Westgate Mall (Brockton)

Westgate Mall is a shopping mall in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts. It is the oldest enclosed shopping mall in the state.[3] Westgate Mall features Sears, Burlington, Best Buy, Liam's Home Furniture, Old Navy, Planet Fitness, and Dick's Sporting Goods. Although Westgate Mall's GLA is small by regional standards, it is also surrounded by numerous adjacent big-box stores including: Walmart, Lowe's, Aldi, Market Basket, Marshalls, and Ocean State Job Lot.[4] These standalone retailers complement the main building, driving increased traffic to the location as a shopping destination.

Westgate Mall
Sears
LocationBrockton, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates42.0955°N 71.0519°W / 42.0955; -71.0519
Address200 Westgate Drive
Opening dateFebruary 24, 1963
DeveloperJoseph Campanelli[1]
ManagementNew England Development
OwnerNew England Development
No. of stores and services65+[2]
No. of anchor tenants11
Total retail floor area600,000 sq ft (56,000 m2)[2]
No. of floors1 (2 in Sears)
Websitewww.shopatwestgatemall.com

History

Today's 600,000-square-foot (56,000 m2) mall opened -as the 356,000-square-foot (33,100 m2) Westgate Shopper's Park- in February 1963. The original anchor store was local department store Gilchrist's.[1] It was expanded in 1984-1985 and substantially renovated between 2000 and 2003. The Gilchrist's store was then replaced by Jordan Marsh (later became first Macy's in 1996) in 1977 while Sears was later added to the mall in 2000. The mall's former Bradlees store was then replaced with a new Filene's store (later became second Macy's in 2006) in 2002.

Ownership of the mall has changed hands several times over the past decade. The mall was purchased by New England Development for $17 million in 1999, with plans to revitalize the vintage mall. Over several years, the new owners spent significant resources to remodel it, and were very successful in turning the mall around. In 2004, New England Development sold Westgate to Gregory Greenfield & Assoc. (GG&A) for $58.5 million; three years later, GG&A was taken over by Australia-based Babcock & Brown.[5] In 2009, Bank of America foreclosed the mall due to "breach of conditions" on its mortgage with Babcock & Brown, and the property was auctioned.[3][6][7] In 2010, New England Development again purchased the property for $31.75 million, and as of 2016 remains Westgate Mall's current owner.[8]

On January 4, 2017, it was announced that Macy's would be closing as part of a plan to close 68 stores nationwide. The store closed in March 2017.[9] On June 29, 2018, Toys "R" Us closed after the chain's liquidation.[10] On August 6, 2018, it was announced Fallas would also be closing as part of a plan to close 74 stores nationwide after parent company National Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[11] The former Macy's was partially replaced with Burlington and Planet Fitness in September 2018 and October 2018 respectfully with PCX Apparel taking another portion of that space.[12] On January 8, 2019, Ocean State Job Lot announced that it would be opening in the former Toys "R" Us sometime in 2019.[13] On January 5, 2020, Liam's Home Furniture opened in the former Fallas space.[14] On August 8, 2020, Dick's Sporting Goods opened in the remaining portion of the former Macy's space relocating from a freestanding store.[15]

On January 14, 2021, it was announced that Best Buy would be closing as part of a plan to close 5 stores nationwide. The store will close on February 27, 2021.[16]

References
  1. "Gilchrist's opens Brockton store". The Boston Globe. October 24, 1963. p. 51. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
  2. "Westgate Mall". New England Development. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  3. Kyle Alspach (Nov 17, 2009). "Brockton's Westgate Mall could have brighter future under new owner". Taunton Daily Gazette.
  4. "Westgate Mall" (PDF). New England Development. 2009. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  5. "Brockton's Westgate Mall Fetches $31.75M". Banker & Tradesman. June 1, 2010. Archived from the original on June 4, 2010. Alt URL
  6. Eric Convey (December 14, 2009). "Brockton mall on block after owner goes bankrupt". Boston Business Journal.
  7. Dan Guenther (October 28, 2009). "Westgate Mall Loan Foreclosure Reflects Foreign Investor Angst". Boston Real Estate Examiner.
  8. Craig M. Douglas (June 1, 2010). "N.E. Development buys Westgate Mall". Boston Business Journal.
  9. "Macy's to Close Brockton Location". Brockton, MA Patch. 2017-01-04.
  10. Rocheleau, Matt; Globe Staff. "Here's a list of Toys 'R' Us, Babies 'R' Us stores closing in Mass. - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com.
  11. Resources Hilco Merchant. "National Stores Begin Store Closing Sales Immediately At 74 Select Fallas Locations As Part Of Recent Chapter 11 Filing". www.prnewswire.com.
  12. Larocque, Marc. "In age of Amazon, Brockton shopping center evolves". The Enterprise, Brockton, MA.
  13. Shepard, Cody. "Former Brockton Toys R Us to become Ocean State Job Lot". The Enterprise, Brockton, MA.
  14. https://www.enterprisenews.com/photogallery/WL/20200105/NEWS/105009994/PH/1
  15. https://www.enterprisenews.com/news/20200807/dicks-sporting-goods-opens-new-location-across-street-at-brockton-mall
  16. https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/business/2021/01/14/brockton-best-buy-westgate-mall-closure-expiring-lease-concept-store-new-england-development/6646477002/
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