Comments on: Chapel Square Mall; New Haven, Connecticut

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:27:19 +0000

Hey Eric
I lived right outside New Haven & I remember that same walk from the parking garage through the mall ,Do you remember the big parakete cage in the childrens shoe department ….Man when I was a kid I used to love that thing….Your right though the reason that mall got voted down everytime was because of the way the highways i ntersected over their on the Q bridge & 95, but then they went ahead & put up this huge store where its just as packed as any mall Ive ever seem Akeea.

By: Marvin

Marvin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:00:50 +0000

I grew up in New Haven during ‘ its day ‘. Malleys, Macys, W. T. Grants, Kresgees, American Discount, you never had to leave the city. I remember at Christmas mom would take us window shopping during the NIGHT, yes the night. Everything was beautifully decorated and their were no strangers, everyone was friendly. I remember in W.T. Grants for a fee they would give the kids a fishing pole with a hook on the end. We would stand on the upper level and drop the line ‘downstairs’ and try go hook a persent. That was really fun and memorable, obviously. I remember as a young adult working at SNET and going to the Galleria in Chaple Square for dinner; I worked 4-12. I remember sitting on the green eating salad from Vitto’s on Center St. Ah, least I forget Karmel Corn on Center St – before Vittos. Those were the days. I still love going into New Haven. New Haven has a certain mystique even though it’s lost most of its stores. It is, and always will be, home.

By: John

John — Wed, 13 May 2009 19:30:47 +0000

No matter how much they try in updating this mall, they nor any architect will never reach the simple, clean, modern and artistic excellence of the malls of the past.

By: Laura

Laura — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:10:43 +0000

I remember the good old days when there was the Connecticut Company Bus Company as I took the bus to go shopping downtown New Haven. People really dressed up back then.

I must say that the Chapel Square Mall was something in it’s heyday. Wonderful shops and restaurants and the Trianon Lounge in the Park Plaza Hotel. I also worked at Macy’s and remember the Edward Malley Company. I remember when the National Guard guarded downtown New Haven, which was closed due to a rally on the New Haven Green. I remember Cutler’s Record Shop.

There were a lot of fond memories and I will never forget the good old days. I moved to South Carolina in 1975 and came back years later to see that nothing exists anymore. If we could only turn back the hands of time. Shopping during the holiday season was especially wonderful. It’s really sad to me that you can’t bring any of it back.

By: ericka

ericka — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:56:36 +0000

The record store that was in the mall in the early 80’s was called Record World. I loved the mall since it centered in the heart of downtown. All buses in New Haven stop downtown so everyone at one time or another had to go downtown by bus. The mall was fun in the 80’s when I was in middle/high school. I remember the one day sales at Macy’s and the doll house at Malley’s that lit up. I remeber when designer handbags were all the rage in the 80’s and Macy’s downtown New haven sold Fendi, Gucci and all the latest clothes at that time. I have fond memories of the mall but appreciate the “new” New Haven. I haven’t left the area because of the close approximty to NYC and Boston. You have the benefit of a small city and the ability to go to a major in two hours and go back hom the same day. Great blog site!! I stumbled on this by accident but have always been fascinated by malls and for every city I have visited I always search out the malls in the area.

By: David

David — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:55:57 +0000

I don’t recall a record store ever being in the Chapel Square Mall–Cutler’s was always the place to go. But then again, after Macy’s closed, I didn’t go there too much after that. Maybe there was a record store there for a little while after Macy’s closed…

To Mark’s comments I say sure, many of the efforts New Haven tried to improve commercial and subsequent tax revenue were failures. However, New Haven’s problems are far more complex than to blame them on poor government initiatives. You tout Yale’s contribution to some “erstwhile projects” and think that is the answer? Yale is simultaneously the reason for New Haven’s existance today, and also the reason why New Haven as a municipality will never succeed. New Haven has one of the highest mil rates in the country because of the “generosity” of Yale. Yale “Corporation” should be investing hundreds of millions into the city that bears the burden of its “non-profit” status. And still, every time a property goes up for sale, Yale snatches it up and removes it from the tax revenue of the city–and then people give them credit for a marginal at best reinvestment in the city. How many BILLIONS of dollars is Yale’s endowment worth? What’s it now? $50,000,000,000? That’s a lot of zeros when the city is suffocating on their non-profit status… So before you throw this white knight status on Yale, consider that the bright Ivy League administration did not have the foresight to recognize that suffocating the city’s revenue in which they reside would ultimately affect them.

This partnership should have happened in the 70’s. Now it may be too late. It’s too bad. I love New Haven AND Yale. But I recognize the failings of both. But you’re right on one thing–they have to work together for it to succeed on any level.

By: Irene

Irene — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:02:21 +0000

Does anyone know the name of the record store located in this mall? I did an article about record stores in Connecticut and visited New Haven to go to Cutler’s (which has a bit of everything) and Red Coat Records, in West Haven, which was mostly hip hop and R&B. I spoke with the owner there, but, never realizing New Haven had a mall, didn’t ask him if Red Coat was once located in New Haven. Considering West Haven is pretty empty, it would make sense if this store was once part of Chapel Square Mall.

By: Mark D';Antonio

Mark D';Antonio — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:39:13 +0000

New Haven changed for thw worse when the NH Arena and the NH Blades hockey team were allowed to be demolishedm, and leave, respectively. New Haven was aland wlays bwill be an “Arena” type of town, and the city’s miserably failed attempt to buo,d and Coliseum abd remake itself into something it could never be, lingers to this day. Thankfully, Yale put some of their $$ behind a few erstwhile projects, and slowly but surely, many of the porrer neighborhoods and the idiotys who live there and peddle their drugs and shot their guys, are gettig the heave ho. but its taking a looooong time.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:49:03 +0000

I loved the old Malleys store on the corner of Church and Temple.
Those were the days; a real department store with quality merchandise. Anyone have any photos of the New Haven storefronts of the 1950’s?

By: David

David — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:38:25 +0000

This was an interesting blast from the past… I don’t live in New Haven anymore–I live in Cleveland now–but I miss it, believe it or not. A lot of people rag on New Haven, particularly those who never gave it a chance. You have all those people who live out in Branford, Milford, Orange–you know, the ‘burbs–who would never go downtown to do anything only because the news said there was a murder, drive-by or what have you. What Channel 8, 3 or 30 never told you was it was over on Davenport or Columbus Avenue, far away from retail or the bar scene.

I have been away for 12 years now and I try to get back whenever I can. It has changed a lot, mostly for the better. I was somewhat disappointed to see the video of the Coliseum demolition, as I have fond childhood memories of Ringling Bros, concerts and New Haven Nighthawks hockey. I hate hockey, but it was still fun to see those guys do slapshots into the crowd for kicks… And then Malley’s (with the bird cage) and then later Macy’s closing. I remember going to Macy’s to buy my girlfiend perfume and to buy myself clothes in the alcove of the Men’s section near Temple Street. Then there was the Chapel Square Mall with the leather shop, Harstan’s and One Potato Two in the food court. Sure, it was a dump. But it still got me what I needed for Christmas, I bought my engagement ring at the Harstan’s there, and I had always enjoyed going to the Green for lunch when I worked at Yale. I was in New Haven over the holidays and last summer and I can tell you that indeed, it is strange to drive up Church Street from the 34 Connector and see no Coliseum, Malley’s or Macy’s Building…

What people in Branford (where I used to live) and all the communities like it missed was that New Haven has to this fantastic night-life. Great bar scene that you won’t find in Hartford or Bridgeport, and a restaurant selection that is second to none in a city twice New Haven’s size. Cleveland’s top 5 restaurants would not make the top 20 in New Haven. (Please, spare the Cleveland jokes, they’re old and Cleveland has its own great attributes).

My one glaring criticism of New Haven is not really New Haven’s fault–the age old conflict of have a premier university located smack dab in the middle of the city. In of itself, it is a wonderful thing because many of the things that make New Haven a great place is because Yale is there. But I question the wisdom of converting the 9th Square area and surrounding blocks to this Gateway Project. The Gateway Project will dedicate more land (New Haven has a finite amount of it) to non-profit organizations that will reduce further the tax revenue the city can collect from an already dwindling property tax base (thank you Yale for buying up all those houses for sale). I don’t have any answers to this conflict, but I suppose it is better to have something in the area besides vacant lots where the students, presumably, can spend their money and help the city’s revenue that way.

Anyway, as a former New Haven area resident, I am never ashamed to tell people where I am from…