After taking a tour of all the malls in the Rochester, NY area, I have come to a conclusion as to which is the best. This decision was a difficult one to make, given the amount of quality malls in and around Rochester, which I located and researched via the Rochester Yellow Pages, Rochester Business Alliance, Rochester Business Journal, and Rochester direct.
On my tour of six malls in the Rochester, NY area, I went through and judged them all on some criteria. I looked at the layout (how the mall was designed and organized), size of the mall, diversity of vendors, quality of food court, and cleanliness. Each aspect I graded on a scale of one to five, five being superb, one being shameful.
And the winner is…drum roll please…Marketplace Mall Rochester! And here is why.
1. Layout…5
Marketplace Mall Rochester is well organized. Similar stores are spaced out enough, so that each of the four major wings of the mall (designated by outlet store) can have an eclectic mix of vendors within it. The food court is also located right in the heart of the mall, along with a police station for added safety. There are also plenty of maps available to help you find your way.
2. Size…5
The Marketplace Mall Rochester knows and loves is not too big and not too small. Goldilocks herself would say it is, “just right.” As I mentioned previously, stores are spread out well, but the mall will not take you all day to travel if you are browsing outlet stores for something specific. It was small enough to easily traverse its entirety, but big enough that the retail areas were not congested.
3. Diversity…5
The diversity of vendors in Marketplace Mall Rochester have something for everyone. In the same wing, for example, you have Aeropostale, Hot Topic and Victorias Secret. There are also two exquisite restaurants in the Marketplace mall rochester. Those are The Melting Pot, which is a fondue based classy eatery, and Anchor Bar and Grille, where you can go to watch the game and order some wings and beer.
4. Food Court…4
As I just stated there are a couple great restaurants in Marketplace Mall Rochester, but they are separate from the actual food court, so we must grade them individually. The food court has a Tom Wahls in it, which I loved, but I was a touch disappointed when it came to the diversity of food joints. There are two places offering Asian cuisine, two sub shops (Quiznos and Subway), a Taco Bell and a Sbarros pizza. Pretty typical, nothing extraordinary.
5. Cleanliness…4.5
It is hard for a mall to receive a decent cleanliness grade, just because of their size. As far as malls go, Marketplace Mall Rochester was impressively clean. The shopping areas were all well maintained, and I saw an abundance of janitorial workers moving about. The loss of half a point, however, comes from my visit to the bathroom. It was not quite as clean as I would have hoped. But, overall, Marketplace Mall Rochester is remarkably clean…for a mall.
If you live in the Rochester area and need to go to a mall, Marketplace mall rochester will be your best bet. Even if you live in the Greece Ridge area, it will be worth the drive to Henrietta, trust me.