Holyoke Mall at Ingleside, Holyoke, MA

So last summer I visited Philadelphia to go to the King of Prussia Mall and on the way down I visited some malls. Holyoke Mall is one of those malls.

Holyoke Mall began life 40 years ago in 1979 serving the Springfield, Massachusetts area.

Specifically Western Massachusetts. Holyoke Mall opened with a G. Fox, JCPenney, Sears, Service Merchandise, and Steiger’s as anchors. In the 90’s the mall renovated slightly and expanded. With this expansion G. Fox relocated. At the time of the expansion Holyoke Mall was the biggest mall in New England. The same time of the expansion Lord & Taylor decided to open a store in the mall near the food court, Lord & Taylor opened in November, 1993. In 1998 Pyramid made an attempt to build a cinema but it was blocked by the city. Lord & Taylor closed in 2005 due to the local market. In August,2007 Apple opened their first store and only store in Western Massachusetts. The next year Sephora and Pottery Barn opened stores. In 2016 Sports Authority closed due to bankruptcy. Babies R Us closed in March of 2018.

In August of that same years Sears announced that they would be closing the Holyoke store.

I think that this is a very nice mall but just like every mall in the United States you have to stay relevant and Holyoke Mall has done that. I have visited a few Pyramid malls and I will say Pyramid is EXCELLENT at making their centers relevant. Especially in Holyoke’s trade area they have damaged many of the malls in this area such as Eastfield Mall, Enfield Square, and Tower Square. It hasn’t however hurt Hampshire Mall up north because that is a Pyramid mall.

This is a huge mall with 150 stores and spanning 1.6 million square feet it is the second largest mall in New England. Holyoke also has many Western Massachusetts exclusivities such as Apple, Pottery Barn, Forever 21, and Sephora. In 2015 the mall underwent a renovation including new floors and benches..

2018 Photos

2019 Photos

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Greendale Mall, Worcester, MA

As my return post to the blog, I decided the best mall to write about is the now-demolished Greendale Mall in Worcester, Massachusetts. Greendale Mall was a very different place in design, department stores, and its tiny footprint. However, this small footprint was a key marketing tactic that the mall used in its earlier years and was proven to have worked because of how successful the mall was up until the 2010s. I can see what was so appealing about this mall before it died and it is unfortunate that I never got to see it at that stage of its life. Greendale Mall opened in 1987 and was a product of New England Development also developed the Arsenal Mall in Watertown which was one of my childhood malls I have many memories there in its final years. I am very familiar with the now-shuttered mall and can tell you firsthand that Arsenal and Greendale are very similar architecturally and in many other ways as well. At Greendale's opening, it was the second mall in the city of Worce

Malls I’ve Been To

Grenada Bruce Street Commercial Complex, St. George's Esplanade Mall, St. George's Spiceland Mall, The Lime United States Connecticut Blue Back Square, West Hartford Brass Mill Center, Waterbury Crystal Mall, Waterford Danbury Fair, Danbury Enfield Square, Enfield Mohegan Sun, Uscaville Stamford Town Center, Stamford Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods, Mashantucket The Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk, South Windsor The Shoppes at Buckland Hills, Manchester The SoNo Collection, Norwalk Westfarms, West Hartford Florida Altamonte Mall, Altamonte Springs Aventura Mall, Aventura Bal Harbour Shops, Bal Harbour Bayside Marketplace, Miami Brickell City Centre, Miami Citrus Park Town Center (Westfield Citrus Park), Tampa Coastland Center, Naples Coconut Point, Estero Coral Square, Coral Springs Dadeland Mall, Miami Disney Springs, Lake Buena Vista Dolphin Mall, Miami Esplanade, Palm Beach Festival Bay Mall (Dezerland Park/Aetergon Marketplace), Orlando Fift

Woburn Mall, Woburn, MA

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