Westfield Meriden, originally the Meriden Square Mall, and later Westfield Shoppingtown Meriden, is a shopping mall located in Meriden, Connecticut. At almost 900,000 square feet, Westfield Meriden is Connecticut's seventh largest mall, housing over 140 shops. As of October 2015, the mall's anchor stores are Macy's, Sears, and Boscov's. The Westfield Group acquired the mall in 1997.
Westfield Meriden is located along Interstate 691 and Connecticut Route 71, very close to the geographic center of the state.
History
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The facility opened in 1971, originally a two-level, dumbbell shaped shopping center with two anchor stores, G. Fox and JCPenney. A 1993 renovation added a two-level wing ending at a new Sears department store and also included a new food court, creating a "T" shaped floor plan.
In 1993, the G. Fox chain merged with Filene's, and Filene's expanded and took over the G. Fox store. In 2006 the Meriden location became a Macy's.
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 "+" shaped floor plan. The new anchor, built opposite Sears, was Lord & Taylor, as the Westfield Group came through putting forth a $38 million revitalization and expansion plan. In addition to its new anchor, a parking garage was also built beside the Sears on the end of the mall facing Lewis Avenue. The renovation was completed and officially opened in 1999.
Lord & Taylor did not see a future at the mall. After only a few years, the store closed. Westfield quickly moved on with 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 Lord & Taylor empty 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.
On January 15, 2014, it was announced that JCPenney would close its store in May 2014 as part of a plan to close 33 stores nationwide.
On September 29, 2014, it was announced that Best Buy would close at the mall on November 1, 2014. However, after reaching an agreement with the mall, the company announced on October 16, 2014 that the store would be staying open and hiring more employees for the holiday season.
In October 2015, Boscov's opened a store in the former JCPenney, both expanding and completely remodeling the store space. The location is Boscov's first in Connecticut, and in New England too.
See also
- Westfield Group
References
