Destiny USA (stylized as destiny usa and also known by its former name Carousel Center) is a six-story super-regional shopping, dining, and entertainment complex on the shore of Onondaga Lake in the city of Syracuse, New York, United States. It is the largest shopping mall in the state of New York and the 10th largest in the country. In 2021, Destiny USA was included among the top 20 most visited shopping centers in America, attracting over 26 million visitors a year.
Destiny USA opened on October 15, 1990, as Carousel Center. The mall has six aboveground floors and one underground floor. The lower three floors and the underground floor are used for retail shops. The first and second floors span the length of the mall and house the various shops, vendors, restaurants, and entertainment venues, with the major food court and namesake carousel located on the second floor. The third floor includes a 19-screen Regal Cinemas, restaurants, and entertainment options. The fourth floor is primarily administrative offices. The underground floor, known as the Commons floor, houses medium-sized stores, a chapel, kiosks, and two underground parking garages. The Commons floor does not span the full length of the mall, and is contained within the original mall structure built in 1990.
Destiny USA has outside parking surrounding the mall on nearly all sides. On the Hiawatha Boulevard side, additional parking lots are located across the street from the mall and a pedestrian bridge was built to connect the parking lot to the second floor of the 2012 addition. Parking includes one aboveground and two underground parking garages. The mall is served by CENTRO buses. There are main entrances on nearly all sides of the mall. Other entrances are located through the anchor stores and from the underground parking lots.
History
Background and construction The site of Destiny USA was originally a landfill named Marley Scrap Yard, surrounded by several square blocks of oil tanks, collectively named "Oil City". South of these oil tanks sat the Franklin Square industrial neighborhood. In 1987, The Pyramid Companies studied redevelopment of the neighborhood. In July 1987, The Pyramid Companies announced plans for a shopping center at the scrap yard site. The plan caused controversy with other local shopping centers and malls. The Galleries of Syracuse, a smaller mall (now offices) had recently finished construction in Downtown Syracuse and there was concern that the mall at Oil City would put an end to downtown retail.
Two of the biggest opponents to the project were the competing mall developers in the area, Wilmorite Corp. and Eagan Real Estate Inc, which both operated several malls in Syracuse's suburbs. Wilmorite, which was building the Great Northern Mall in the nearby town of Clay, was accused by the Syracuse city government of using associates in Connecticut to form the "Citizen's League for an Environmentally Acceptable Northeast," which lobbied against construction of the Carousel Center mall at Oil City. Eagan meanwhile filed criticism of the mall, claiming that a 25-percent drop in downtown retail sales would occur if the mall were built. It proposed an additional downtown mall with a "Walt Disney-like attraction."
During construction the mall faced several delays, primarily around environmental cleanup, as the site is a brownfield cleanup site. The mall opened on October 15, 1990, as Carousel Center, named for the 1908 Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) carousel, PTC #18 operating within the mall.
1990s When it opened, Carousel Center featured a range of upscale and popular chains. Anchors included Bonwit Teller, Kaufmann's, Chappell's, Steinbach, JCPenney, Lechmere, and Hills. A basement "Commons" area featured covered parking and additional junior anchors, including The Rx Place and Filene's Basement.
Another unique feature of the mall was the Skydeck, which was on the top levels of the central tower. This offered an events space that would be used for fundraisers, proms, fashion shows, concerts, and other public and private uses.
In 1990, The Pyramid Companies began clearing oil tanks south of the mall for a strip center called Carousel Landing, which would feature 650,000 square feet of additional retail.
In 1992, Chappell's became The Bon Ton because of a merger with the parent company.
An additional anchor space was built for Lord & Taylor in 1994.
By 1995, Carousel Landing had still not been built due to its potential environmental impact.Published on July 6, 1995, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) IMPACT OF NEW PLAZA AT CAROUSEL LANDING IS TOPIC OF HEARING, NewsLibrary.com By 1996, The Pyramid Companies finally got approval to condemn the oil tanks.Published on July 13, 1996, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) COURT APPROVES CONDEMNATION OF OIL CITY THE DECISION BRINGS A PROPOSED SHOPPING CENTER ONE STEP CLOSER TO REALITY, NewsLibrary.com
In 1996, Steinbach was replaced with Home Place, a Northeast-based upscale home furnishings store.9806100030 Published on June 10, 1998, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) DOORS ARE CLOSING AT CAROUSEL CENTER'S HOMEPLACE Nobody Beats the Wiz also opened in 1996 in the Commons level.
In November 1997, less than a month after Lechmere closed as a result of parent company Montgomery Ward eliminating the chain, the Pyramid Companies announced they would build an expansion to Carousel Center that would double the mall size instead of building Carousel Landing. Under this plan, the expansion would house about 150 new stores and three anchors, with many of the stores new to the market. The Pyramid Companies officials claimed the expansion would be complete by the year 2000.Article ID: 9711020160 Published on November 2, 1997, Syracuse Herald American (NY) CAROUSEL SPINS GRAND PLANPublished on November 5, 1997, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) PYRAMID PICTURES A SMARTER MALL THE ADDITION TO CAROUSEL CENTER WOULD BE BUILT THE WAY PEOPLE SHOP – WITH A MIXTURE OF STORES THAT ARE BIG AND SMALL, UPSCALE AND DOWN.Article ID: 9711010364 Published on November 1, 1997, Syracuse Herald-Journal (NY) CAROUSEL CENTER'S SIZE COULD DOUBLE PYRAMID COS. PLANS A MAJOR EXPANSION OF THE MALL.
In 1998, CompUSA store and a Kahunaville restaurant opened in the Commons Level andArticle ID: 9806140137 Published on June 14, 1998, Syracuse Herald American (NY) COMPUSA COMING SOON TO CAROUSEL CENTER, NewsLibrary.comNOW ENTERING KAHUNAVILLE, A PLACE TO EAT AND BE DAZZLED: [FINAL EDITION] Niedt, Bob. Syracuse Herald American [Syracuse, N.Y] October 11, 1998: E1. Best Buy opened in part of the former HomePlace/Steinbach location.Article ID: 9808160034 Published on August 16, 1998, Syracuse Herald American (NY) ELECTRONICS COMING BACK TO CAROUSEL IN A BIG WAY
In 1999, Hills was acquired and rebranded by Ames Department Stores. In March 1999, DSW Shoe Warehouse opened in part of the former Lechmere.Article ID: 9910240113 Published on October 24, 1999, Syracuse Herald American (NY) NEW SHOE WAREHOUSE STEPS INTO CAROUSEL In October 1999, Bally Total Fitness opened with a grand opening featuring the cast of Baywatch.October 27, 1999, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) BALLY BRINGS IN "BAYWATCH' AND ESPN FOR MALL OPENING, NewsLibrary.com The Bally Total Fitness filled in the remaining part of HomePlace/Steinbach location that was not occupied by Best Buy.
2000s and potential expansions In March 2000, Bonwit Teller shuttered their location at the mall as the chain filed for bankruptcy. In the same year, the space became the first American outpost and mall location for H&M. In May, Kaufmann's Furniture Galleries opened in the mall.Article ID: 0005311328 Published on May 31, 2000, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) FURNITURE STORE FILLS A NICHE KAUFMANN'S FURNITURE GALLERIES OPENS IN CAROUSEL CENTER FRIDAY
In 2001, The Pyramid Companies announced an expansion project which would triple the size of the mall, rather than doubling it as previously planned. The new project proposed to rename the mall from Carousel Center to "Destiny USA".Published on November 1, 2001, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) NEW NAME, NEW LOOK, NewsLibrary.com/sites/sy The Skydeck was closed for new administrative offices for the complex.Article ID: 0111030471 Published on November 4, 2001, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) It would also create a large Central New York Visitors Center inside the mall.Article ID: 0111290178 Published on November 29, 2001, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) DESTINY USA'S NEW DEAL However, The Pyramid Companies needed public funds and tax breaks to make the project possible and people worried the mall would be obsolete before all of it was recompensated.Article ID: 0112010126 Published on December 1, 2001, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) DRISCOLL PUSHES FOR A NEW MALL DEALArticle ID: 0112010394 Published on December 2, 2001, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) MALL WILL BE OBSOLETE LONG BEFORE ITS PAID FOR Despite this, The Pyramid Companies continued to unveil further plans for Destiny USA.Article ID: 0112150254 Published on December 15, 2001, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) DESTINY ATRIUM PLAN UNFOLDS, NewsLibrary.com Eventually, the large tax breaks and the magnitude of the project would cause much controversy.
In 2004, DSW moved down into the Commons Level while Circuit City took its place. Circuit City previously operated a pocket store in the mall before closing in 2009, after the company failed to find a buyer for itself.
In August 2005, Sports Authority moved in as a new anchor store.Published on August 3, 2005, Post-Standard, The (Syracuse, NY) SPORTS AUTHORITY OPENS IN CAROUSEL IN OCTOBER, NewsLibrary.com/sites/sy
In September 2006, Kaufmann's became Macy's.
In 2007, The Pyramid Companies proposed the first phase of Destiny USA: a new addition that would add to Carousel Center. This would make Destiny USA the largest mall in New York and the 6th largest in the country. The project was planned to be a green building, powered entirely by renewable resources.
In late 2009, it was announced that Destiny USA would use RFID technology, but would require tenants to turn over profits from the data tracking to Pyramid.
2010s: Expansion and name change In May 2011, an agreement between Citigroup and The Pyramid Companies was finalized and the addition continued. Destiny USA was set to feature a retail mix including entertainment, luxury, and outlet stores. Documents from the trial showed several stores leased in the new expansion. In June 2011, the Syracuse Post-Standard asked people to email ideas of what people would like to see in Destiny USA to the newspaper, with Destiny officials following along. Residents listed several ideas, including entertainment venues like Dave & Buster's, and upscale restaurants like P.F. Changs, but nothing was officially announced.
In November 2011, Destiny USA became the largest mall in New York and the 6th largest in the country. Parts of the new addition opened, mostly featuring temporary holiday stores and signs advertising more stores planned for the future.
By late summer of 2012, the CarouselCenter.com webpage merged in with the DestinyUSA.com webpage, as new signage went up. In August 2012, the mall's name officially changed to "Destiny USA", ending all references to Carousel Center. New major stores in the mall included Burlington Coat Factory in the Commons level, Dick's Sporting Goods, and a P.F. Chang's restaurant. New amusement activities opened including WonderWorks, Dave and Buster's, Billy Beez Indoor Play Park, APEX Entertainment, a bowling and restaurant venue with a bar and dance area, RPM Raceway Indoor Karting, and Canyon Climb, the world's largest indoor rope course.
On June 14, 2013, Regal Cinemas opened their IMAX & RPX screens featuring Man of Steel in 3D.
On January 4, 2015 it was announced that Nordstrom Rack would open a 33,357 square-foot store, on the first level in fall of 2015.