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.
I don’t understand how the Pyramid Co. can design a mall like this, and even the one in Poughkeepsie, but the one in Middletown just sucks so badly. It always did. We used to have a Filenes Basement too. The movie theatre took over the space and the escalators from the mall are gone. We had a Lechmere too.
The Sears and JCPenney look practically identical at this mall. That almost never happens.
Dick’s is coming soon to take most of the old Bradlee’s. According to General Growth’s aerial, two pieces (14,000 and 15,000 SF) will remain vacant.
Yeah, Dick’s actually filled the Bradlees sometime in 2005. One of those two vacant parcels mentioned in the aerial is actually a space located on the far side of the original Lechmere anchor, with access only to the parking lot. It was built as a store to house a House of Fabrics location, which also relocated from the old Taunton Mall. Its location in the mall was horrendous: located way in the back of the center with exterior access only, no one even knew it was there and it failed within a couple years and has never been re-leased, to my knowledge. The other vacancy is probably a similar space, except now in the Bradlees anchor, that Dick’s didn’t need.
Omg I live in Taunton and for the most part I hate the local mall. I usually travel to providence place, or south shore plaza near Boston. Unfortunately I hate to say it but silver city has seen it day. There’s not enough choice in stores and security guards dominate where ever you walk. I miss some of the old stores that it use to have like contempo casuals(wet seal later named), gadzooks, lechmares, filenes basement, Sam goodys, to name a few. But silver city needs to go under renovation if it ever wants to see good sales again.
Why did Pyramid dump this mall instead of keeping it?
TJMaxx has left and been filled in with Best Buy.
Tuesday Morning has left and is…filled in, apparently.
why are ppl talking like that about taunton mall it aint even bad its better than alot of the malls.
i love the galleria mall its the only mall i go to its the best mall ever
The Limited Too store there is now closed, according to the mall website. I think that was an original store to the more. Also the website lists a Forever 21 as coming soon in the same area as the Limited Too. I won’t be surprised if the New York & Company store closes as well to allow for a bigger Forever 21 space. The last time I visited I noticed the tiny Bath & Body Works relocated closer to Macy’s it’s design is similar to the Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie LA that was previously posted – very 70s retro looking. I think this mall should add more upscale stores like Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor LOFT, etc. It would probably become more popular if they did – there definitely is a market for it.
Another interesting fact about this mall is this: It is 100% identical in design to the 1994 expansion of Crossgates Mall in Albany, NY. Now obviously that’s due to Pyramid owning both malls at the time, but this mall could have in a sense been the prototype for the expansion planned for its sister mall. Just a thought. I’d like to think so. It has definitely shifted in the opposite direction that Crossgates. Seems to me it is not the happening place that it originally was envisioned to be. Never having been there though, don’t quote me.
I hate this Mall It just keeps getting worse and worse! Crime and just the whole up keep is terrible beyond words! Its still looks like winter with all the sand and debris around still..Its May! Kids always hanging around too.. Just not the place I like to go to a late nite movie anymore… Thats for sure….
The mall recently lost ruby Tuesdays, so now its down to one restaraunt being bertuccis. The limited too closed which is weird because I use to shop there when I was younger, but its getting forever 21 in its place which is cool. I still hold my opinion of abercrombie and fitch finally making its way to this mall.
this is such a bad mall water always leaking. the mall workers are always not ..the mall security sucks… the store smell.. oh god 1000 degrees just look like a thrift shop… always smells. when you go in there it always is messy and smeels like food. you always see muslim people there and very racist(niger) music .. the guyz there are alwayz flirtin.. nt a safe feelin i wonder y they there still. mall shld kick them out…. fights. i mean this mall should just shut down .. they just filed bankrupcy have ever heard abt tht a mall filing banrapcy… tht means this mall just isnt a worth shoping…..
i hate it .. i hope it shuts down
Samara,
Instead of shopping you should learn how to spell…. Don’t hate on Taunton, maybe you were just raised under a rock and your parents didn’t taech you any morals or manners. You sound like your 12 and you are a hate filled unintellagent child that should be placed in time out for long periods of time, If your acting like this now I can just picture you in 15 years. MIght as well keep a jail cell open for you. Give up shopping and take some life learning class, do the world a favor and stop stealing oxygen!
I think this mall’s problem is that it relies too heavily on seconhand, mom and pop stores to fill vacancies instead of eagerly searching out national retailers. They have been getting better, though, adding Zumiez, Forever 21, Justice, and relocated Bath & Body Works and New York & Company locations. It still has a long way to go to make improvements, especially adding more food options – only one full service restaurant remains, and there are three vacancies in the food court. Another troublesome spot for the mall will be the soon to close Steve & Barry’s location. It probably will be vacant for many many years, just like it was when Lechmere and Bradlees closed.
Steve and Barry’s is now gone, which is now a problem, but the Best Buy in the old TJ Maxx space seems to be doing well (though it opens up to the parking lot, which is a tell-tale sign of what might be to come.
The biggest problem now is that the nearby otherwise healty strip malls further up Rt 140 are experiencing a LOT of closures. There’s Linens and Things which just closed, and a stand alone Circuit City in the same plaza. Nearby is an Office Max (or is it Office Depot, I can never tell them apart) which seems to be going through some sort of crazy liquidation sale, though it doesn’t say it’s closing.
From what I can tell, none of these closures are really the fault of the mall or the tastes of local shoppers. Mostly it’s entire chains going out of business regardless of location.
With S&B gone, the adjacent store which was House of Fabrics, and these 2 maybe 3 potential closures up the road, it seems crazy as f**k that developers in nearly Freetown are adamant with going ahead with a superplaza that nobody- literally nobody- in town wants. I just know they’re going to force that down the throats of the townspeople and it will end up empty when whatever potential tenants can just snap up any of these 5 spaces easily.
I’m from taunton and zumiez isn’t in the galleria mall. But we did get pcx!
::hint sarcasm::
okay this mall is now facing the crisis of going Bankruptcy because of it self i t first removed the ruby tuesday riasing the rent on them then steve n berrys.. now stores like herington and payless are going out of buissiness this mall just sucks i think it is just because of the mall stuff because i have seen many times there is a water leakeage in the mall and wht they do is put a garbage can in underneath it
and the mall environment is bad .. the security does nothing i would never take my family there… i understand the economy status but this mall also just sucks and i guess i am not the only one…. i think they should fire the staff ……. r
okay this mall is now facing the crisis of going Bankruptcy because of it self i t first removed the ruby tuesday riasing the rent on them then steve n berrys.. now stores like herington and payless are going out of buissiness this mall just sucks i think it is just because of the mall stuff because i have seen many times there is a water leakeage in the mall and wht they do is put a garbage can in underneath it
and the mall environment is bad .. the security does nothing i would never take my family there… i understand the economy status but this mall also just sucks and i guess i am not the only one…. i think they should fire the staff ……. r
SILVERCITY MALLi totally agree it sucks now i dont feel like visiting that mall as ter r hardly good stores to shop around.this mall is like once you see a store next time u visit its gone.seems no buisness owners wantto stay in this mall.if there wouldnt be any reason to come at this mall.definately it will have to file bankrupsy one day.i think the management isnt appropriate for running the mall acordingly.if they change the manegements may be it would become again a beter place to visit.and foot traffic will pickup.leakage in most of the stores,airconditioner not working makes the mall look more like a graveyard.always emty all the time with nobody in the mall except the employes who works in the mall.hardly any kiosk’s you can count on your fingers.most of the stores closed or closing.its not economy its some manegement problem.hope they rectify the mistake soon
i read some reviews about the galleria mall.i was shoked to see the mall is more worst to put my reviews in to words.manegement should open their eyes and see how empty the mall is?they need to refill the gaps which makes people never turn back.reason is they dont have any good shops left.i visited the mall few months back n saw a unique kiosk which is very populer in U.S.A now.some lady doing Threading.and Heena tattoo but now i see its not there anymore.it was really great attraction.i inquired n was glad to know from other store she would maybe come back.i liked Ruby Tuesday which isnt coming back.As they increased rent.they moved.most of the stores in the mall r moving or already moved because of the same reason.the manegement plz open ur eyes n see what you gotto do and what u hav made the mall into/it was once busy mall n fill with people.now the employes are the one u see in the mall even the pictures show how dead it hav turned …
i love this mall, n i am very sure all good people and intelligent people will love it too.specailly the people working at h&m, macys, 1000 degrees,and american eagle are very hostile and good people,they give u all the respect,and take care of you,some stores like jcpenny,dunkin dounuts and deb should hire someone like these employees.i and lots of my friends and family members have become so regular at the mall.
yeah ross i agree too.everything is good about the mall,even at the time of bad economy wen people r broke,they like to visit certain stores just for their hospitality and respect,and end up shopping and such shopping is never heavy on pockets,and by certain comments of bitchy people,i personnaly advice to stay home and shop on streets instead.
i am a frequent visitor of this mall n i love this mall.this mall has everything a perfect mall should ever want,and to add somthing more this mall is doing great other than all the malls in chicago and i think even in tauton,only thing i want to say is the mall security should take good interest in their jobs and c that alls well,the mall people should become more strict to maintain this situation and i m sure they will make a success.wishhing all the luck.its a complete american mall.HAIL AMERICA.
As a former teenage mall rat, this mall has gone through some drastic changes over the past few years. It has a lot of mom and pop stores. Example a store dedicated to selling tupperware. Steve and barrys is gone. And when filenes switched to macys a lot of people lost intrest in shopping here. There are a handful of stores that used to be here that were great that have left. Sam goodys, gadzooks, filenes basement, wet seal, to name a few. Now there’s a lot of vacancies. If this mall is ever gonna survive it needs to start adding stores to attract customers again.
i was a frequent visitor at this mall,but now i have stopped coming;;…..
instead, i m driving to boston n visit malls ter.SILVERCITY have nothing
to attract ppl’s interst..no more stores to let ppl in…even the stores that exits there,…are fedup with the staff…office staff just keep poking their nose in ppl’s stores, Renter’s are waiting/hoping for a new and beter staff for the improvement of the mall….as the time changes renters are too waiting for good,decent,flexible,relaxed staff….
this mall staff needs to go…n some beter staff should takeover…i rent a store n i m fed up requesting the staff to change mall hr’s…as it sooooo sooo dead i just pay employes bcoz of the stupid odd hr’s…all other mall already did change the timing accept this is the onli mall in whole boston having so long hr’s…when staff turn deaf ears towards you so they dont deserve the position…since the time they changed the manegement its geting worst day by day…new manegementis worthless..mall is going bankrupsy due to staff not running it…anwering the call or returning ur call is somting they never are taught..they need to do their homework…go back to school…i m sick n tired of this replaced staff…..plz GGP do somting….plz
The Silver City Galleria has been going downhill for a while now. I have been a retail manager since the 90’s and at the Galleria for the past 10 years and have seen the changes that have occured here. The new management is atrocious. The members of the management staff that did care about the mall have left. The marketing manager and the old operations manager have left the mall and it has been even worse since then. If you leave a message with the mall office now you can expect that you will never get a call back. The current members of the management team are non existent and this mall is on its last breath. Let’s not forget about the homicide that happened there a few years ago either. This mall needs life support and fast…
I also remember that killing that took place on 9/11/04 between 7Fox and at the time TJMaxx (now Best Buy), although the perps are jailed, still there are a lot of issues with kids and gangs on Friday and Saturday Nights mainly, and yes, the vacancy is another issue, the administration will have to do something to reattract new tenants to improve clientele or the mall will have to dissapate. Also, in terms of designation, the Silver City Galleria was also designed like the Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg, Maryland Montgomery County, it is very similar in appearance, I think Pyramid also ran Lakeforest in Gaithersburg Maryland before CPI (Corporate Property Investors) took it over in the mid-90s
I have worked in the mall for years and Since the new crew came in with the new manger the mall has been on a downfall. now the mall is half empty, last to last christmas there were kiosk everywhere this year you could count them on your finger( it’s like the EX- President who came in ruined the country and is not even put into the picture the thing with them is they are still ruining it) and the rumour has it– HOLLY —- who is a sales rep –a sales rep is driving people out of the mall… A CONVIENCE store left the mall as the SALES REP raised the rent on them…. AS they refeused and left she didnt even go back and stop them… I MEAN WHERE IS MALL MANGER SHOULDNT HE BE DOING ALL THIS STUFF NOT THE SALES REP.. even the people i know in the mall are very unhappy with her… they basically hate her and have asked GGP to fire but there was no answer.. SHE WAS ACTUALLY FIRED FROM CHICAGO DUE TO SIMILAR HABBITS –SHE WAS MANGER THERE, BUT HAS TRANSFERING HER HERE IN TO A SALES REP HELPED —- nope she still thinks she has every authority to harrass the people in the mall.. HER JOB IS TO ATTRACT CUSTOMERS AND ATTRACT TENANTS TO THE MALL– THAT WHAT A SALES REP IS NOT GOING AROUND AND TELLING PEOPLE YOUR RENT IS GOING BE RAISED NEXT MONTH—
I HOPE THIS COMMENT IS READ BY AN AUTHORITY AND THEY TAKE ACTION AGAINST HER IF THEY DON’T WANT THE MALL TO BE SHUT DOWN..
befor the mall shuts down and we loose a great mall and The one and only mall in taunton the mall management should get rid of HOLLY. OR WARN HER FOR THE KIND OF JOB SHES DOING,…TILL NOW SHE IS SUCESSFUL IN SHUTING ALMOST 3/4 STORES AND GOD KNOWS WHAT IS SHE UPTO SHUTTING DOWN THE MALL FOR THE BENEFIT OF SOME OTHER MALLS..THIS MALL IS THE ONLY WONDERFUL ATTRACTION IN TAUNTON N I BELIEVE ALL PEOPLE LIVING IN TAUNTON N EVEN CLOSE BY WILL BE SAD ON THE CONDITION THE MALL IS GOING THRU….THE MALL MANAGEMENT SHUD SEE IN THIS MATTER N WORK TOWARDS KEEPING THE MALL GOING AND ATTRACTING CUSTOMERS N STORES RATHER THAN SHUTTING DOWN N GETTING JOBLESS..
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a lot of mom and pop stores, just as long as they have a manageable amount of national retailers that people want (Abercrombie & Fitch, Forever 21, H&M, etc) then having plenty of small businesses can complement the national chains and offer even more variety.
One thing the mall may need to improve however is the way things are managed. Instead of increasing rents to make profit, maybe they should host more mall events in the central area and in turn, bring in more money and shoppers.
Oh, the Galleria… I have so many memories of the mall’s haydays shopping with my grandmother. She would do at least 3 laps around the behemoth on both floors. The Galleria was the place to see and be seen. The huge center court attracted a variety of venues and events. The food court is expansive and features an impressive vaulted ceiling and lighting scheme. Compared to other mall food courts, you knew this was a food court and you didn’t want to just dine and go. It was a place to socialize. You could pick from Ruby Tuesday, The Ground Round, or Bertucci’s too.
I remember the stairs too. Anyone else remember them? God, they were useful, but apparenty too many people were falling down them, so they were removed. I still say center court should have had a glass elevator. It would have completed the 90s cheese scheme and added to the grandeur of the Galleria. Now you’ve gotta treck to the offset stairs and elevator to go navigate your way to the upper level in center court…
Anchor-wise, this mall was a typical MA suburan mall. It had the essentials: Sears, JC Penney, Filene’s, Filene’s Basement, Lechmere, and Bradlees. That’s a long list of anchors! A little something for all demographics. No Lord & Taylor. No Macy*s. No Jordan Marsh. You’d have to venture up to SSP in Braintree to find those. It made sense too, SSP’s demographic region has a marginally higher household income.
As far as the mall’s demise, it has been a slippery slope for the Silver City Galleria. The mall is proving to be too much to handle for its size now. There is a particular chronic vacancy next to Filenes/Macy*s on the first floor. A random country furniture store that also happened to sell random TVs (?) and a “Shoe Dept.” store were once there, but not for long.
I’ve been proposing that they add a darn Abercrombie & Fitch there for years. The space is large enough and fits their key store shape exactly. Honestly, I think it would bring business back to the mall. The “financially-sound” Lakeville people would eat it up! Being from Freetown, I HATE having to drive all the way to SSP on 24 and then the dreaded 93 or to Emerald Square via 24/495/95/295 to go to Abercrombie & Fitch. These are 40+ minute trips with terrible traffic. The southcoast needs an Abercrombie & Fitch and Silver City is the perfect place to put it, as opposed to Dartmouth (which has actually been succesfully revived).
It seems like GGP has given up on this mall. It’s heartbreaking. A mall that once reigned supreme is dying. I’ve been away at college in Boston this past year and I went to Silver City after I came back home for the summer. What I found was an empty mall with half of its lights off after sundown! I guess they’re trying to save energy because they can’t afford it. Many stores are vacant now too. Sales are dwindling. I used to work at Hollister there and our sales were steadily declining and our shrink rising. The store might even be closing due to poor sales. The mall is being lost to the gangs and teenie-boppers that rule it now. In fact, GGP even implemented a “can’t be alone if 17 and under” policy to try to curb the violence and disruptions a few years ago. It has since been lifted, but the Galleria still is always a high-school reunion on a Friday night.
Que sera, sera…
A two word suggestion to GGP: Abercrombie & Fitch.
I have been going to the Silver City galleria since it opened and I still enjoy going there. While the Dirt Mall (dartmouth mall) is closer I like alot of the stores in Taunton better. I miss Bradlees and Lechmere and my mom really enjoyed showing in House of Fabrics til they went under. I think this mall is a good size. It’s not too large like the Emerald Sq and not too small like the darmouth mall or Harbour Mall.
I sadly feel all malls are in danger. Most people like to purchase things online and it is really hurting companies and stores that don’t have a large online presence. And even those who do have an online presence are feeling the sting in the stores. In the 70s-80s big department stores and big malls were the hit. People didn’t travel far and the idea of buying nearly everything in one place was very attractive. Nowadays people shop alot online and it hurts local retail.
the economy is horrible and people are not spending. I will hate to see what other stores we know and love go out of business, taking malls with them.
@02780 Luv,
teach*
you’re 12*
unintelligent*
if you’re acting*
if you’re going to tell someone to learn how to spell, you might want to use spell check.
Another store bites the dust. Disney store is closing. GGP save this mall!
this the only good and happenning place in taunton.please dont let this place die tauntoniers do something,get out of ur house visit the mall let the place not become history….if this mall dies or shut down taunton will be out of the map it will become like a dead surburb…its a small mal but atleast a place for hanging out if not shopping we need it in taunton…WILL THE MALL MANAGEMENT DO SOMETHING TO ENHANCE THIS MALL OR PLEASE GET THE OWNERS NUMBER FOR ME…..U GUYZ NEED TO PUT IN LOT OF HARD WORK TO BE TRUE TO UR JOBS…INVITE STORES INVITE DAVE N BUSTERS AT STEVE & BARRYS PLACE GET RUBY TUESDAYS,DNT LET THE BANK GO RENT OUT ALL THE CLOSED STORES AT LESS RENT…OFFER KIOSK TO PEOPLE AT LOW RENT THERES MANY OPTIONS GO GET THEM BEFORE ITS TOO LATE..
Silver City Galleria mall sale hits rocks, foreclosure expected
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate/2011/09/silver-city-mall-sale-hits-rocks.html
this mall is falling apart and its sad because all the mall management does is sit in their office and collect monthly rents instead of getting out there and giving people opportunity to open stores to make this mall live again. their rent is too high and they are never willing to work with people. instead of collecting a lower portion for rent they tell the renters to “take it or leave it” and at this point, people will leave and or have left. it doesn’t make sense to me why they wouldn’t like to make some money for the empty locations but they rather lose out all together. I think it is so reducilous and it needs a change fast. I wouldn’t be surprised if I came to the mall one day and it shut down. this mall has a 40/100 % of stores that are open over the percentage of stores that SHOULD be open. figure something out and make some changes or this mall will shut down.
This mall opened when I was in college in nearby Norton. It is exactly as far from campus as Emerald Square. After a few trips we decided to stick with Emerald, except for Bertucci’s, because Silver City was a little too cold and quiet. Also, the Filene’s Basement didn’t have the seconds and overstocks the more crowded,chaotic South Shore Plaza and downtown stores had. I’m not surprised this mall is on the rocks.
I remember when they built this mall, I was just a little kid. I remember when they opened it while still under construction and there was a huge plastic sheet covering the open part from the under construction part. Anyone remember the place in the food court, Roli Boli i think it was, they were pretty good. I remember all the Chinese places having employees pestering everyone who walked by with free samples. I really remember Bradlees; I got a lot of my Star Wars toys there when Episode 1 came out in 1999; I even have a display for the toys that I aquired from Bradlees. My first computer came from Lechmere. I have (and still wear) a lot of the clothes I got from Steve and Barry’s. Remember the arcade upstairs where Spencer’s is now? My parents got a lot of the tickets for our travels from Liberty Travel. And remember that sports collectibles store, they used to sell cheap Pogs and had outrageously priced sports memorabilia and Star Wars figures, as well as other collectible toys. And I remember Sam Goody; I got seperated from my dad in there when I was little and remember finding the checkout counter and getting an employee to help me find him; I got a free CD because of that, since the manager was impressed that I did that instead of just wandering off looking for him. I remember eating under the BIG Silver City logo in the food court and looking out the glass at the people coming in, trying to see down the girls’ shirts LOL. A lot of memories at that mall…you need to get some pics of the Dartmouth Mall, which was closer to me and I spent many a weekend at when I was a kid.
i used to go there alot wen i was young just to play the arcades there i alwayz ask my mom or dad to go there and i alwayz end up to the arcade and play there for hours now its gone and i think its a sport store like olympia or champs and i live in quincy so it takes 45 to an hr to get there depending on the traffic now theres no arcades left only bb and thats a small one theres no arcades in mass left a true arcade store with all the popular games like mk2 3 or time crisis or pacman but you got dave and busters but thats expensive you have to used their cards to play i want one with quarters or tokens but quarters will make sense
meh, typical ghetto Taunton kid.
One big issue for Taunton and other malls in the area, which are suffering similar problems, is the economy in that part of Massachusetts. Places like Taunton, New Bedford, Fall River, Brockton are for the lack of a better term, dying cities. They reached their pinnacle long ago thanks to manufacturing and since then they’ve been unable or unwilling to adapt to new industries and correspondingly their economies have been in decline ever since. I wouldn’t say that Taunton is as badly off as the Swansea Mall which is considerably smaller and has at least ten completely vacant storefronts and a number of sketchy mom and pop places selling everything from tacky leather goods to hair extensions. A number of mainstream chain retailers at Taunton though do seem to be in a tenuous position. I’ve never been one to buy their stuff, but the last time I was there in October I noticed that even the Old Navy store had closed and was being used as some sort of temporary Halloween themed store. A number of other stores seemed remarkably empty and were advertising deeply discounted sales. I grew up in Dartmouth and although I spent a good amount of time in my younger days at the North Dartmouth Mall and even occasionally at Swansea and Taunton, when my family would go to a mall it was always South Shore mainly for the breadth and quality of their offerings. Taunton at least had a Filene’s and Dartmouth finally picked one up in the early 2000s, shortly before the whole operation switched over to Macy’s but for a lot of people, Taunton, Dartmouth, etc. were never the draw that everyone was looking for.
I visited the Silver City Galleria last night for the first time in about 10 years or so.
I returned to the area and it was on my list of things to do because I used to love going there in the 90s.
It opened when I was 15 and was the place to go. I grew up in Fall River and compared to Harbor Mall (New Harbor by the time SCG opened) it was amazing.
I was expecting a horrible, sad mall after reading this site. What I actually saw was much better then I expected.
Many of the stores that were there originally (or at least in the late 90s) were still there. The food court seems to have only lost Brigham’s, the Chinese restaurant that was the last place on the left and Taco Bell. There were some new places in there and a lot of people eating (about 4:30 on a Saturday before the Super Bowl).
It isn’t the retail mecca it once was, that’s for sure. A few of the big stores I liked (Lechmere, Bradlees) are gone, of course. The conversion van showcase is a glow in the dark mini golf and the swimming pool store is an aquarium place.
I used to love the Newport Creamery here, as well as the Ground Round.
It seems the majority of the best stores closed because of chain bankruptcies.
I had fun on my visit and will def go back.
Silver City Galleria To Receive $5 Million Phase One Renovation
Taunton, Mass. — The MGHerring Group and Tricom Real Estate Group have begun renovating Silver City Galleria, a two-level enclosed shopping center in Taunton anchored by Macy’s, JCPenney, Sears, Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting Goods. It also includes a 10-screen Regal Cinemas and a 12-unit food court. The two firms own the center. MGHerring oversees management, while Tricom oversees leasing. The renovations will include $5 million worth of upgrades in phase one. Complete by the end of 2014, the upgrades include highway visibility improvement efforts, updated lighting and design, renovations to the food court, new escalators, new signage, new automatic entry doors and several other improvements.”
Macy’s used to be Filene’s, but it would be funny to ever see the Filene’s logo again.