Eastfield Mall
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| Location | Springfield, Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1967 |
| Owner | Mountain Development Corp. |
| No. of stores and services | 75 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 6 |
| Total retail floor area | 825,000 square feet (76,645.0 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
The Eastfield Mall is a shopping mall in Springfield, Massachusetts, and is currently owned by Mountain Development Corporation. Built in late 1967, it was one of the first indoor malls in New England. Its three anchor stores were built as free standing stores originally with the actual mall built between them afterwards.
History
Eastfield was built to cater to booming suburbs and rapidly developing Sixteen Acres neighborhood of Springfield. At 600,000 square feet (56,000 m2) it was largest mall in the area until Holyoke Mall opened some ten years later.[citation needed] Originally, two of its three anchor stores were branches of the hometown department store Forbes & Wallace and Steigers.[citation needed] The third anchor store, Sears remains to this day. The mall underwent changes over the years including construction of a food court and the change of anchor stores.[citation needed]
As Springfield's downtown retail sector slowly shut down, Eastfield increasingly become the primary retail venue in the city.[citation needed] Additional retail developments grew up around the mall along Boston Road in both directions and into neighboring Wilbraham. However, Eastfield began to suffer when the local department stores closed and the Holyoke Mall and Enfield Square Mall, both with direct access to Interstate 91. Forbes closed in 1975 leaving the mall store vacant. It was sold (the anchor stores are wholly owned by their tenant or proxies) and J. C. Penney moved in. Over the following two decades, Steigers, several mall stores, and nearby establishments including a neighboring Lechmere closed.[citation needed]
However, the malls fortunes were reversed. After some hesitation, Filene's, whose parent company May Department Stores had bought Steigers, moved into their old space. A movie theater was built on unneeded parking in the late 1990s, drawing many more people in the mall. Some new restaurants opened nearby, including two onsite. The mall repositioned itself as a smaller alternative to Holyoke, and as the preferred choice to those in the city's eastern suburbs and neighborhoods. The arcade, however, did close in 2006. The Eastfield Mall announced it will shorten it's hours of operation starting sometime in April 2009. The new mall hours will be Monday through Thursday 10:00am until 8:30pm. Friday and Saturday will stay the same with a 10:00am opening and 9:00pm closing and Sunday the hours have been reduced 12:00pm until 5:00pm. The anchor stores at this time have chosen to remain with their normal shopping hours with JCPenney Outlet possibly going to the new format on Monday through Thursday.
Management
Prior to September 2009, Arlene Putnam was the General Manager of the Eastfield Mall and Ellen Albano was the Assistant Manager and Leasing Manager of the Eastfield Mall. Ms. Putnam and Ms. Albano were given their notice in early September 2009. Soon after, Melinda Graulau was named Mall Manager of the Eastfield Mall and Julie Waniewski was named the Leasing Manager.
Security
The Eastfield Mall is one of the last malls in the New England area that employs their own in house security. The Security Department is also unique because their supervisors are sworn in Springfield Special Police Officers. Working with the Springfield Police, Eastfield Mall is a substation for the area's neighborhood Community Police. Both Mall Security and the Community Police substation are located in the International Food Court.
Current stores
The Eastfield Mall has over seventy-five stores and restaurants including Macy's (formerly Filene's), Sears, American Eagle, Aéropostale, Old Navy, Hot Topic, Pacific Sunwear, Showcase Cinemas, 99 Restaurant & Pub and most recently Steve & Barry's (closed 2009). JC Penney retains a presence at the mall, however, it turned its store into an outlet for its catalog merchandise in 2005. The mall also has a fair number of independent establishments in both food and consumer goods.
Anchor Stores
- JCPenney Outlet Store (121,000 sq ft.)
- Macy's (117,000 sq ft.)
- Old Navy
- Sears (201,000 sq ft.)
- Hannoush Jewelers (Corporate Headquarters)
- Showcase Cinemas