All the Malls of New England

Posted in Uncategorized by Caldor on July 29th, 2006
Map of New England

Whenever I bring up my admittedly bizarre hobby as a shopping mall enthusiast around the uninitiated, I almost invariably bring up one point: I’ve been to every enclosed shopping mall in New England. Really. Well, okay, it’s quite possible there’s a few of these buggers hiding on me. Some of the stranger, undersized malls that the International Council of Shopping Centers ignores may still be fingering among the unconquered, but for the most part I’ve done a pretty decent job of systematically weeding these out over the years.

Modeled after Mitch Glaser’s infamous All the Malls of Southern California project, “All the Malls of New England” seeks to do for my corner of the country what Glaser did for his and provide a comprehensive list and resource of everything that’s out there, or everything that was. Because I live in Boston and grew up in Rhode Island, I’m able to tackle New England with a depth of knowledge that I can’t normally provide to areas west of the Hudson River.

It’s important to note, however, that I didn’t regularly take pictures of these malls until relatively recently. That means that I am without good photos of many of the deceased malls on this list, and there are quite a few. I’m hoping that if I put this out onto the web, people will find it via web searches and offer to send in some pictures or information of their own for me to use. If you can help, initiate contact by leaving a comment below and I’ll give you credit or a link to your own website, if you have one. I just want to bring this material into one place for everyone to find it.

With that, here is the list of All the Malls of New England, past, present, and occasionally future, sorted by state. The links on this page will fill in as I post on each of these individual malls.

Connecticut

Maine

  • Airport Mall, Bangor
  • Aroostook Centre Mall, Presque Isle
  • Auburn Mall, Auburn
  • Bangor Mall, Bangor
  • Cooks Corner Mall, Brunswick
  • JFK Mall, Waterville
  • Lewiston Mall, Lewiston
  • Maine Coast Mall, Ellsworth
  • Maine Mall, South Portland
  • Promenade Mall, Lewiston
  • Turnpike Mall, Augusta
  • University Mall, Orono
  • Windham Mall, North Windham

Massachusetts*

New Hampshire

  • Bedford Mall, Bedford
  • Belknap Mall and Plaza, Belmont (Laconia)
  • Colony Mill Marketplace, Keene
  • Depot Mall, Lincoln
  • Fox Run Mall, Newington (Portsmouth)
  • Hampshire Square Mall, Manchester
  • Lilac Mall, Rochester
  • The Mall at Rockingham Park, Salem
  • The Mall of New Hampshire, Manchester
  • Mountain Valley Mall, North Conway
  • Nashua Mall and Plaza, Nashua
  • Newington Mall, Newington (Portsmouth)
  • Pheasant Lane Mall, Nashua
  • Powerhouse Mall, West Lebanon
  • Rockingham Mall, Salem
  • Steeplegate Mall, Concord

Rhode Island

Vermont

*A note about Massachusetts: There are a large number of additional malls in Massachusetts that I don’t count, though I ultimately may change my mind about some of these. There are at least a handful of enclosed shopping malls in the center of Boston and Cambridge that are very small and serve primarily as food courts, such as the Corner Mall, CityPlace, The Garage Mall, and the Longwood Galleria.

In addition, many of the outlying cities around the Boston area constructed downtown malls at one point or another. Some of these should count and others should not, so the list may be revised periodically for this reason.

In addition, Fall River is home to a group of old mill complexes that were converted to enclosed outlet malls in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of these are languishing or closed, and at present I’m not going to include any of them.

| Labelscar Home | Directory By State

40 Responses to 'All the Malls of New England'

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  1. Steven Swain said,

    on August 1st, 2006 at 12:41 am

    I’m a fan of Mitch’s project, and your mall odyssey sounds promising as well.

  2. Ryan Lindermann said,

    on August 23rd, 2006 at 4:42 pm

    I would love to see your take on the malls where I live locally; the Cape Cod Mall, the Hanover Mall and the Independance Mall.
    The Independance Mall is my favorite; I just plain hate the other two because it has neither character nor any reason to really go there in particular.

  3. Bobby said,

    on September 14th, 2006 at 11:04 pm

    I’m working on a similar page for Michigan myself. I already have most data compiled for Michigan and Indiana.

  4. Walter Mann said,

    on October 9th, 2006 at 4:58 am

    Hey, you need to add the “Acme Mall” in Hamden, CT. Now a strip center with Super Stop & Shop and AJ Wright as major tenants, the Acme Mall in the 1970’s was very similar to the Meriden Mall (now Hub). Acme Mall had a Grant City Department Store and Pegnataro’s Supermarket as main anchors, along with Consumer Value Stores, later re-named and better known now as “CVS.”

  5. Mark said,

    on November 6th, 2006 at 2:04 am

    A word of importance about some of Connecticut’s malls on that list,many of them are demolished/reconfigured now, so it is unfortantely impossible to go out and take pictures of them.

    Many of them may require searching through archives for pictures.

    The ones that are not around include:
    Acme Mall (strip center)
    Civic Center Mall (now Hartford 21)
    Farmington Valley Mall (now Simsbury Commons)
    Lafayette Plaza (now college campus)
    Naugatuck Valley Mall (now Naugatuck Valley Shopping Center)

    I hope you can find more information and pictures of the Farmington Valley Mall and Naugatuck Valley Mall because those were two malls I consistently shopped at with my family and both of them were short of spectacular for being single floored.

  6. Mark said,

    on November 6th, 2006 at 10:37 pm

    Some helpful information for you:

    The Caldor Rainbow has a good section on the Norwichtown Mall along with current pictures.

    Deadmalls has some info on the Lafayette Plaza, Civic Center Mall, Charter Oak Mall, and Chapel Square.

  7. Mark said,

    on November 13th, 2006 at 12:39 am

    A good source for old birds eye views of now long gone malls and other retail centers is TerraServer USA.

  8. XISMZERO said,

    on February 23rd, 2007 at 1:05 am

    There aren’t two malls in Enfield, Connecticut; there’s but one: Enfield Square. There’s a partially interesting story behind it for those who hate the “Westfield” brand. It was originally Enfield Square, became Westfield Enfield, then they sold the mall to Vornado Realty and it was restored to Enfield Square! Actually I think Westfield left their best mark before leaving by adding Target to the somewhat dried up anchor roster here but features one of the most bizarre “rainbow arch” former G. Fox buildings in the state. The mall itself is quite dull though but an interesting one-corridor 70’s mall that hasn’t changed too much over time.

  9. Caldor said,

    on February 23rd, 2007 at 3:04 am

    It was over-ambitious of me to include since it’s long, long gone, but in fact there was a second mall in Enfield, Connecticut. The Enfield Mall was anchored by Woolco and Sage-Allen, and I BELIEVE it was of the current strip centers located along Hazard Ave., just south of the Enfield Square Mall.

  10. Devin de Gruyl said,

    on March 4th, 2007 at 6:10 am

    The old, original Enfield Mall was indeed turned into a strip center on Hazard Ave. It’s the one directly north of Brookside Plaza, if that’s what it’s still called (I’ve been living in Ohio since ‘88). I can provide a little more history on the place, since my parents would frequent it for quite a few years (they were avid Woolco shoppers):

    The former Woolco anchor was first used for a weekly flea market shortly after the chain closed, then Channel Hardware took over most of the box (sealing it off from the mall in the process). The little space in between Channel and the Mall was used for a Card Gallery (that did keep the mall entrance). Sage-Allen was a seasonal-use place for several years, before Bob’s (then still Bob’s Surplus Stores) moved in; I believe they’re still there to this day. The interior stores were about what you’d expect from a dying/dead mall of the early-’80s; lots of independent, low-grade “bazaar”-type stuff. (My first experience with imported Japanese toys came at this mall circa 1985, when my parents bought me some off-brand Transformers clones at a tiny import toy store there.) There was also a pretty decent arcade and a Carvel with an exterior entrance as well as mall access. By this point it was called “Enfield Outlet Mall,” apparently as an effort to attract outlet-style businesses, but it never really took.

    I last saw Enfield Outlet Mall as such in April 1989, and the only businesses open were Channel (which was about to go belly-up), Bob’s, Card Gallery, and I think the Carvel. The interior of the mall wasn’t closed, but it was dark and eerie. When next I saw it, in 1991, it had been transformed into the strip plaza, with Bradlees (which had moved from its former location on Rt. 5/King Ave, next to Stop & Shop) in the old Woolco/Channel store.

    I remember the old Enfield Mall as having some really trippy abandoned storefronts from the ’60s or ’70s; I never saw it at full capacity, sadly (I moved to the area in ‘78, when I was four, and by then it was already dying by inches). Every weekend, there’d be a flea market throughout the corridor, even spilling over into some of the vacant stores; my dad still has a socket set he bought at one of those stations.

    I hope that fills in some of the gaps in the knowledge of the original Enfield Mall… 8^)

  11. XISMZERO said,

    on March 15th, 2007 at 3:31 am

    Fascinating information about another Enfield Mall. The Brookside Plaza owners just revamped the plaza in late 06/early 07 (which was last draped in some ugly rippled blue scaffold). Now, it’s vital and contemporary (although the Dunkin’ Donuts outpacel is still an oldie shingled roof one).

    I managed to snag a photo of the old 80’s sign just days before they tore the last one of the few down in Fall 06 for a cringe-worthy safe looking “boring contemporary” one. The place was suffering for a while having a bunch of anchors move across the street. The plaza was becoming dilapidated and vacant again (Barnes & Noble, who co-moved into the former Bradlees space across the way).

    I would’ve never guessed this was once an indoor mall; looks exactly like a strip mall would typically look like.

    Devin, I’d love for you to email me with background on the current Enfield Square Mall’s history. I know as much as it was originally anchored by Sage-Allen and G. Fox (which probably still resembles the ‘71 design).

  12. XISMZERO said,

    on March 15th, 2007 at 3:42 am

    Wait a minute, I think you’re talking about what’s now called Enfield Commons. Bob’s is still there, Bradlees vacated in 2001 for Marshall’s and Barnes & Noble. Brookside Plaza is across the street, which is where a few of the current anchors were once located. If you’re talking about Enfield Commons being the former mall (on the same side of the road as Enfield Square Mall), there’s some old parcels (a bank and a Job Lot) which still are leftover on the far edge of the plaza from ages (70’s looking) ago. I’ll get pictures soon.

    According to your claim about Bradlees having moved from from Rt. 5/King Street, appearently an ad found from what I believe is from before 1973, Bradlees has been on Hazard Ave. since (at least) before ‘73 (probably in the 60s) until it went out of business. Check my Bradlees page on my website for details about the Enfield location(s)?. A reader of my site believes there could’ve been two stores in Enfield at one point although the prominent is presumed to be Hazard Avenue (and there’s proof on my page it’s been there from at least the early 70s until closure in 2001).

    My apologies for sorting this out on this topic.

  13. Devin de Gruyl said,

    on March 16th, 2007 at 10:43 pm

    Yeah, that’s the one. I’d forgotten what it was called now, hence why I didn’t say anything in my post, but Enfield Commons is it.

    And I’m looking at the ad on your site that you reference… it does say Bradlees was on “Route 5 and Interstate 91,” which matches up with my memory. It was there right next door to a Stop & Shop in a pretty ugly ’70s-vintage two-store box, and stayed there for as long as I lived in the area. They moved from there to go to Hazard Ave. and anchor the just-converted Enfield Commons. IIRC, when I last saw the old Bradlees/Stop & Shop site on US 5 it had been converted into a warehouse-club style single store (I want to say Sam’s), but I can’t find any line on what it’s being used for now.

    Enfield Square… The original anchors were definitely G. Fox and Steigers. JCPenney may or may not have been an original anchor; I’m really not clear on if it was part of the original construction, though I’m almost certain that it was. My hesitation is due to a half-remembered statement I once read that won’t go away, which said JCPenney was added a few years after the mall opened. (The Target wing, of course, was a much more recent addition; originally that was just the main mall entrance.) Other tenants that I remember included Child World, a fountain-style Friendly’s, Frederick’s Jewelers (which, IIRC, had a business on or near the mall property since well before Enfield Square existed; when it closed in ‘87 or thereabouts, it was around the time the interior was redone in the blue-diamond motif, I remember a big stink raised in the local media about it), Orange Julius, various small clothing stores, So Fro Fabrics, and a lunch counter-style pizzareia, L’Expo, that as I recall served some of the best pizza this side of Brooklyn. There was also a large-ish Radio Shack that had both mall and exterior access. Sears now occupies the old Steigers, while the JCPenney and G. Fox were turned into Filene’s and eventually Macy*s. (Based on recent pictures, Macy*s has at least kept the old G. Fox “rainbow arch” doorways, which is kinda cool.)

  14. Dean said,

    on March 29th, 2007 at 7:16 pm

    My father opened the El Matador Cocktail Lounge (later changed to the “190 East”) in the old Enfield Mall, so as I kid I used to spend a lot of time there. At the time it opened, it was billed as “the first mall in New England”, but I don’t know if that was true. Some of the other original stores included Jonathan’s Eatery/Arcade, a liquor store, a really good book store, Radio Shack, Anthony’s Pizza, and Orange Julius. On the other side was a Finast grocery store and a People’s Bank.

    Re: Bradlee’s, not only was it on King St./Rt. 5 but it was on Enfield Street near Brainerd Rd. next to a Stop and Shop in the 60’s and maybe early 70’s before then.

    As for the Enfield Square, anyone remember the funky “Airport” store? Or Fanny Farmer candy, that served the best Slurpee’s in town? And you’re right… L’Expo’s was the best pizza you could buy by the slice. I think it was 55 cents at one time….

  15. JSN said,

    on April 4th, 2007 at 7:11 pm

    You’re missing a Fall River mall that’s not in a converted mill…

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Harbour_Mall

    Take care!

  16. JSN said,

    on April 4th, 2007 at 7:12 pm

    Never mind… must’ve missed it on the first read-through.
    Enjoy the site very much.

  17. Andrew said,

    on July 15th, 2007 at 8:30 pm

    I had the pleasure of spending many hours in the old Enfield Mall as a child, teenager and young adult (Early 70’s - mid 80’s).

    It was strange mall; by the late 70’s there were many empty storefronts and it’s appearance was dark and a little dreary. It definately had a whole 70’s vibe.

    I spent a lot of time in the dark arcade, especially when Space Invaders came out in 1978 - I remembering standing in line to play. From there, the whole arcade just took off.

    Most of the action was on the west side of the mall next to the arcade - adjacent was the drugstore and the headshop. The headshop was on the corner next to the arcade and it sold bongs, Led Zep/Doors stuff. Across from mall was a diner and a record store. Further down was a great bookstore which seemed big at the time, but is small in comparison to today. Of course, the 190 East bar was there. I was at the bar several times during 1986 or 1987. The bar was divided into a regular bar and a juice bar. I wasn’t of age, so I was on the juice bar side playing pool while friends of age slipped drinks to us!
    Anyway, the bar was cool except when gang members started coming down from Springfield, MA to mess with us white kids. As you would accept, things got bad and it was no longer a place to hang out.

    Finally, I really enjoyed the flea markets they held on Sundays - I purchased a lot of Red Sox baseball cards and comic books.

    Overall, it was an enjoyable mall to hang out in and I’ve never seen anything like it - cool place to meet chics too!

    I would love to see some pictures of the inside of the mall back in the day!

  18. John said,

    on July 30th, 2007 at 1:31 pm

    I have enjoyed reading your takes on local malls. I would love to read your takes on the dying Liberty Tree Mall that is kind of like a “strip center” now, Northshore Mall which is undergoing a big construction project, adding P.F. Changs and Cheesecake Factory, and the Massachusetts Square One Mall. A page about the Burlington (MA) Mall, South Shore Mall, and Natick Mall would also be interesting.

  19. John said,

    on July 30th, 2007 at 1:34 pm

    Since there is not a page yet about the Natick Mall / Collection, I will post this here. As you may now, a JCPenney has opened at the Natick Mall a few months ago. This is weird, since all upscale stores are opening at this mall like Tiffanys, Neimans, and Nordstrom. I have heard that the JCPenney here isn’t doing that good, probably because of this and since it’s in a bad spot at the mall, not visable from Route 9.

  20. Gary Nelson said,

    on July 30th, 2007 at 8:53 pm

    If JCPenney decides to close up shop at the Natick Mall, it would be a wise move to turn the department store building into more mall space, and perhaps put a two-story Barnes and Noble and an AMC megaplex theater on the top level, just like the Tysons Corner expansion.

  21. rich said,

    on July 30th, 2007 at 10:02 pm

    One small omission (it’s probably gone by now): Glastonbury Mall, it was on the main drag (I forget the name from East Hartford). I don’t think it had a major anchor. I remember small specialty stores. There was a Frank’s super market nearby.

    BTW, what became of Westfarms’ neighbor, Corbins Corner Parkade. It was a mid-1950s relic. The Stop-n-Shop was almost entirely untouched in the early 80s. Other than Sears, I don’t think any store in that center did much business, yet it a number of fairly large stores (not major mall anchor large, but large for a 50s center without a lot of stores) including D&L (out of New Britain) and Kennedy’s (out of Boston, I think).

  22. mallguy said,

    on July 30th, 2007 at 11:45 pm

    I haven’t been to Natick Mall (or the Natick Collection) in years, but it looks exciting what they are doing there. Kind of reminds me of what is going to be happening at Quakerbridge Mall in NJ with their upcoming addition of Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom,100 stores in a new wing and new JCPenney.

    It would probably be a little early to presume JCPenney would close, but JCPenney has survived and thrived in more upscale malls such as Roosevelt Field and Garden State Plaza. The GSP JCPenney is surrounded by the mall and does not even have an outside entrance. And the new Quakerbridge JCPenney will be located in the back of the mall and not have route 1 visibility…it will probably be a lot nicer than the current one which will close in January 2008.

    I’m interested in seeing and hearing more about Natick’s transformation (they are even building condos at the mall…I think Macerich will be looking closely at this to see if they are going to go through with the Tysons Corner residential expansion) and am glad that Nordstrom is now expanding into Massachusetts (Burlington, Northshore and South Shore Plaza will eventually be opening).

  23. Bobby said,

    on July 31st, 2007 at 7:27 am

    Any information on Glastonbury Mall? Google says it never existed.

  24. Rich said,

    on July 31st, 2007 at 9:13 am

    “Google says it never existed”—-meaning nothing comes up? That doesn’t mean much. It was there in the 70s & 80s and had small specialty shops.

  25. Bobby said,

    on July 31st, 2007 at 10:40 am

    Google turns up nothing at all. Do you know what replaced that mall?

  26. John said,

    on August 1st, 2007 at 11:55 am

    I have a funny feeling that the addition of upscale stores at the Northshore Mall might not do so well. Most attempts to make the mall upscale have been unsuccessful, with Lord & Taylor closing. Also, Nordstrom will already have a store at the Burlington Mall, so “richer” people around Burlington won’t be attracted to go to Northshore. The Northshore has some well off people who will be able to afford Nordstrom, but who knows how they’ll do with 2 stores 15 minutes apart.

  27. mallguy said,

    on August 1st, 2007 at 11:51 pm

    MA is way behind in terms of Nordstrom and with the openings (Braintree, Burlington, Natick, Peabody), they are catching up. Plus, the traffic in the Boston area is really bad and it would be much easier for the North Shore/978 population of MA to drive to Peabody than all the way to Burlington or Braintree. As Nordstrom has done in many malls, their opening will definitely attract the upscale stores.

  28. John said,

    on August 2nd, 2007 at 9:32 pm

    Dillard’s should have also showed an interest in all of the Massachusetts & NH department store openings. Do you think they would have done well with some New England stores?

  29. rich said,

    on August 2nd, 2007 at 11:11 pm

    Dillard has not done well in their most northern market (Cleveland). They really wouldn’t fit at all in New England. Places like Atlanta are their speed.

  30. John said,

    on August 2nd, 2007 at 11:50 pm

    Bailey Banks & Biddle has left the Boston area all together. Their Burlington, Copley Place (Boston), and Braintree stores are gone. I noticed that a couple of weeks ago.

  31. CT said,

    on August 20th, 2007 at 9:30 pm

    Rich,
    The Corbins Corner is still there as is Sears. The JOes Bar & Grill and Upscale Italian eatery above it both closed near the other end of the plaza. Stores that align that mall are now; a jeweler, Office Depot, Toys R Us, Pier One, Trader Joes, D’Angelos, Best Buy and a number of others. Where Joe’s was a new Red Robin just was built and opened. IN the front corner on the Sears side an Olive Garden opened in the last year. That area is hopping.

  32. Paul DaSilva Jr. said,

    on September 16th, 2007 at 2:49 pm

    As a kid in the 1980s we went to the Harborlight Mall in Weymouth and the Dedham Mall in Dedham quite often. The Harborlight was one of my favorites..I remember the color scheme and the large skylights. And the many fountains. For some reason we stopped going there around 1988 and five years later we moved to Ohio. I was in Boston in 1999 and visited the old Harborlight to see it a dying and decaying mall. Being back to the Boston area several times since I know it finally was shuttered. Only 20% or so of business were still open..the fountains were shut off in ‘99..I would love to see any old photos or info on this dead mall..as well as Dedham Mall.

  33. Mark said,

    on October 30th, 2007 at 5:56 pm

    I’ve just stumbled upon some excellent photos of the Farmington Valley Mall scan when it first opened, logo included!

    they can be found in the thread about the mall on Ames Fan Club Forums.

    XISMERO took the pics, ask him if you can use them for an article about the mall which opened in 1972!!!!

    Hope this extra info helps.

    My eyes went wide open when I stumbled upon them.

  34. AceJay said,

    on November 26th, 2007 at 12:00 pm

    A bit of info on North Conway’s Mountain Valley Mall:

    -Middle part of the mall is completely gone now.
    -Hannaford’s is now stand-alone.
    -Remaining is a portion of the old K-Mart wing, which is now anchored by a modern, but tiny JC Penney.
    -Penneys is only accessible from outside.
    -The inside of the mall is basically like this now:
    http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/5416/80732997br8.png
    -The circle was built but the Fairway Plaza is not.
    -Panda Express is supposedly really popular and I noticed they have a “Dinner and a Movie” deal where you eat there and get $2 off a movie ticket.
    -Interior is still the same as when it was built, nasty brown.
    -The available outparcel is not built.
    -A new shopping expansion of Settler’s Green is across the street, and includes a Borders Express and other mall-like tenants. (Cold Stone ZOMG)
    -The exterior of the mall looks great (log-cabin style) with the exception of the emergency exit of the theaters =/
    -There are PO Boxes in the mall, hahaha.

  35. Kevin said,

    on December 23rd, 2007 at 7:25 pm

    What about Hanover Mall in Massachusetts? This is one of my favorite malls, and a great success story!!!

  36. Corinne said,

    on March 12th, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    the head shop in the enfield mall was called crazy joyce’s it was owned by Joyce Rubenstein who has long since passed away. Yes the 190 east was in that mall also. I don’t remember the name of the arcade but it was owned by the Jarvis family out of Agawam MA
    The enfield square before it was built use to be a bowling alley. years after the mall was built there was a bar in the mall where Ruby Tuesdays is called the Brave Bull.

  37. Corinne said,

    on March 12th, 2008 at 12:40 pm

    Woolco’s was in the Enfield Mall which is where Bradlees was until they closed, I worked at Bradlees on Hazard Ave.

  38. Brian said,

    on March 21st, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    I believe you have overlooked the Tontine Mall in Downtown Brunswick. Maine. Originally this small mall had a couple of typical mall retailers but eventually became populated by strictly local businesses. I do not know if it is there any more or not.

    Also, the Rainbow Mall in Portland, Maine, which is now the location of Andover College

  39. Barbara said,

    on April 7th, 2008 at 1:30 am

    Anyone remember then Towers was in Enfield? First it was on rt. 5, north end then it was in the south end of rt 5 where Bradlees and stop and shop eventually located. How about the olld Railroad Salvage commercials that Ruby Vine and his daughter used to do.

  40. Jon said,

    on May 2nd, 2008 at 1:20 am

    Dean-
    I remember “Airport” at Enfield Square in the 70s. The textured rubber floor…the brushed steel…the purple runway lights.

    It wasn’t far from the pizza joint on the corner. That pizza by the slice was the f’in best.

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