Trumbull Mall

Trumbull Mall (formerly known as Westfield Trumbull, Westfield Shoppingtown Trumbull, and Trumbull Shopping Park) is a shopping mall located in Trumbull, Connecticut. It was the first enclosed shopping mall in Connecticut upon opening in 1964. The mall was developed by the Frogue Corporation, and was the first U.S. acquisition by Australian mall operator Westfield Group in 1977. Ownership and management were transferred to the Westfield Corporation in 2014, and to Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in 2018. It has 1,130,690 square feet (105,045 m2) of gross leasable area. In early 2023, it was sold to Namdar Realty Group. The mall features the traditional retailers Macy's, JCPenney, and Target.

Trumbull Mall
LocationTrumbull, Connecticut
Coordinates41°13′45″N 73°13′34″W
Address5065 Main Street, Trumbull, CT 06611
Opening date1964
DeveloperFrouge Corporation
ManagementNamdar Realty Group
OwnerNamdar Realty Group
No. of stores and services169[1]
No. of anchor tenants3
Total retail floor area1,130,690 square feet (105,045 m2)[1]
No. of floors2 (3 in Macy's)
Parking4,436 spaces[1]
Public transit accessBus transport Greater Bridgeport Transit: 3, 4, 6, 8
Websitetrumbullmall.com

History

The Westfield Trumbull was originally known as the Trumbull Shopping Park and was built in 1964 by the Frouge Corporation, with a branch of the E. J. Korvette discount department store and D.M. Read as its two original anchor stores, as well as a Waldbaum's and Woolworth's.[2] In 1977, it was purchased by The Westfield Group and became the first US mall purchased by the Australian mall operator.[3] The first f.y.e. store opened at the mall in 1993.[4]

Read's was converted into Jordan Marsh, another nameplate owned by parent company Allied Stores, in 1987. The merger of Allied and Federated Department Stores resulted in Jordan Marsh being converted into Abraham & Straus in April 1992, and later Abraham & Straus being converted into Macy's in April 1995.[5] Trumbull Shopping Park was renamed Westfield Shoppingtown Trumbull in 1998.[6]

The mall was renamed Westfield Trumbull with the company-wide discontinuation of the "Westfield Shoppingtown" naming convention in May 2005, citing that "the name served its purpose" and that "Shoppingtown is part of [their] heritage, but Westfield is the brand."[7] With the acquisition of The May Company by Federated in July 2005, it was announced that the Federated-owned Macy's would vacate its previous location in the former Read's building and reopen in the outgoing May-owned Filene's building; the conversion was completed in 2006.[8] The vacant Read's anchor spot was demolished in 2007; in its place, a two-floor Target store was constructed and opened in October 2008.[5]

In September 2008, it was announced that Steve & Barry's would be closing as part of plan to close 103 stores nationwide. The store closed September 24, 2008.[9]

On January 16, 2009, it was announced that Circuit City would also be closing as part of plan to close all 567 stores nationwide after failing to find a buyer.[10]

On November 29, 2010, Westfield Trumbull unveiled results of a major $35M renovation that including several new stores, an LA Fitness in the old Circuit City space, remodeled mall entrances, and a new Dining Terrace food court to replace the old food court and the previous Steve & Barry's space.[11]

On November 8, 2013, UNIQLO opened near Lord & Taylor. It has since been closed in 2017 and is now an Ulta Beauty, which opened in 2018.[12][13]

On August 5, 2014, The Cheesecake Factory opened.[14]

On October 11, 2014, an Apple store opened near Lord & Taylor.[15]

On August 25, 2016, Ruby Tuesday permanently closed their Trumbull location as part of a plan to close 95 restaurants nationwide.[16]

In October 2017, a Wahlburgers restaurant opened in the former Ruby Tuesday space. It eventually closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been replaced with a Guacamole’s Mexican Cuisine restaurant, which opened in 2022.[17][18][19]

On July 2, 2019, SeaQuest opened.[20] There was also plans for a Goldfish Swim School to open at the mall, but plans were eventually scrapped.[21]

On August 4, 2020, it was announced that upscale department store retailer Lord & Taylor would shutter its traditional brick and mortar format as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[22] Early plans envision the 99,534-square-foot (9,247-square-meter) store reconstructed into a modern space known as York Factory, a co-working sub-brand offering soft amenities such as a program delivering lunch straight to your office, bike rentals, a physical and mental wellness studio, salon services, and weekly events.[23]

On September 7, 2020, an apartment complex named "The Residences at Main" was proposed, and would be built near the mall. On October 3, 2020, the project moved forward, but there was limited to no news after that. However, on October 15, 2021, construction would officially begin on the new project.[24][25][26]

On February 14, 2022, the parking garage located near the entrance of Target, JCPenney, and two of the mall entrances, one located next to SeaQuest, and the other near Michael Kors and Sunglass Hut, collapsed, causing it to be closed indefinitely. On October 23, 2022, construction to rebuild the parking garage began.[27][28]

On January 3, 2023, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield sold this mall along with Westfield South Shore in Bay Shore, New York for a combined deal of $196 million or roughly $100 million each to Namdar Realty Group. The mall was later renamed Trumbull Mall.[29][30]

As of August 2023, the Town of Trumbull is currently discussing the future of the Trumbull Mall, with people deciding what the future has in store for Trumbull Mall. Some ideas people came up with were indoor pickleball courts, a concert venue, a rock climbing wall, The Body Shop, Dave & Buster's, and a supermarket, specifically Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, Wegmans, Stew Leonard's, or Market 32. On June 26, 2023, Stew Leonard's CEO Stew Leonard Jr. told CT Insider that he could see a potential fit in the Trumbull Mall, but it would all have to vary on the traffic, stating that a Stew Leonard's supermarket usually requires a lot of foot traffic. If approved, this will be the fourth Stew Leonard's location in Connecticut, with the others in Danbury, Norwalk, and Newington.[31][32] On September 28, 2023, the Town of Trumbull had another meeting discussing the future of Trumbull Mall. Some new development options were revealed, such as doubling down on retail, including several more stores, grocery, and entertainment, or a "commercial village" development that could include outdoor recreation, senior living, medical offices, or a hotel. They are also discussing on how to address the high crime and blight at the mall. The Town of Trumbull is hoping for discussing plans to be finalized by the end of 2023.[33]

On August 16, 2023, it was announced that SeaQuest would permanently shutter its Trumbull location by August 20, 2023 after numerous controversies against customers and PETA for mistreatment and even abuse of animals, ending a four-year run to the controversial and heavily panned aquarium. The animals that were located in the aquarium will be shipped to other SeaQuest locations.[34]

See also

References
  1. "Trumbull". urw.com. Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  2. "Connecticut to get a Big Korvette Store". The New York Times. November 18, 1961.
  3. Westfield Group (2010). Westfield 50th Anniversary book (PDF). Hardie Grant Magazines. p. 72. ISBN 9780980783513.
  4. Fitzpatrick, Eileen (July 5, 1997). "Trans World at 25". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 27. pp. 68, 75, 76.
  5. "Mall Hall of Fame". mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com. March 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  6. Trumbull Historical Society (2014). Revisiting Trumbull. Arcadia Publishing. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-4671-2240-5.
  7. Albright, Mark (June 1, 2015). "If you didn't call them 'shoppingtowns,' don't". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on December 21, 2005. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  8. Marks, Paul (July 29, 2005). "Filene's Will Soon Be Macy's". Hartford Courant. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  9. "Brass Mill Center looking to fill Steve & Barry's space". Republican American Archives. September 19, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  10. "Pulling the plug: Circuit City to close remaining stores". NH Register. January 17, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  11. "Westfield Trumbull mall debuts $35M revitalization". ABG Realty. November 29, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  12. "Uniqlo, popular Japanese clothing store, opens in Trumbull". Connecticut Post. November 8, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  13. "Cosmetics chain Ulta Beauty opens Friday at Westfield Trumbull". Connecticut Post. September 4, 2018. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  14. "Cheesecake Factory opens in Trumbull". The Cheesecake Factory. August 5, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  15. "Apple store opens Saturday in Trumbull". Patch. October 7, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  16. "Ruby Tuesday closes Trumbull location". Connecticut Post. August 25, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  17. "Wahlburgers opens in Trumbull". Patch. October 30, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  18. "Trumbull burger joint with star power departs". Connecticut Post. December 1, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  19. "Guacamole's Mexican Cuisine opens at Westfield Trumbull". Trumbull Times. April 21, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  20. "SeaQuest opens in Trumbull". Connecticut Post. July 2, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  21. "Goldfish Swim School plans". Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  22. "Lord + Taylor to close all stores, including four in CT". August 28, 2020.
  23. "York Factory releases extensive plans to fill 4 massive empty Connecticut spaces". August 5, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  24. "'Micro villages' – Westfield Trumbull hints at future plan". September 7, 2020.
  25. "Trumbull mall apartment plan moves ahead". October 3, 2020.
  26. "Construction begins on apartments at Westfield". October 15, 2021.
  27. "Trumbull mall's parking deck closed, pending assessment, repairs". February 14, 2022.
  28. "Repair work starts on Trumbull mall parking garage". October 23, 2022.
  29. "Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield sells 2 retail centers for $196M". January 3, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  30. Turmelle, Luther (January 7, 2023). "New Trumbull mall owners make a good first impression on town officials". CT Insider. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  31. "Trumbull wants indoor pickleball courts, rock climbing wall at Trumbull Mall". Trumbull Times. June 21, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  32. "A NY firm has purchased a fourth CT mall, but its plans for the space are a mystery". CT Insider. June 26, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  33. "Town of Trumbull officials, residents discuss future of Trumbull mall". News 12 Connecticut. September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  34. "SeaQuest aquarium at Trumbull Mall closing". Trumbull Times. August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.

41.231268°N 73.224225°W / 41.231268; -73.224225

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