Connecticut Post Mall

Connecticut Post Mall (formerly known as Westfield Connecticut Post) is a shopping mall, located on the Boston Post Road (Route 1) in Milford, Connecticut. It is currently the largest mall in the state of Connecticut[3] and is partially owned and operated by Centennial Properties. The mall currently houses over 215 retail stores. The anchor stores are LA Fitness, Macy's, Cinemark Theatres, Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, Boscov's, and Dave & Buster's. There is 1 vacant anchor store that was once Sears.

Connecticut Post Mall
LocationMilford, Connecticut, U.S.
Coordinates41.236965°N 73.038087°W / 41.236965; -73.038087
Address1201 Boston Post Road
Opening date1960
DeveloperSol Atlas
ManagementCentennial Real Estate
Owner
  • Centennial Real Estate
  • Montgomery Street Partners
  • USAA Real Estate[1]
No. of stores and services215[2]
No. of anchor tenants8 (7 open, 1 vacant)
Total retail floor area1,334,000 sq ft (123,900 m2)[3]
No. of floors2 with partial third floor (1 in Dave & Buster's and Target, 3 in Boscov's and Macy's)
Websiteshopconnecticutpostmall.com
The front entrance to the mall

History

The original, open-air mall was built by Sol Atlas[4][5] and opened in 1960,[6] anchored by a W. & J. Sloane furniture store and a Stop & Shop supermarket at opposite ends.[7] In 1962, the sixth branch of the Alexander's department store chain opened.[8] Following an early fire at the west end of the mall, a Caldor discount store was built as the new anchor.

In 1981, the mall was enclosed. The mall underwent a renovation in 1990, which added the Skyview Cafe food court, and lost anchor Alexander's. On August 7, 1991, JCPenney opened in the former Alexander's space. G. Fox was added in 1991 and was rebranded as Filene's in 1993. Caldor closed on May 15, 1999, and was later demolished. Stop & Shop relocated to a freestanding store sometime in the late 1990s and was demolished for Sears, which opened on April 1, 2000.[9]

The Mall strongly opposed the proposed rival New Haven Galleria mall at Long Wharf, filing over 15 lawsuits.[10][11]

A $118 million[12] 480,000-square-foot (45,000 m2)[13] expansion project took place in 2005–06, adding:

  • an additional level of parking
  • a 75,000-square-foot (7,000 m2)[13] third floor to Filene's which was later rebranded as Macy's in 2006.
  • a large extension to the building with a 55,000-square-foot (5,100 m2)[13] movie theater (Connecticut Post 14, replacing the Milford Fourplex, previously located in an adjacent building. Was Cinema De Lux, later a Rave Cinemas, now a Cinemark), a new food court, and two more anchors, Dick's Sporting Goods and Target on the site of the former Caldor.

In December 2015, Westfield sold Connecticut Post in a $1.1 billon deal involving 5 malls.[14]

On March 17, 2017, JCPenney announced that it would be closing as part of a plan close 138 stores nationwide. The store closed on July 31, 2017.[15] On January 11, 2018, it was announced that Boscov's would be opening in the former JCPenney space on October 6, 2018.[16][17]

On October 15, 2018, Sears announced that its store would be closing as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide. The store closed in January 2019. It is unknown what will replace that space.[18]

On November 7, 2018, Dave & Buster's opened in the space that was formally Steve & Barry's and buybuy BABY.[19]

References
  1. Bill Cummings (December 21, 2015). "Connecticut Post mall has new owner". Connecticut Post. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  2. "Connecticut Post Mall - Milford, Connecticut". Connecticut Post Mall. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  3. "Largest Connecticut Shopping Malls". Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
  4. "Shopping Center Set for Milford", New York Times, July 29, 1956
  5. "Sol Atlas Dies; Build was 66". The New York Times. July 31, 1973.
  6. International Council of Shopping Centers – "Fresh Start" Archived December 31, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, by Debra Hazel – accessed January 27, 2007
  7. "MALL HALL OF FAME". Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  8. "Alexander Chain Opens 6th Store", New York Times, August 21, 1962
  9. "MALL HALL OF FAME".
  10. Yale Herald Online – "New Haven sues Milford in latest Long Wharf mall battle" Archived March 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, by Sangeetha Ramaswamy, 2000? – accessed January 27, 2007
  11. New Haven Advocate – "Retail of Woe" Archived December 15, 2005, at the Wayback Machine, by Carole Bass, 1998? – accessed January 27, 2007
  12. Connecticut Post Archived May 28, 2005, at the Wayback Machine – link defunct
  13. New Haven Register – "Expansion of Milford mall off until spring" by Brian McCready, November 13, 2003 – accessed January 27, 2007
  14. "Westfield sells Milford's Connecticut Post, 4 other malls for $1.1 billion". Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  15. Turmelle, Luther (March 22, 2017). "J.C. Penney at Milford mall to close | News". ctbulletin.com. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  16. "Boscov's to replace J.C. Penney in Milford". Connecticut Post. January 11, 2018.
  17. Wingate, Kendra. "Boscov's celebrates grand opening in Milford". Milford-Orange Bulletin.
  18. Soule, Alexander (October 15, 2018). "Sears bankruptcy claims Milford department store - Connecticut Post". M.ctpost.com. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  19. Meghan Yost (November 7, 2018). "Dave & Busters Opens at The Connecticut Post Mall in Milford". Wtnh.com. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
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