Comments on: University Mall; South Burlington, Vermont

By: tre

tre — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:17:09 +0000

Was that the Arby’s that is now Craft Barn? I believe they went rapidly through a few faces, including a strip joint that closed as soon as it was opened, practically, due to a sudden change of mind by the local government when citizens complained. The…entrepreneur in that case had several thriving clubs in sunnier, more free-loving climes, like Rutland. This back in the mid-90’s…not the same theme as the malls, but the only other strip club I can think of, also on Williston Road, was Vinnie’s HotSpot, which I think had been there for years, though on the fringes of the downtown area, not right off rte 89 like the Arby’s, now Craft Barn strippery. What ever happened to ol’ Vinnie, I wonder, and why the sudden cooling of the HotSpot (now a cell phone/paging company)?

By: rob

rob — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:54:02 +0000

I worked at the U-mall in the eighties…Remember “The Great HotDog Experience”? It was a hot dog vendor where Annie’s pretzels is now…
Bj’s Ice Cream was next to This End Up furniture and Merle Norman Cosmetics, all in the row where Things Rembered is now. Radio Shack and Spencer’s Gifts surprisingly are still there, in the same spots….Designs, the Levi store was where GNC and the new hallway to get to Sears are now. If I also remember correctly,Papa Gino’s was on one end of the mall and Wendy’s was on the other.There was no food court,then.The current location of Hallmark used to be Chess King. Where victorias Secret was, used to be Thom McCann shoes. this brought back some awesome memories of when I was a mall rat!

By: Mario I

Mario I — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:51:14 +0000

Mall 189:

I remember the Arby’s that was at Mall 189. There was also a Arby’S on Williston road near University Mall.

What was the Hardware store besides the Martin’s at University Mall?

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:46:34 +0000

Tracy talked about Grand Way just north of 189 on 7. I think there was also a Grand Union next door (both were owned by the Grand Union company), and there was an opening to get from one to the other. I believe there was some sort of fast food establishment on the right hand side as you faced the “mall” (strip mall, really), possibly an Arby’s. I don’t recall any other stores in there.

By: Jace

Jace — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:15:33 +0000

The pharmacy was a Welby Superdrug. It moved into Martin’s Foodstore (now Hannaford) when Martin’s moved from where they would build the new Zayres (now Kohls). I miss the old layout as a kid; the “food court” was a bunch of tables set up around where Customer Service is now. Musicland was where Bath & Body Works is now, next to Kinney Shoes and then Waldenbooks, Hallmark. Hallmark moved across the hall and Waldenbooks into the new expansion when they blasted through for the new Sears anchor and garage.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:21:55 +0000

Blue Mall is not enclosed and other than the hospital thrift shop and my husband’s hairdresser, I really find no need to shop there. Parking is a pain!

I’ve been here for 32 years and can go into a little of the mall’s histories.

Mall 189 was originally a Grandway department store (pretty sure that’s the right name). It closed when I was young – maybe 8 tops – so that makes it at least 30 years ago. Eventually they took the place and turned it ito a decent mall. TJ Maxx was there, a decent shoe store, RadioShack, a gourmet popcorn store, lots of clothing stores, and then a candy store. It used to be a treat to go there, but they shut down during my first pregnancy when TJ Maxx opted to move across the street to the space P&C, later Price Chopper, (grocery) held. Sears moved to the University Mall and Price Chopper moved to Sears’ space. There was also Service Merchandise, but they shut down and eventually became an Ashely’s furniture store. Meanwhile, the Mall 189 building was demolished to make room for a huge Shaw’s. There’s also a pizza place and a few other small stores there now.

University Mall opened, I’m going to say in the late 1970s. Originally, there was Zayre’s where Kohl’s is now. Zayres sat by itself, but in the 1980s the mall was expanded putting in the new wing that connected the mall and the Zayres building. Zayres was bought out by Ames and that store did incredibly well. Not only did my mom lose her job in their offices, but the area lost a decent department store. Almy’s anchored the other end and was another decent store but that closed when I was in my teens, I had a friend working there sophomore year, so around 1986ish.

The food court area of the mall was once the drugstore/pharmacy, I think it was a CVS, but that’s testing my memory. The mall’s main food stores were Papa Gino’s and then a neat burger joint that was called Friar Tucks or something like that. They both went in late 1980s/early 1990s.

Papa Ginos also had a restaurant in the Burlington Square Mall (now the Burlington Town Centre). For whatever reason, they shut down in Vermont and are now looking to come back into the state. Personally, I think they’re too late. We have pizza joints all over the place and I think that market’s over run.

Someone mentioned the shopping center where Gaynes and P&C was. Gaynes is another store that I miss. Gaynes turned into B&N and Staples as they said, but they moved to be closer to the mall when the movie theater on Dorset Street shut down. Staples is still there. There is a clothing store for big and tall men, Coconuts, Michael’s Crafts, and a car dealer. Where P&C was is now PetCo and a cell phone store. Either way, that was a shopping center, not a mall.

By: kid

kid — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:19:29 +0000

The Blue Mall is not enclosed –it’s a srtip mall in the shape of a “U”. Look here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=blue+mall+dorset+street,+south+burlington,+vt&ie=UTF8&ll=44.464854,-73.179819&spn=0.001382,0.002494&t=h&z=19

By: Allan

Allan — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:33:51 +0000

Interesting write-up about this mall, that (sadly) I only discovered now after so long. Really dig the sloping roof decor of the mall, and the faux living room seating is interesting, and seems a little more elaborate than the types of elaborate seating I’ve seen at other malls.

Is it safe for me to assume that the circular skylights in the shape of a tic-tac-toe board are probably original to whenever this mall was built?

By: Caldor

Caldor — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:04:12 +0000

Is the “Blue Mall” enclosed?

By: kid

kid — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:18:14 +0000

Don’t forget the “Blue Mall” across from the Unioversity Mall in South Burlington. Currently housing Outback Steakhouse, Presto Music, Clays, a nail salon, a mattress store, Play it again Sports, Sally Beauty Supply, Big League Haircutters, electrolux, UPS Store, Wings Over Burlington, Sylvan Learning Center, Replays, LA Weight Loss, CitiBank financial, Vt Sandwich Company, Dollar Store, a shoe store and a few other miscellaneous stores.

Previous tenents: Radio shack, Bed Bath and Beyond, a pet store, a small convenience store (in the very early days), a Freihoffer’s Outlet, The Party Store, Mailboxes, etc, Friendly’s Restaurant, Dairy Queen…that’s about all I remember there.

I lived in South Burlington for over 20 years.