Concord Mall (Delaware)
 North entrance on west side of mall | |
 | |
| Location | Brandywine Hundred, Delaware, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Address | 4737 Concord Pike Wilmington, DE 19803 |
| Opening date | 1965 |
| Management | Allied Properties |
| Owner | Allied Properties |
| No. of stores and services | 90+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 4 |
| Total retail floor area | 960,000 square feet (89,000 m2)[1] |
| No. of floors | 1 (3 in Macy's Home, 2 in Boscov's, Sears, and Macy's) |
| Parking | Lighted lot |
| Public transit access | DART First State bus: 2, 35, 61 |
| Website | http://www.concordmall.com/ |
Concord Mall, located north of the city of Wilmington, in the unincorporated Brandywine Hundred area along U.S. Route 202, is Delaware's second-largest shopping mall. A short distance south of the Pennsylvania border, it attracts shoppers from Pennsylvania and other neighboring states wishing to take advantage of tax-free shopping in Delaware. The mall opened in stages over a period of several years. The first stage was an Almart,[2] a now-defunct discounter, which opened in 1965. In 1971, a Pomeroy's (now-defunct department store chain) was added. The Almart later became a Jefferson Ward (Montgomery Ward-owned discounter), and was then a Bradlees for a brief time until it was demolished for a Sears. The mall contains over 90 stores and features a fountain surrounded by a garden. It is owned by Allied Properties.
Anchors
- Boscov's - 186,000 sq ft (17,300 m2). (Opened 1971 as Pomeroy's, closed 1986 and became Boscov's)
- Macy's - 153,000 sq ft (14,200 m2). (Opened 1983 as Strawbridge & Clothier, a relocated store from their nearby Merchandise Mart location, converted to Macy's 2006)
- Macy's Home - 56,000 sq ft (5,200 m2). (Opened 1994 as Strawbridge & Clothier Home Furnishings, converted to Macy's Home 2006)
- Sears - 173,000 sq ft (16,100 m2). (Grand opening September 22, 1992 on site of demolished Bradlees). Now Sears Holdings Corporation store #1853.
Former anchors
- Almart - (Opened 1965, later Jefferson Ward in summer 1984, then Bradlees, closed and demolished 1995 to make way for Sears)
Breastfeeding controversy
In 2013, the mall came under fire by breastfeeding support groups when a photo began circulating social media sites showing a woman being harassed by the state police, at which time an officer asked the woman if she was 'exposing herself'.[3] The woman, Jessica Hitchens, with her sister Diana Hitchens along with their friend Autumne Murray, had been breastfeeding at the Hollister Co. store as part of a nationwide "nurse-in" at Hollister stores in support of a woman who was prevented from breastfeeding at a Hollister store in Houston.[4] The mall responded to this on their Facebook page by stating that breastfeeding constituted an "eyesore" and making other comments which appeared to contradict Delaware law.[3] Shortly following the posting, the mall's Facebook administrator removed both the posting and the Facebook page, with further questions about the Facebook page resulting in a denial of its existence. A representative of the mall made the following statement:
There were anonymous postings on a Facebook page shortly after this event occurred allegedly generated by the Concord Mall. These posts were crude and offensive and were not posted nor authorized by the Concord Mall. The Mall does not have an official Facebook page and communicates via its web-site [sic]. There is a Facebook icon on our homepage, however the account has never been officially in use by the Mall. We are in the process of contacting Facebook to report these violations and hope to find the person or persons responsible for these posts. Again, neither the Concord Mall nor anyone authorized to speak on behalf of the Concord Mall made these posts to this unofficial Facebook page.[4]
The statement, however, appeared to ring untrue due to a link on their own website that led to the now defunct Facebook page rather than (as suggested by their quote) simply a Facebook icon.[5]
Shortly after this information started to become public, a representative named Ed Tennyson made contact with individuals who were publicizing the story, making similar claims of the mall's non-involvement with the issue. One commentator noted that the Facebook page that was linked to from the mall's website had historically posted business-related information for the mall, making it seem unlikely that the mall was not in control of the page.[6]
The mall claimed to be working with the IBLC to create a more nursing friendly mall, complete with nursing rooms. That had not been done as of 2016, although they did retrain their security staff on the laws and rights of nursing mothers[citation needed].
After having a peaceful, controversy-free nurse-in at the mall's food court shortly after, Jessica created a Delaware-based breastfeeding and nursing-in-public advocacy page, Lady Lactivist. [7]
References
- ^ "Concord Mall". Allied Properties. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
- ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=_EhPAAAAYAAJ&q=%22concord+mall%22+%22almart%22&dq=%22concord+mall%22+%22almart%22&source=bl&ots=0LZcruNmQu&sig=WC_VY9sbFN5zSzl-7dFc1RziVic&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hNlQUJawOunF0QGJu4GoCA&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBA
- ^ a b "Concord Mall Equates Breastfeeding Babies to Sucking on Wife's Breasts in Public". Best For Babies. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
- ^ a b "Hollister Nurse-In: Breastfeeding Advocates Feud With Shopping Mall Following Protest". Huffington Post. January 7, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
- ^ "Concord Mall". Concord Mall. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
- ^ "Concord Mall Equates Breastfeeding Babies to "Sucking on Wife's Breasts in Public"; attempts Cover Up". Best for Babes. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
- ^ "Security Check Required". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
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