Meriden Square Mall

[giantsfan2016]

Funny, I was there yesterday! Could have even passed by you without even noticing.

There's a new-ish food court restaurant, El Toro Grill. They occupy the space of the short-lived Rey Del Pollo next to Cajun Cafe/Japan Cafe and sell Mexican-American fare. $5.99 will get you a good taco with some spice french fries and a drink.

I've noticed Sears has more clothes but I haven't been to one in a while.  And yes, I saw that sign passing through. Google says Sears and Roebuck's was founded in 1892 which brings 125 to 2017.

Anything is possible, but I went early. I just went to check out the mall while my Mom was returning the curtains she bought at Boscov's on Saturday. The curtains looked different when she went to put them up at home Saturday afternoon than they had looked in the store. - When I went to the mall I was wearing jeans, a T-shirt, work boots, and a NY Giants hat. We left the mall about 5 after 12. Then we hit Dollar Tree and then the New Britain Stop and Shop. (We went the long way back to Southington). My Mom (like me) doesn't like driving the highway and she didn't want to deal with traffic on Route 10 in Southington that she would've encountered if we had taken the Chamberlain Highway to Southington Road to Berlin Street to Route 10.

[AmesNewington]

I've been going here almost weekly since September, 2018. I was tired of always doing my walking at Westfarms exclusively, so I made the trip to Meriden on Labor Day. While there, I planned to go to Sears because I wanted to find some pants. I also wanted to check out Sears again because I wanted to throw a little business their way. I had went in August, 2017 and didn't purchase anything. I had made a number of trips thereafter to Sears to shop for more clothes for me and my niece. I was happy to have them as an option. Little good it did for me to shop there and spend my money, because they announced the closure two months after I became a regular customer. I kept going through the closing sale. I still go to do my walks there, but apparently, I missed the good days of the mall.

Even a few years ago, the mall must have been a tad better off, but over the past few months, while I do see improvements to the appearance to the mall, stores are leaving at a fast pace. A lot of this has to do with weak chains filing bankruptcy. I was sad to see Sears go, even though they looked like they might have had a chance. I was recently laid off in January, so I go to the mall once a week during the week. With Sears now dark, the mall seems more depressing. In the last few weeks, three more stores announced closure due to bankruptcy (Charlotte Russe, Things Remembered and Payless).

Interestingly, up to last week, the Sears signage inside and out is still up. The indoor signs are even still lit. Fixtures are still inside on the first floor along with some shelving and overhead signage is still up including register stations and the POS systems are still there. I assume because Sears still owns this space, they are in no hurry to completely strip the store of belongings.

I can see potential in Westfield Meriden. If they can get a gym here (Gold's was in talks to buy some Sears locations) and some new restaurant offerings, they'd have a chance. There is nothing much around Meriden for shopping other than here and Townline Square by the Wallingford line. I can envision a gym taking the upper portion of Sears and perhaps even expanding to the current Food Court which can be moved elsewhere in the mall (which would have some tenants being forced to move to vacant spaces in the mall). I was thinking it would work in the Center Court area where Praline's is already located. AT&T and the Relieve Stress and a few other tenants in that area could move. They have the escalators/elevator and huge skylight there. The only thing that would be affected is their holiday Santa event in that spot. New life is needed here.

[giantsfan2016]

You and I think alike. I was just saying to my Mom the other day that a gym can take part of the Sears space. Of course being a woman of a certain age she thinks it's a stupid idea. She rather more retail open at the mall.

A movie theater would be good. That would draw in restaurants. One of the biggest complaints I see on the Record-Journal Facebook page is about the lack of restaurants in the city. And although the mall is not upscale - a Lego or Crayola experience place would be good.

[AmesNewington]

You and I think alike. I was just saying to my Mom the other day that a gym can take part of the Sears space. Of course being a woman of a certain age she thinks it's a stupid idea. She rather more retail open at the mall.

A movie theater would be good. That would draw in restaurants. One of the biggest complaints I see on the Record-Journal Facebook page is about the lack of restaurants in the city. And although the mall is not upscale - a Lego or Crayola experience place would be good.

I'd love to see another retail/department store go there, and I wouldn't go to a gym, but it seems more realistic. I even would have hoped Sears would have downsized to the bottom floor and stayed. The mall is not completely uninhabited during the week and is actually busy on weekends (Fridays too). I do think the gym, a small movie theater, a few restaurants and a few experience stores like Lego would be good and safe choices for Meriden. I'm also surprised Dunkin' Donuts left the mall and never came back.

I also believe this area of town needs another small grocery store. There is nothing in that area except the small rundown Stop and Shop in Centennial Plaza. Same situation like that end of Berlin. Nothing, and many people live in the area (and many wealthy neighborhoods in Berlin too). If you need necessities, you only have Dollar Tree and Target (along with the dollar store in the mall).

[scottw73]

I'd go the gym route (LA Fitness or Planet  Fitness) a movie theatre would just attract teenagers and would be more of a nuisance. What about Marshalls/TJ Maxx taking one level of Sears and Homegoods taking the other, they're both owned by the same company so you'd be killing two birds with one stone or a Bed Bath and Beyond.

[giantsfan2016]

I'd go the gym route (LA Fitness or Planet  Fitness) a movie theatre would just attract teenagers and would be more of a nuisance. What about Marshalls/TJ Maxx taking one level of Sears and Homegoods taking the other, they're both owned by the same company so you'd be killing two birds with one stone or a Bed Bath and Beyond.

LA Fitness - maybe. Planet Fitness is already in Meriden on Route 5. They took the old Pep Boys. TJ Maxx is already at the mall. They opened around 5 years ago in the old Border's.

[AmesNewington]

As of the week of February 25, 2019, Regis Salon closed in the mall. Didn't expect to see that happen. They were located on the lower level of the mall in a corner spot across from the former Sears. Businesses are leaving this mall rather abruptly all of a sudden. Not sure if the Sears closure affected the mall in a big way or Regis was following the other tenants that are closing in the mall. I hope the new owners can re-purpose this mall. There's still decent activity here and a number of stores left. The food court is also still well occupied. I believe there is a continued need for the mall and the anchors (Macys, Boscovs, TJ Maxx, Old Navy Dick's and Best Buy) give this mall a chance. My thinking was to overhaul the layout completely and attract a gym to the Sears space and move the food court elsewhere and maybe even perhaps getting tenants to relocate to accommodate larger tenants. If the new TRU Kids brand company is interested, they should try out a small Toys r Us/Babies r Us in the mall. Meriden would be perfect for it.

UPDATE: Went to the mall Monday 3/4/19, and Charlotte Russe is already closed. Their closing sale didn't even last a month.

[M.R.CALDOR]

I hope Meriden Square/Westfield isn't on the brink of becoming a dead mall, I loved meriden square, went there man times as a kid. True Westfarms is leauges better, but Meriden has its charm.

[AmesNewington]

I hope Meriden Square/Westfield isn't on the brink of becoming a dead mall, I loved meriden square, went there man times as a kid. True Westfarms is leauges better, but Meriden has its charm.

I agree. I love the 80s/90s feel of the mall. The music is good too. Maybe this isn't helping the mall, but I like it. It's really all about what is there and creative ways to bring in shoppers.

[giantsfan2016]

Went to the mall today to buy a new Yankees hat and a new Giants hat, but struck out. No size 8 hats. Two different sales going on at Lids - Buy 1 Get 1 50% Off and they were also having a Clearance Sale on some of the hats.

By my count there are 21 vacancies in the Meriden Square Mall. That includes Sears Floor 1, Sears Floor 2, Payless (which is winding down their GOB sale), a space that is temporarily leased to H&R Block, and one vacant space in the Food Court. Good news a new place is opening in the Food Court. It's a Jamaican restaurant and they're  taking the space that used to be Taco Bell. A fake wall was built over the former Sears store. Maybe it's because today is Saturday there were a lot of people at the mall.

Westfield doesn't own the Sears space, so they have no say in what happens to that space. Westfield could potentially buy it, but there are rumors the new owners of Westfield will sell the mall or shut it down.

[giantsfan2016]

I should've mentioned this in my post yesterday. I'm not ready to write the obituary for the Meriden Square Mall yet. They need a big attraction that will bring in more businesses. Maybe a Lego Discovery Center like they have at the Plymouth Meeting Mall. The only downside to that is that adults are not allowed there unless they're accompanying a kid. Or even The Crayola Experience. Restaurants too. Right now your dining options are the food court or Ruby Tuesday. People are always saying on The Record Journal's Facebook Page that Meriden needs more restaurants. I think Buffalo Wild Wings would be good for the mall. Golden Corral too.

[mixedday]

I should've mentioned this in my post yesterday. I'm not ready to write the obituary for the Meriden Square Mall yet. They need a big attraction that will bring in more businesses. Maybe a Lego Discovery Center like they have at the Plymouth Meeting Mall. The only downside to that is that adults are not allowed there unless they're accompanying a kid. Or even The Crayola Experience. Restaurants too. Right now your dining options are the food court or Ruby Tuesday. People are always saying on The Record Journal's Facebook Page that Meriden needs more restaurants. I think Buffalo Wild Wings would be good for the mall. Golden Corral too.

Golden Corral would be downscale and lower the mall's profile.

Yard House is pretty popular in the mall near me. Popular with young people who spend money on drinks as well as food; the mall owner might get a certain percentage of profits, so better for patrons to be spending more inside in the establishment than less in a buffet style restaurant. A typical mall choice restaurant is Cheesecake Factory, but I see Cheesecake has a location in West Hartford.

[TheFugitive]

Golden Corral would be downscale and lower the mall's profile.

At this point malls don't need to be worrying much about their profile.
They need two things:

1) Something that will draw feet through the door
2) Rent-paying tenants.

[mixedday]

Golden Corral would be downscale and lower the mall's profile.

At this point malls don't need to be worrying much about their profile.
They need two things:

1) Something that will draw feet through the door
2) Rent-paying tenants.

Tenant mix still matters for most healthy malls. Better tenants will pay more in rent, likely bring in other better tenants, and there is a greater percentage rent.

[TheFugitive]

I'm not a fan of Golden Corral, but apparently many people are, because at the ones I'm aware of the parking lots are always crowded.  I really don't see why having one in your mall would be different than any of the scads of other restaurants which might be there.

It's not like the new tenant was an adult bookstore or a check cashing store or something.

[Brammy]

Went to the mall today. It continues dying. The hat store Lids closed. Three eateries in the Food Court closed - Cosmo's Pizza, Frankie's Hotdogs, and an Asian place. The Indoor Bounce House place closed. Who knows what else I missed? There's still well over 2 dozen vacancies including the former Sears.

[Brammy]

The hits keeps on coming for the Meriden Square Mall. Not only is F-21 Red closing as part as their bankruptcy, but so is the locally owned Pietro's Tuxedo Shop. The owner says he can't find anyone to buy the store.

FROM MYRECORDJOURNAL.COM

Meriden mall menswear store closes after 30 years
By Mary Ellen Godin, Record-Journal staff

MERIDEN â€" Joseph Zaccariello has outfitted 30,000 prom students and more than 20,000 grooms in his 30 years at the Westfield Meriden mall.

Zaccariello is now ready to hang up his tape measure and close Pietro’s Tuxedo to embark on something different. But first, an inventory sale and then a sabbatical.

”I have no regrets,” Zaccariello said. “I’m ready to move on to the next phase, maybe work for someone else.”

Running the shop was fun for many years. He will miss the customers who came through the doors for special events or a nice suit. Employees were easy to hire, but good ones were harder to keep.

Zaccariello won’t miss the “prom mothers” or “bridezillas” who interrupted his peace.

”No more headaches,” he said. “I’ve paid my dues.”

The tuxedo-rental business changed when schools allowed students to attend without having a date, he said. This allowed prom-goers to veer away from the traditional tuxedo and wear non-traditional clothing. Weddings have also moved away from formal wear.

Tuxedos can even be rented online. 

Pietro’s Menswear has adapted over the years by offering more suits, sports jackets, flashier tuxedos, and shoes. He can guess a man’s size just by looking at him.

The business began with his father Pietro Zaccariello, a Wallingford tailor who founded Zaccariello’s Tailor & Formal Wear in 1966. He ran the store with his family for almost 40 years until 2004.

In that time, the Zaccariello family opened stores in Cromwell, Old Saybrook, Glastonbury, Branford, in addition to their stores in Meriden and Wallingford.

“This is the last Pietro’s,” he said. “The business is still good. I can still work but I’m tired. I would love to sell it. People don’t want to put the time in.”

Zaccariello’s family needs have also changed. His children are grown, his mother died earlier this year and he’s taking care of his father.

John Torres is a friend who styled hair at Regis Salon in the mall for 10 years before it closed in February. Torres visits the men’s shop often to bring pasta fagioli, discuss life and complain about the mall.

“You can’t get a hair cut anywhere in the mall,” Zaccariello said. “You need a good restaurant.”

“We knew it was coming, we didn’t know when,” Torres said about the salon closing.

Pietro’s Menswear was a shopping destination and didn’t rely on mall traffic.

The shop’s inventory of dress shirts, pants, shoes and bow ties in every color spans the rear of the store. He will have a 20 to 80 percent off liquidation sale. Whatever doesn’t sell, he’s donating to the Goodwill.

Torres puts down his pasta fagioli and smiles.

“I’m going to get a suit out of this,” he said.

mgodin@record-journal.com

[Brammy]

January 10, 2020 update.

Macy's is closing. Like Sears they own their space so don't expect this space to get leased out anytime soon.

Charlotte Russe reopened. (New owners bought the company and reportedly reopened 100 stores).

Forever 21 Red decided not to close (for now). Store has lots of merchandise now. (Unlike when when I went to the mall just a few months ago).

Express converted its store to an outlet store.

H&R Block opened. (Probably just a seasonal thing).

A sports memorabilia store that had opened is now closed. Apparently it was just there for the Christmas season. (Too bad. That was one of the reason I went to the mall yesterday).

2 nice murals have been painted on the wall they built to block off the former Sears. One on the first floor. One on the second floor. It was painted by a graffiti artist who is from Connecticut.

An insurance company is opening an office on the first floor.

[Brammy]

A clothing store called Lettifull (unsure of the spelling on that) that had opened in the former Deb Shop space on the first floor closed. According to the Record Journal they're moving to a different mall. I think the CT Post Mall in Milford.

I went to Macy's last Friday February 28th. Not a whole lot left, but what is left is overpriced. An ad in the March 5th Record Journal states that it's the final weeks of the sale. They moved the Intimates Department into the area where Back Stage was located. They did have some nice clothing left, but of course none in my size.  Jeans and Dress pants in both sizes 31 and 32. Shirts in sizes small and medium. Oh and I think there was one ugly pair of size 36 pants.

[Brammy]

The renamed Meriden Mall has continued dying between their sale to NAMDAR and the pandemic.

Old Navy moved back to Route 5.

Ulta Beauty moved to Route 5.

Yankee Candle closed.

H&M closed.

Best Buy closed,

Hallmark closed.

That junk store Dollar N Things closed.

Several kiosks have closed including Candy Plaza.

And many more.

New to the mall:

Best Romano Pizza

Rooster's Chicken and Waffles

More than Just Lobster (opening soon)

The 7-8 Dinner Theater (opening in May)

Bloodlines Tattoo Shop and Piercing

Yale New Haven Hospital (Opening soon in the former Macy's)

An anime store.

A little boutique thst sells clothes snd accessories.

[AmesNewington]

I really feel that this entire property is a wasted opportunity. I feel that NAMDAR should reconfigure the mall from an indoor mall to an outdoor shopping center. If they can't sustain the number of retailers, why not end its days as a "mall"? If I owned the property, I would clean it up, get Target across the street to move to the property, separate the future Yale New Haven Health complex (former Macy's) from the retail portion. Also, take down the parking garage as there would not be a need for it with plenty of parking in place. Add some restaurants and it would be complete. I can't understand why a mall would be open to the public with so little occupying space especially if the retailers opening at Westfarms with locations here move out of the mall instead of being at both malls. Same with Enfield Square.

[Brammy]

Mason Asset Management is somehow connected to NAMDAR and I found the floor plan for Meriden Mall on their website which includes the square footage of all the store fronts in the mall.

https://www.masonam.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CT_Meriden_Meriden-Mall-LP_JUNE22.pdf

[Brammy]

Best Romano Pizza in the Food Court closed. Meriden Public Library has temporarily relocated to the former Old Navy location. Dragon Novelties the anime store moved from the former Lids location to space next to the little clothing boutique Classy Spark (which is in the old Francesca's).

It's doubtful that the dinner theater is ever gonna open at this point. A group of Meriden residents has filed a lawsuit against NAMDAR due to the dinner theater saying it's going to increase crime and drug use in the area. A performance of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was supposed to kick off the opening in October, but they ended up putting that performance on at the Waterbury ARC.

At this point I believe the mall is too far gone to be saved even if someone else bought it from NAMDAR. If the mall stays open I think TJ Maxx should move across the hall to the former Best Buy once Spirit Halloween closes. It's a bigger space and things wouldn't be so cramped.

At one time I had hoped if Ross ever decided to open stores in Connecticut they would open at the mall, but now that I have actually been to one (I went to one in Plymouth Meeting, PA) I found the store to be very ghettoish and Meriden is ghetto enough.

[TheFugitive]

Someone is arguing that a dinner theater is going to increase crime and drug use?  Seriously??

[AmesNewington]

Best Romano Pizza in the Food Court closed. Meriden Public Library has temporarily relocated to the former Old Navy location. Dragon Novelties the anime store moved from the former Lids location to space next to the little clothing boutique Classy Spark (which is in the old Francesca's).

It's doubtful that the dinner theater is ever gonna open at this point. A group of Meriden residents has filed a lawsuit against NAMDAR due to the dinner theater saying it's going to increase crime and drug use in the area. A performance of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was supposed to kick off the opening in October, but they ended up putting that performance on at the Waterbury ARC.

At this point I believe the mall is too far gone to be saved even if someone else bought it from NAMDAR. If the mall stays open I think TJ Maxx should move across the hall to the former Best Buy once Spirit Halloween closes. It's a bigger space and things wouldn't be so cramped.

At one time I had hoped if Ross ever decided to open stores in Connecticut they would open at the mall, but now that I have actually been to one (I went to one in Plymouth Meeting, PA) I found the store to be very ghettoish and Meriden is ghetto enough.

I commend the efforts to try and bring more life to the mall, but I think they are too far gone at this point to keep their footprint as it currently stands. On that note, I believe Meriden Mall can still function as an indoor mall, but just as a much smaller one. I really believe there is potential here, but there needs to be a reconfiguration of the entire property. What should happen is for the Target across the street to move to the mall property. They can completely take over the former Sears store and the Sears wing (including perhaps the parking garage which they really don't need anymore). Perhaps the second floor could be used for another retailer like a small Christmas Tree Shop (the new owners want to expand and I don't think they are as picky for locations like Bed Bath and Beyond was). The Sears wing in the mall is nearly all vacant. They can also move the food court to the center court area by where AT&T and Pralines is (and relocate any stores in that area to accommodate it). Then relocate all the stores left in the Sears wing to the other wings of the mall in vacant spaces. I had been wondering why the dinner theater continues to advertise shows off site while the temporary wall is still up inside in front of the space. As for Ruby Tuesday, I'm not sure of their future as a whole, and I'm not sure if they'd be willing to open in a new spot, but if they would be open to it, they can take over the old Sears Auto Center. But I am surprised they are still in Meriden Mall. I'm also wondering if Yale New Haven Health is still moving forward with the old Macys space. I had heard the construction apparatus was removed. I am planning to go down there next week so I'll confirm that. I thought maybe Target would have been better for that building.

The only reason I go to Meriden Mall is for Boscov's. I like that store and they seem to do very well there. They are always busy. I also like to supplement that with a stop at Target across the street.