Meriden Mall

Meriden Mall (formerly Meriden Square and Westfield Meriden) is a shopping mall located in Meriden, Connecticut. At almost 900,000 square feet, Meriden is Connecticut's seventh largest mall, housing over 140 shops. Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management acquired the mall in 2020. The mall's anchor stores are Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Ulta Beauty, Boscov's, Old Navy, and TJ Maxx. There are 2 vacant anchor stores that were once Macy's and Sears.

Meriden Mall

Exterior view of Meriden Mall, June 2016
Location	Meriden, Connecticut
Address	470 Lewis Avenue, Meriden, CT 06451
Opening date	1971
Owner	Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management
No. of stores and services	142[1]
No. of anchor tenants	8 (6 open, 2 vacant)
Total retail floor area	894,435 sq ft (83,095.7 m^2)[1]
No. of floors	2
Parking	4,065[1]
Website	www.meridenmall.com

Meriden Mall is located along Interstate 691 and Connecticut Route 71, very close to the geographic center of the state.

History

The facility, originally built and owned by The May Department Stores Company opened in 1971. It original architecture was a two-level, dumbbell shaped shopping center with two anchor stores, the Connecticut-based G. Fox, which was also owned by The May Company chain, and JCPenney. Many of the original tenants of the mall were appropriately located to support the middle-class clientele of the Meriden and Central Connecticut area, including such iconic stores as Radio Shack, Spencer Gifts, Hickory Farms, Barricini Candy, Record World, Waldenbooks, CVS, Singer sewing machine store, a piano and organ store, a travel agency, a liquor store, and a tobacco store. The only restaurant in the main part of the mall was a Friendly's Ice Cream parlor and restaurant, though both J.C. Penney and G. Fox had restaurants located inside of their stores. The mall also featured an incline ramp-escalator in the center court.

A 1993 renovation added a two-level wing anchored by a new Sears department store and also included a new food court, creating a T-shaped floor plan. Also in 1993, G. Fox parent, May Company acquired Boston based Filene's and merged the two department stores together under the Filene's name. The Meriden G. Fox store changed its name to Filene's.

The Westfield Group acquired the mall in 1997.[2]

The mall was expanded again in an ambitious renovation announced in 1997. The renovation saw an extra floor area of 147,425 sq ft (13,696.2 m²) added to the center, as well as an additional 30 stores, creating a cross-shaped floor plan.[3] The new anchor, built opposite Sears, was the upscale department store Lord & Taylor, the centerpiece of the $38 million revitalization and expansion plan. In addition to its new anchor, a multistory parking garage was also built beside Sears on the end of the mall facing Lewis Avenue. The renovation was completed and officially opened in 1999.[4]

Due to the largely middle-class demographics of the Meriden area, however, Lord & Taylor announced within a few years of opening that the company did not see a future at the mall, and the store was soon closed. Westfield quickly moved to fill the vacancy by bringing two new “big box” anchors to the mall; Best Buy, which filled the former EbLens space, and Dick's Sporting Goods, which moved right into the empty Lord & Taylor space. Both T.J. Maxx and Old Navy ultimately opened stores at the end of this wing of the mall as well, creating four mini-anchors.

In 2006, after a merger of The May Company with Federated Department Stores, the Meriden Filene's location became Macy's.

On January 15, 2014, it was announced that JCPenney would be closing as part of a plan to close 33 stores nationwide. The store closed in May 2014.[5]

On September 29, 2014, it was announced that Best Buy would close at the mall on November 1, 2014.[6] However, after reaching an agreement with the mall, the company announced on October 16, 2014 that the store would be staying open at the mall.[7]

In October 2015, Boscov's opened a store in the former JCPenney space, both expanding and completely remodeling the structure. The location is Boscov's first in Connecticut and in the entire New England region. [8]

On November 8, 2018, it was announced that Sears would also be closing as part of a plan to close 40 stores nationwide. The store closed in February 2019.[9]

On January 6, 2020, it was announced that Macy's would be closing in April 2020 as part of a plan to close 125 stores nationwide. After Macy's closed, Boscov's is the only traditional anchor store left.[10]

On June 5, 2020, the mall was sold to Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management of Great Neck, NY. The mall was then renamed to Meriden Mall. [11]

See also

• Westfield Group

References

1. Westfield Group - Meriden
2. "Westfield America, Inc. Announces Third QuarterEarnings (September 1997)".
3. Westfield Group - Westfied America, Inc. announces Lord and Taylor to add stores to the shopping centres (19 December 1997)
4. "Westfield Property Group - Shoppingtown - Westfield Meriden | Midstate Chamber of Commerce". members.midstatechamber.com.
5. Davidson, Paul. "J.C. Penney closing 33 stores, laying off 2,000". USA TODAY.
6. DOWLING, By BRIAN. "Meriden Mall's Best Buy Is Closing". courant.com.
7. "MERIDEN — Electronics retailer Best Buy, an anchor store at the Westfield".
8. MELVIN, ZACH. "Boscov's Department Store To Open At Meriden Mall, Adding 300 Jobs". courant.com.
9. "Sears to close location at Westfield Meriden mall".
10. https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/macys-store-in-meriden-to-close/2206196/
11. https://www.courant.com/business/hc-biz-westfield-meriden-mall-sold-20200605-5tzvxvpehfg6vjjl26bdkv2qtu-story.html