rebranded as Macy's, keeping the same big-box department store presence under a new name.
Broadway Mall sells high, then sells lower
In 2005, Vornado Realty Trust bought Broadway Mall for $153 million. The purchase treated the enclosed mall as a continuing regional draw.
Broadway Mall covered about 68 acres with about 1,200,000 square feet of gross leasable area, set in a corridor built for driving in, parking, and circling the entrances.
By February 2014, the valuation had dropped. Vornado sold Broadway Mall to a KKR-led partnership with Pacific Retail Capital Partners for $94 million.
The mall remained open, but the lower price matched a shifting retail landscape.
Anchor chains were shrinking, online shopping was growing, and enclosed malls were under more pressure.
Broadway Mall shifted toward tenants that brought steady traffic beyond traditional retail. A 2015-2016 facelift added Noodles and Company, Blaze Pizza, Blink Fitness, and Chick-fil-A.
The changes kept parts of the building active and pushed the mix toward food and fitness, with more visits built around time on site rather than a single purchase.
Broadway Commons arrives as big doors close
In January 2017, Broadway Mall was renamed Broadway Commons.
That summer, Broadway Commons added Round1 Entertainment, which opened in July 2017 in about 49,200 square feet of space that had included Steve and Barry's and Sam Goody.
Bowling, billiards, arcade games, and karaoke gave the property a reason to be active after dinner, when traditional mall corridors used to empty out.
The surrounding retail corridor kept changing. Sears and its auto center adjacent to the property closed in 2018, leaving a 156,000-square-foot vacancy nearby.
Then the mall lost its core department store. Macy's closed on March 17, 2020, ending more than six decades of department-store presence on that spot, from Gertz to Stern's to Macy's.
IKEA and Target remained, and Round1 kept drawing crowds, but the vacant Macy's building changed the feel of the interior in a way that was hard to disguise.
By 2025, Broadway Commons was clearly clearing space. Showcase Cinema De Lux closed on January 5, 2025.
The food court followed, with the last remaining restaurants closing on December 31, 2025, after leases in that area were not renewed for about a year.
Broadway Commons plans The Shops on Broadway
Broadway Commons changed hands in February 2024, selling for $40 million.
A redevelopment plan costing over $100 million was announced in June 2024 to turn the indoor mall into an outdoor shopping area called The Shops on Broadway.
The plan focuses on demolition and reversal. The former Macy's building, about 300,000 square feet, is slated to be torn down.
Roughly 100,000 square feet of inline space is also planned for removal, with parts of the roof coming off so the site can be reorganized into open-air plazas and outward-facing pedestrian areas.
The concept includes "Main Street" style squares, events, dining, and entertainment, and a district branded as "The District."
A BJ's Wholesale Club is a confirmed future addition, planned at roughly 100,000 to 105,000 square feet, with gas service and EV charging.
As of early 2026, Broadway Commons remains in the Town of Oyster Bay approval phase, with groundbreaking expected in late 2026 or early 2027.
IKEA, Target, and Round1 are expected to remain. A smaller set of retailers, including H&M and Bath and Body Works, is still operating while the property prepares for its next rebuild.
