August, 2006 - Labelscar: The Retail History Blog

Winona Mall; Winona, Minnesota

Winona Rocks! Well, at least that’s what someone at the University of Wisconsin was thinking as they scrawled that declaration into several rows of desks in a large chemistry lecture hall there. Very curious, I thought. What or who did they mean? Winona Ryder? Wynonna Judd? Maybe it was someone from Winona, Minnesota, who was proud of his or her town.

Regardless of what that cryptic scrawling meant, Winona, MN, actually does rock. It’s a small Mississippi River city of about 27,000 approximately 30 miles north of La Crosse, or about 100 miles downriver from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Most of the city itself actually lies on an island in the middle of the river, and the city is surrounded on all sides by giant bluffs which majestically tower some 500-1000 feet over town. The city’s downtown is full of shops and activity along the picturesque shores of the River.

Needless to say, Winona does not come up short in natural beauty. But, what else makes it rock? The small enclosed Winona Mall does, of course. Opened in 1966, the mall was part of a national trend or fad of relocating retail and central business districts from downtowns and into the periphery of American suburbia. Winona Mall is located along the busy retail corridor of Highway 61 on the west side of town. Winona Mall was originally anchored by Montgomery Ward, which I presume was in the space the grocery store currently occupies. When Wards left is a mystery to me, but I’d speculate it was quite a while ago and definitely not within the past ten years.

Now, Winona Mall isn’t large (or even medium-sized); it’s possibly one of the smaller malls we’ve featured here. Park Midwest realty, which manages Winona Mall’s leasing (pdf file), reports it is only 138,000 square feet. It felt a bit larger to me, but possibly because it only has one anchor space and it’s a grocery store. So, most of the 138,000 square feet is enclosed mall space. That space is set up like a rudimentary C, with the grocery store hinging off the side. It’s also important to note that although the mall only has the grocery store anchor attached, K-Mart is across the street.

The decor and marketing of Winona Mall also makes it rock. Throughout the small enclosed center, the ceiling is made up of very slanty, shiny, brass colored panels which makes it very unique, and very dated. In addition, the mall also prints directories, which is unusual for a mall this size (and quite cool). Also, the mall features one of the last original Two Plus Two stores, a chain much like Claire’s Accessories which operated in many of the malls of my childhood.

In the past several years, Winona Mall has experienced a renaissance of sorts. Faced with many vacancies and an unstable future, the mall’s leasing agent aggressively retenanted the mall and vacancy shot up from 50 to close to 80%.

Take a look at the pictures below. They were taken August 2006 by yours truly. As always, share anything you’d like about Winona Mall.

The Boulevard Mall; Las Vegas, Nevada

OK, so you already knew all about the Strip in Vegas, you said? Of course you did.

Labelscar readers know that we’re not afraid to trek off the beaten path, and when people tell me that one seven mile stretch of tar is all there is worth seeing in a city, it only encourages me to venture away even more. This is the first in a string of posts about the malls where Las Vegas area residents actually shop.

The Boulevard Mall is a General Growth Properties mall located approximately 2 miles east of the strip at the corner of Desert Inn Rd. and Maryland Parkway. With approximately 170 stores including four anchors and 1.2 million square feet of floor space, it is the second largest mall in the valley and the oldest continuously operating one (the long-defunct Charleston Plaza Mall was the oldest). Built at what was apparently the “outskirts of town” at the time, the Boulevard Mall is now positioned pretty much in the middle of the city, near the popular tourist regions and much closer to the center-city than many of the area’s other malls, especially the Galleria at Sunset, which is its other competition on the city’s southeast side and is located way out in Henderson.

The Boulevard Mall was my favorite mall in Las Vegas by some measure, both because of its unusual floorplan and unusual decor. Judging by the time capsule (!) located outside of Macy’s store (which was a time capsule in and of itself!), it seems the mall was originally constructed in 1966. Note the cheerful optimism that the mall itself would still be standing in 100 years, which is something that the odds seem to generally be against:

However, judging by the unusual floorplan and differences in decor inside and out, I think only half of the mall dates to the 1960s. My guess is that the Boulevard Mall was originally constructed as a simple “dumbell” style mall in 1966, with a single hallway connecting the Macy’s and Sears buildings, and the JCPenney store halfway along the corridor. I believe that the mall was later almost doubled in size via the corridor built parallel to and behind the original corridor, connecting JCPenney and a new Dillard’s store with an entrance to Macy’s midway. Essentially, this new wing created a mirror image of the old mall, and made it possible to pass through both Macy’s and JCPenney to access one part of the mall from the other. Of course, this is all speculation, but check it out:

Boulevard Mall directory in Las Vegas, NV

I also think it’s worth mentioning the crazy, swooping supports in the front mall and the super-jazzy exterior. I thought this was a really fun mall, and if you know something else about it, please tell us!

Someone else thought to take some pictures too, so check theirs out. I’ll be honest, it would really hurt my feelings, but you just might like them better.

Older, “Front Mall:”

The passageway between the two halves:

Newer, “Rear Mall:”

Westgate Mall; Madison, Wisconsin

Located on the bustling west side of beautiful Madison, Wisconsin, Westgate Mall is a small enclosed retail center totalling just over 250,000 square feet in size. It is located along Whitney Way between Odana Road and Tokay Blvd, near the West Beltline Highway. Westgate is flanked by anchor stores TJ Maxx, Hancock Fabrics, and Dunhams Sports. The mall also has a DMV Service Center, Cosmetology School, Art Cinema, several apparel stores, other retail outlets and two fast food establishments. In addition, the mall contains a great deal of office space for tenants such as healthcare software author Epic Systems (partially in an old Sergio’s Mexican restaurant, no less; see pictures below). Adjacent to the mall are several large office buildings including the University of Wisconsin Research Park, where stem cell research and biotechnology occur. Across from Westgate Mall are several other large shopping centers, including a Copp’s grocery store, Marshall’s and several sit-down restaurants.

Westgate is owned by Denver-based real estate investment and management group J. Herzog. They acquired the property in 1990 and were responsible for the center’s major renovation during the mid to late 1990s.

The city of Madison is the second largest as well as capital city of Wisconsin with a population of about 220,000 and a metro population of about 500,000. It is frequently ranked as one of the best places to live in America and boasts one of the better (and larger) state universities in the country, UW-Madison. Madison currently has four enclosed malls: West Towne Mall, Westgate, and Hilldale mall on the city’s economically bustling west side, and East Towne Mall for the east side. There was a substantial enclosed mall on the southeast side called South Towne, but it was disenclosed and turned into a strip center in 2000 and currently remains mostly occupied. Also, there is a lifestyle center in northwest suburban Middleton called Greenway Station, with many upscale shops and restaurants.

Westgate is our textbook definition of an ancillary enclosed mall. An ancillary mall is one that lies in the shadow of a larger, often very successful dominant center. Westgate is about one mile from the Madison area’s most dominant center, West Towne Mall, which was recently renovated and expanded to include Dick’s Sporting Goods, H&M, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, and soon J Crew. Westgate’s success lies in being distinctly ancillary to the retail dominance of West Towne, with off-price and specialty retailers, services, and even a hybrid of office space.

The current decor of the enclosed portion of Westgate Mall is currently rather modern, as it was last renovated in the mid to late 1990s. The color scheme is predominantly white: white ceiling panels, white walls, and a tiled floor with alternating white and gray tiles. Westgate’s floorplan is mostly shaped like an L, with a small circular court looping around to the back of the mall near the crux. Also notable is the fact that a strip mall of stores extends on both sides of the enclosed L-shaped mall, elongating it, with exterior entrances only on those portions.

I’m not exactly sure when Westgate opened, but I first visited with family in the early to mid 1990s and it had a markedly different and older decor. There was a lot of wood paneling, darker tile and overall color scheme, and even a B Dalton Bookstore location.

Despite Westgate Mall’s recent success as an ancillary to the West Towne behemoth one mile down the road, there have been a few vacancy issues as of recent. Radio Shack and several other in-line stores, particularly in the TJ Maxx wing, are vacant, and there’s even a Hit or Miss labelscar. Also, the back loop of the mall which contains the DMV Express, Cosmetology College, Theatre, and offices, has experienced a loss of the Cost Cutters location recently.

Hopefully these closures aren’t indicative of a trend and Westgate can continue to retenant the vacancies and further establish itself as an off-price, specialty, service alternative.

The pictures below were taken August 2006. If you know anything more about Westgate Mall’s history, stores, or have an anecdote or just a comment to share, feel free to post.

UPDATE 12/12/2008: After years of sliding downhill, a developer wants to breathe new life into Westgate Mall, bringing Iowa grocer Hy-Vee to the south end of the mall. The proposal indicates a teardown of the existing portion of the mall south of TJMaxx, which mostly consists of stores facing outward to the parking lot in strip-mall style fashion. It doesn’t look like, as of yet, that the majority of the enclosed portion of the mall would be affected. However, we think a great idea would be to relocate Dunham’s sporting goods and the other businesses on the south end of the mall to the enclosed portion which has lost several tenants recently, including Epic Systems, the theatre, and the cosmetology school.

The Las Vegas Strip; Las Vegas, Nevada

Dan Savage once famously decided not to answer his regular string of profane letters in his advice column, interrupting them to ramble on about his recent vacation to Las Vegas. I have every intention of doing the same.

OK, no, not really. While the magic of the internet has allowed me to fool you all into thinking I wasn’t away, I actually spent the last week in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, vacationing in America’s city of sin. While my vacations would not normally be topic du jour here at Labelscar, I found more than enough in Las Vegas to bother mentioning to all of you–even those (all?) of you who’ve been before.

“The Strip,” which runs along Las Vegas Boulevard south from downtown Las Vegas for approximately 8 miles, is perhaps America’s greatest suburban retail strip. What’s that–this isn’t suburban, you say? Actually, it is: the core of the strip itself–everything south of Sahara Avenue–is in fact located in the unincorporated town of Paradise, not in Las Vegas at all! And despite that The Strip is known for its over-the-top theme casinos and gambling, it’s also home to no less than five enclosed shopping malls–and that’s not even including some of the smaller collections of shops located in some of the hotel lobbies, or two more enclosed shopping malls currently under construction on the same stretch of road.

Of these malls, most are attached to a theme casino–there is the Shops at Desert Passage, which is part of the Aladdin (and is slated for a major makeover soon, to be turned into the LA-themed “Miracle Mile” when the Aladdin is transformed into the Planet Hollywood hotel and casino), the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace (Roman-themed), and the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian (Venetian-themed, obviously). On top of that, there’s also The Showcase by MGM Grand and the massive Fashion Show Mall, the largest mall in the Las Vegas metropolitan area and a more “traditional” mall in style and design, anchored by Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s, Robinson’s-May, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s Home, and Dillard’s. The Fashion Show Mall’s dramatic, futuristic facade and sharp break in decor and layout mid-mall–which suggests to me that it was doubled in size at some point, though I have no proof of this–made it into a true find by any stretch.

What’s even better is that the casinos themselves offer the same kind of thrills you can pull from dead mall hunting. Because Las Vegas is a city that seems to almost have a vendetta against history, denizens are quick to implode anything showing even the slightest bit of decay. That means that Las Vegas Boulevard is a surprisingly dynamic stretch of roadway, changing frequently and offering a great many see-them-before-they’re gone sights along the way. Many of the street’s most famous hotels–the original Flamingo, The Hacienda, The Sands, The Boardwalk–are already gone, and more (Stardust is next on the block, and rumors circulate about the aging Tropicana almost constantly. Even the relatively modern Flamingo-where I stayed–is often cited as being an implosion possibility) may not be long for this world. The adventurous traveler may find some real thrills by traveling off strip–and particularly downtown–to see some of the older and shabbier casinos about town. I made a trip to both The Western and The Gold Spike, two of the most notorious joints in town, simply to soak up some color. Surprisingly, neither was as threadbare as some malls I’ve seen, though both had more “characters.” Some other divey casinos, such as the Key Largo and the Bourbon Street, have bit the dust recently. If you go, be sure to visit some of the older casinos downtown, and for a bit of vintage Vegas, you can’t do wrong with a real fan favorite–the Barbary Coast. This small, classic casino is dwarfed by the big boys in its center-strip location, but it’s well-maintained and offers cheaper tables and more vintage flavor, making it a prime stop for the modern commercial architecture enthusiast.

You can read more about the casinos in Las Vegas from CheapoVegas, which is one of my new favorite websites. They review casinos with the kind of sharp pithiniess that I wish I could only muster for malls. Similarly, check out these photos of the strip’s historic casino properties, and swing by Casino Death Watch, a site that tracks news and history surrounding casinos that die or get blown to bits.

Unlike most Vegas tourists, however, I traveled off the strip–and how could I not!?–to check out the rest of the enclosed malls in Las Vegas. There are only four others (and one of these four is an outlet mall) and only one is truly remarkable, but they’ll all be showing up here in the very near future. Without further ado, here are the on-strip malls:

Grand Canal Shoppes (Venetian)

Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace

Shops at Desert Passage (Aladdin)

Fashion Show Mall

Fairfield Mall; Chicopee, Massachusetts

While perusing some archived folders on my hard drive this morning, I found a real treat: a full set of photos from the Fairfield Mall in Chicopee, Massachusetts, which was demolished a full five years ago. I honestly have no idea where these pictures came from–I didn’t take them!–they’re not terribly clear, and they make the mall look even more bleak than it was (and this is quite a feat), but they’re still a huge find!

The Fairfield Mall was a 400,000 square foot, simple dumbell mall located just off the Massachusetts Turnpike in the Springfield suburb of Chicopee. The PREIT-owned mall, which opened in 1974, closed in 2001, and was demolished in parts through 2003 or 2004, was anchored by Caldor and Bradlees, which gives all of the necessary details to discern why it died. It was also an extremely dated mall inside and out, apart from the airy and bright center court and food court, which was almost certainly added at a later point. Still, much of the mall was functioning as a relatively standard small-to-mid-sized mall as late as 2000. I can recall one of my visits to the Fairfield Mall in March 2000–barely a year before it died–when I felt it actually seemed to be doing better than it had on my previous visit.

The Springfield metropolitan area is not overmalled, but it is dominated by the large Holyoke Mall at Ingleside, and has suffered through a sluggish local economy since the 1980s. Chicopee is a relatively large suburb with a population of 56,000, plenty enough to support its own enclosed mall. The design of Fairfield Mall was only suitable to be a convenient, off-price, neighborhood alternative, however. As such it was unable to weather the loss of both its anchors in 1999 and 2001, respectively, especially given its relatively forlorn appearance. The relative revitalization of Springfield’s nearby Eastfield Mall in 2000 also likely didn’t help matters.

After being demolished in parts beginning in 2002 and continuing through 2003 or 2004, the site today is home to a big box center anchored by Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Staples, Marshall’s, iParty, and others.

Dead Malls also has a string of articles and anecdotes on the Fairfield Mall, along with some exterior photos taken sometime in 2001 after the mall was shuttered. In the photo below, look very closely and note that there’s an intact, 1970s vintage “brown rainbow” Caldor logo still on their building:

Prangeway: The above photos were polaroids taken by Joe Collins of Chicopee and scanned in by me, in the fall of 2000. Also in late August 2001 I attempted to visit Fairfield Mall but I think I was a tiny bit too late. The outside sign read a bank (on an outlot to the mall itself), Ocean State Job Lot (also on an outlot), Subway, and Luca’s Pizza were open at that time. So, I went around to the entrance where Subway was and I could see it in there just beyond locked doors. They still had the menu up and there were bags of chips hanging there, and it looked very much like it was still in operation. However, the doors to the mall were locked, it was very, very dark inside, and it was a Saturday afternoon. So, who knows? At any rate, it’s all gone now, so enjoy the extra pictures of the outside of the mall from August 26, 2001.

Retail Relic: Benny’s Home & Auto Stores

While the name will be unfamiliar to anyone from outside Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts, or Eastern Connecticut, Benny’s Home & Auto Stores–who continue to operate today–are a true living retail relic. Just look at this vintage-looking store! Nearly all of the Benny’s stores, even the ones of more recent vintage, seem to look like this. As an added bonus, check out their website, which sports some considerable 1996 HTML chic. These guys take retro retail fashion seriously. Oops, they actually built a new website!

Founded in 1924, Benny’s is a 30-store chain with stores in 3 states. Their format is decidedly unusual: they essentially round up the hardlines department of a standard Wal-Mart, and cut nearly all of the softlines. It’s a place where you can buy tools, sporting goods, automotive, toys, home decor, and lawn and garden, but you won’t find any clothing. Their stores vary in size, ranging from 20,000 or 30,000 square feet at the low end and up to about 60,000 or so square feet at the high end, and are located in shopping centers, standalone locations, and even downtowns. They’re the rare survivor from the 5-and-dime era who has managed to carve out a niche and outlast their bigger, better monied New England cousins like Ames, Bradlees, Rich’s, or Caldor.

I haven’t shopped at Benny’s in many years since I moved away from the area, but that the chain has become sort of a local treasure is no surprise. Rhode Island is a state that values its local retail, but after losing nearly all of the big names from Peerless to The Outlet to to Apex to Ann & Hope, Benny’s is the last major player standing. Benny’s is so adored as a survivor that you can buy a collectible model of an old, downtown-style store!

The location pictured is located on US44 on the Raynham/Taunton town line in Massachusetts, but they all look very similar to this one. Even stores of a more recent vintage have been given some of the classic treatment, so nearly all of their locations offer a trip down the memory lane of discount department store retail. The ad included below is their current (Aug 2006) Providence Journal advertising flyer, and I’ve included it to give an idea of the types of products Benny’s sells.

Prangeway: Here is the Benny’s location in Wakefield Westerly, Rhode Island, in August 2001.

Fredericton Mall; Fredericton, New Brunswick

Constructed in 1971 as Fredericton, New Brunswick’s first enclosed shopping mall, the Fredericton Mall is located at routes 8, 101, and Prospect Street on the city’s south side in the center of the city’s major retail district. While only 221,000 square feet in size, the long, slender mall hosts approximately 60 stores, most catering to relatively utilitarian needs. With Zeller’s, Sobey’s, Staples, and Shoppers Drug Mart as some of the anchors, it’s the kind of small mall that’s common throughout Canada.

While Fredericton Mall was supplanted as the dominant mall for the Fredericton area in 1976 when the Regent Mall was built across the freeway, it continued to do relatively well until our visit in June 2005, hosting much of the overflow from its larger sibling. All photos here were taken on that June 2005 visit on the crappy VGA camera phone. Unfortunately, in the year since, Fredericton Mall has experienced some heavy changes and much of the mall is now being demolished and big-boxed. Sadly, the Fredericton Mall’s days as an enclosed mall have come to an unceremonious end.

Also, a special thanks to Labelscar friend and poster JP Kirby for giving us some great information on this and other New Brunswick Malls! It’s hard to find much background on a lot of the centers up there.

Wal-Mart Profits Drop for First Time in Decade

I’m a bit slow in addressing the big retail story of the past week, which is that Wal-Mart has posted their first drop in quarterly profits since 1996. This wouldn’t be massive news if it was a chain smaller than Wal-Mart (after all, we aren’t talking about a loss, just a drop in profits). But because Wal-Mart is its own microeconomy and an indicator of the economic health of many Americans, it merits attention.

Wal-Mart blames the loss on some disastrous stores in Germany and South Korea that have been divested, and this may be responsible for much of the problem. But with the current high price of gas, it seems like Wal-Mart’s strategy of targeting working class, rural consumers may be hurting them. Because city-dwellers and suburbanites travel relatively short distances to shop, they tend not to think much of the cost of gas when planning shopping trips. For suburbanites, today’s high gas prices are an inconvenience less than a hardship. But Wal-Mart’s core customer base, who may be traveling 50 miles or more to a Wal-Mart store, may find that the economics of Wal-Mart’s savings may not justify the $3/gallon price tag for gas. In effect, people may well be returning to their local Main Streets in the most rural areas.

Similarly, Wal-Mart’s endless pursuit of the cheap means that they’ve built a customer base that is heavily loaded with many of the most vulnerable consumers, people who struggle to make ends meet and who are being squeezed dangerously by the costs of gasoline, electricity, housing, and more factors that have risen dramatically in the last few years. Because there are other chains who cater more heavily to the mid-range consumer–especially Target, Kohl’s, Sears, and JCPenney–these companies are finding comparatively healthy sales while Wal-Mart’s are struggling to keep up.

In essence, Wal-Mart tied their entire business model to economics, and as such, economic shifts hurt them more than they do their competitors. Increases in costs of most necessities suggest that we may be in an inflationary period, yet the price of most consumer goods has remained relatively steady–largely because of Wal-Mart. But Wal-Mart may be stuck, unable to raise prices for fear of losing customers yet at the same time squeezing themselves out of their already thin margins on many products, especially food. Unlike Target, they don’t try and foster loyalty through improved aesthetics of stores and products, and unlike their grocery competitors, they don’t even attempt to achieve a measure of quality. As a result, all that Wal-Mart offers is the Price Rollback, and historically stores with a value proposition as the price leader have proven to be vulnerable (and this has prevented Wal-Mart from expanding into more expensive American markets like California or the Northeast already)… or at least that’s my take. There are many other possible reasons for this (such as overexpansion or bad publicity), and it may not even be indicative of a larger trend. Feel free to start a dialogue in the comments: What do you think is next for Wal-Mart?

Maple Hill Mall; Kalamazoo, Michigan

When Prangeway and I were taking a lot of road trips in 1998 and 1999, I was always trying to convince him (him being the, um, the one who owned a car) to go to the other malls in a lot of the random midwestern cities we visited. It seems that each time we tried, we hit pay dirt. Kalamazoo was a great example.

The Maple Hill Mall was located on route 43 on Kalamazoo’s west side, separate from the more successful and larger mall in Portage, on the south side. Built in 1971, Maple Hill Mall was the dominant mall in the Kalamazoo area for some time before the 1981 opening of Portage’s Crossroads Mall. The two malls coexisted for some time, but Maple Hill Mall went into decline in the 1990s. Apparently there was a plan around 2000 to try and revitalize the mall, but the loss of both Steketee’s and Montgomery Ward sealed its fate. Maple hill mall was also directly across the street from former Westmain Mall, about which little is known. Perhaps our readers can clue us in.

For some reason, we found ourselves in Kalamazoo quite late in the evening, and visited Maple Hill Mall several hours after it closed for the evening. Since everything was closed, the place seemed eerie even then, even though it was reasonably well-tenanted at the time. The anchors then were still Montgomery Ward, Steketee’s, and Target, plus there was a very bizarre Office Max store whose footprint stepped obtrusively into the mall itself (check thefloorplan at the bottom of this page to see what I mean). We waltzed around the vacant mall for a good ten minutes or so before a bike cop (!) came wheeling out of nowhere around Office Max’s poison corner to tell us that the mall was closed (obviously) and that we should leave. This was early 1999.

It’s unsurprising that the Maple Hill Mall was demolished and replaced with a power center in 2004; it was obvious even seven years ago that the poor old place had become a weak player and that it had lost its prominence. We didn’t take any of our own pictures, but thanks to Labelscar reader and commenter Bobby, we have an eerie set of pictures taken before the whole thing was knocked down. The whole set of pictures from his visit is available on his site Forgotten Michigan, along with a more complete history of Maple Hill Mall.

Silver City Galleria; Taunton, Massachusetts

A few days back, I posted about the small, forgotten Taunton Mall, stomped into the dust nearly a decade and a half ago by the opening of a new retail mecca on the edge of town. Here it is.

The 1.2 million square-foot Silver City Galleria opened to much fanfare in 1992. Built by the Pyramid Cos. of New York at approximately the same time as two other similar Massachusetts Malls–Independence Mall in Kingston and Berkshire Mall in Lanesboro–all of the malls were aimed at bringing shopping to areas that were experiencing population growth in the state. While the Berkshires grew mainly only due to tourism, Southeastern Massachusetts was growing in leaps and bounds, and Silver City Galleria’s strategic location at the junction of routes 140 and 24 allowed it to pull traffic from as far north as the Boston suburbs as well as the entire “South Coast” region (including Fall River and New Bedford) simultaneously. The original anchors at the two-level mall were Sears, JCPenney, Filene’s, Filene’s Basement, TJMaxx, Bradlees, Lechmere, and Hoyt’s Cinemas. The mall is today owned by General Growth Properties.

Silver City Galleria quickly became the area’s dominant mall, causing a great deal of problems for other malls in this part of Massachusetts, in particular the Westgate Mall in Brockton, the Swansea Mall in Swansea, and the (then-North) Dartmouth Mall in Dartmouth. Notably, it pulled both Sears and Bradlees away from the small Taunton Mall immediately, ending that center’s chapter as a viable retail center instantly. In its early days, the Silver City Galleria was so popular that it created backups onto route 24 and necessitated the construction of a new exit ramp.

The mall sported the kind of clean, bright Californian design scheme that was so popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, complete with many large palm trees. While at its root the mall simply follows one long, straight path, the architectural focal point of the Galleria is its monstrous, triangular center court. The mall concourse takes a substantial jog through this area, and the sheer volume of open air in this part of the mall is perhaps its most interesting feature. While Silver City Galleria is a modern mall, the sheer size of its center court is a throwback to the era when malls were built to be grand showplaces.

Silver City still wasn’t without its problems. Silver City Galleria was constructed on a relatively remote parcel located on something of a country road on the edge of the city of Taunton, in an area that did not previously have any chain retail whatsoever. As a result, the mall opened in a location that to many felt like the “middle of nowhere,” and it was impossible to shop anywhere else but the mall. Due to the lack of nearby box retail, many would continue to plan their shopping trips to other retail districts instead and it prevented this mall from being as dominant in the area as Attleboro’s Emerald Square Mall, which was also marginally more upscale. Some chain retail did begin to sprout along route 140 west of route 24 beginning in 2000, and now there is a relatively healthy strip nearby, though it isn’t immediately obvious as to where it is from the mall itself.

Most of Silver City Galleria’s problems through the years came through acquisitions and bankruptcies of its anchor tenants. It lost Lechmere when the chain folded in 1997, and the space would not be filled for nearly eight years until Steve & Barry’s took the space. Bradlees, which anchored the space directly above Lechmere, closed in 2001 and was similarly vacant for four years. Filene’s Basement vacated the mall during a massive round of closings several years ago, and as this store was one of their distinctive and gimmicky “basement” stores, thrown in a basement directly under the mall and accessible by an escalator in the center of the mall concourse, it was difficult to fill. Today it’s a Tuesday Morning–the store that brags about how they’re hard-to-find–which seems somewhat apropos. While these old Filene’s Basement stores are commonplace to us New Englanders, folks from elsewhere may find this weird. There’s a shot of it directly below; look closely and you can see a large sign for Tuesday Morning hanging over the escalators to the basement. While the mall recently lost its TJMaxx store (which was unusual in that it was in-line), it also gained an Old Navy store and an H&M store in the early 2000s.

Another major point of interest is the mall’s Lechmere anchor. Because the store was built on the first level of a “stack” of anchors, with Bradlees on top and facing the opposite direction, this Lechmere store was given an abnormally prominent facade. This one makes me a bit sad, because Lechmere was one of my favorite New England retailers and they offered something of a unique spin on the superstore format. A disastrous acquisition by Montgomery Ward did them in; their parent company’s financial troubles caused the entire chain to fold in 1997. Steve & Barry’s has left the exterior of their store virtually unchanged from the way it looked when Lechmere occupied it:

Silver City Galleria does have some chronic vacancies, mainly in the Filene’s end of the mall, and this has been the case for almost as long as the mall has existed. It seems that given the size of the immediate market (Taunton has a population of about 45,000) and the proximity to many other malls in every direction, Silver City may have been built just a *bit* too large. Since 1992, both Westgate Mall and Dartmouth Mall have undergone renovations and repositionings that have stopped their blood loss to Silver City, and as a result Silver City wasn’t able to steal all of their traffic.