Crystal Mall

[dayville81]

Built in the early 1980's, this two-floor mall is anchored by Sears, JC Penney, Macy's, and Filene's. As a result of the Federated purchase of May Department Stores, this Filene's will be divested and will conduct going out of business sales in late January 2006. Mall has a food court but many stores such as a cell phone store, shoe store, hat store, and pet grooming store occupy space here. The mall has lost many good food court eateries for some reason, not sure why. Olive Garden recently opened between JC Penney and Target on mall property. There is a crystal chandlier in the middle of the mall. One can see it from different angles by using the staircase near the recently closed KayBee Toy Store.

[d_fife]

Originally posted by dayville81
Built in the early 1980's, this two-floor mall is anchored by Sears, JC Penney, Macy's, and Filene's. As a result of the Federated purchase of May Department Stores, this Filene's will be divested and will conduct going out of business sales in late January 2006. Mall has a food court but many stores such as a cell phone store, shoe store, hat store, and pet grooming store occupy space here. The mall has lost many good food court eateries for some reason, not sure why. Olive Garden recently opened between JC Penney and Target on mall property. There is a crystal chandlier in the middle of the mall. One can see it from different angles by using the staircase near the recently closed KayBee Toy Store.

macy's was jordan marsh. it was built summer 1995. macy's is 120000 squrae feet filene's is 90000 square feet. the mall is 2 levels and 792,000 squrae feet. there is a disney store in the mall. i wonder what will become of the filene's

[dayville81]

What was in the Jordan Marsh space before it opened in 1995? I understand that the mall opened in the late 80's so was there another anchor there like G. Fox?

[d_fife]

Originally posted by dayville81
What was in the Jordan Marsh space before it opened in 1995? I understand that the mall opened in the late 80's so was there another anchor there like G. Fox?

Jordan marsh actually opened up in 1984. An article on highbeam said of jordan marsh opening in 1984. I do not know what the other anchor was.

[dayville81]

Probably was Filene's, Sears. and JC Penney, the current anchors of the mall. I remember reading articles that Sears used to be in the New London Shopping Center in the present Staples and JC Penney was in downtown New London. Filene's was new to southeast CT, maybe a reason why they built the store so small since they werent sure how successful the store would be.

[d_fife]

here is the pictures of mall

from  www.bowdoinconstruction.com/ retail.htm

[d_fife]

Originally posted by d_fife
here is the pictures of mall

from  www.bowdoinconstruction.com/ retail.htm

more of the mall, here is the food court that got renovated.

from  www.bowdoinconstruction.com/ retail.htm

[d_fife]

here is filene's 90,000 square foot store in the mall. it looks line the maine mall one

from by SEAN D. ELLIOT if http://www.theday.com/eng/web/store/itm.aspx?re=09a31ca0-6477-4525-8e2b-86e1f1bb4bfc&itm=pho

[d_fife]

here is the jordan marsh turned macy's that is 120,000 square feet

from From Seth Dillingham of http://www.truerwords.net/430

[standa]

I read that the Filene's store will become Christmas Tree Shops and Bed Bath & Beyond.

[XISMZERO]

Originally posted by standa
I read that the Filene's store will become Christmas Tree Shops and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Interesting... where'd you hear it from?

I find some of this hard to believe, specifically BB&B who has a brand new store at one of the recently built big box centers across the street.

[standa]

Originally posted by XISMZERO

Originally posted by standa
I read that the Filene's store will become Christmas Tree Shops and Bed Bath & Beyond.

Interesting... where'd you hear it from?

I find some of this hard to believe, specifically BB&B who has a brand new store at one of the recently built big box centers across the street.

[standa]

It is written on the Crystal Mall website at www.simon.com.

[Marc82]

Originally posted by XISMZERO
Interesting... where'd you hear it from?  I find some of this hard to believe, specifically BB&B who has a brand new store at one of the recently built big box centers across the street.

http://www.simon.com/mall/event_details.aspx?ID=334&EID=66312

[standa]

I think it is Linens-n-Things, not Bed Bath and Beyond , which has a store across from the Crystal Mall.

[silverrose43]

i'm new here and i work at this mall.

BBB and Christmas Tree Shops just opened in the old Filene's.

While they are both nice stores, designed well I mean, they both put their cash registers nowhere near the mall entrance making it inconvienient to get back into the mall with all your bags of stuff, how nice of them.

or people load up a cart to push through the mall and just leave the carts wherever they feel like it.

[Whoser]

3 GameStops are in that mall, surely a record?

The Toy Vault recently opened at the mall, They're also getting ready to open a LongHorn Stake house down there.


I also talked with the manager. She's said that

"We are trying to add new and exciting retailers to our mix of stores. Christmas Tree Shops and Bed Bath & Beyond have certainly been a hit and I do believe the Longhorn Steakhouse will be a great addition as well. Longhorn is owned by the same company that owns the Olive Garden and OG has been a huge success. We are currently working on adding another big restaurant, more snack foods, and stronger stores, so stay tuned"


An odd question for me to ask, but would the Crystal Mall ever become a Dead Mall? It's currently in competition with Waterford Commons.

[silverrose43]

For a while it seemed that it was going to end up a dead mall. Both the FYE and PacSun are always rumored to be closing. When the huge Limited closed it was a huge loss, but Forever 21 moved in and has been very successful.

This mall is truly lacking in the food court, while it is nice that they are building the Longhorn, the in mall eating selection is sparse at best (when you work here like i do you get very sick of having so few places to pick from) they need to lure Dunkin Donuts into the mall, the only coffee place is Gloria Jeans and its pricey. I miss when this mall used to have a Taco Bell.

And for the love of all that is sacred I don't Know why we have THREE Game Stops. They are all named Game Stop, all on the same level (two of them are right across the hall from each other!) and they all sell the same exact stuff. Plus there is another one down the road in the Bob's/Lowe's plaza.

[Bdubs]

This poor mall isn't getting any better.  I visited today for the first time in ages.  Talk about a ghost town in there.  So many empty store fronts.
The foodcourt has chinese food, a d'angelos, a BK, and a Sbarro's.  The rest are shuttered.  The days of the Arby's and Taco Bell are gone.  
I went to use the bathrooms in this area, and they were in horrendous shape.  In need of repairs and a cleaning.  Hand dryers weren't working and no paper towels...how sanitary.  Nothing screams 90's renovation catastrophe than all white, everywhere.

The outskirts of the mall seem to be thriving now.  The rolls are reversed now.  As opposed to 8+ years ago, you couldn't get anyone to develop anything in the area.  The only thing around was a Toys'R Us which seemed to be built around the same time as the mall.

There are 3 Gamestops because all 3 were owned by different companies until of course one conglomerate gobbled them all up.  Electronic's Boutique near the salon, EB Xtreme, which opened to sell an expanded selection due to EB being so small, and Software Etc. back in the day, near the dollar store.  Why they are paying 3 leases on a mall that is not large at all is way beyond me.  AND the one down the road used to be a Funcoland.  All great when they were separate, but now, it's overkill.

[Marc82]

There are 4 Game Stops in Waterbury, CT. Two in The Brass Mill Mall, One in Shoprite Plaza. One in Walmart Plaza across the street from Shoprite Plaza.

[Whoser]

We had a HUGE arcade back in the 90s.

Here's the fun thing, The Arcade has made a Return! Not as big as the first one, but we'll take it.

Imma probably be a regular for their "Deal or No Deal" Game.

[Bdubs]

Major renovations planned for the Crystal Mall finally.

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/business/x1777818464/Crystal-Mall-to-get-10M-renovation?photo=0#axzz1HYfksUvu

They are removing the Crystal Chandelier.  That's a shock, considering it is called the CRYSTAL Mall.  Some sources say the mall "claims" they had the chandelier tested, and had discovered it isn't real crystal at all.  Which is why they are removing it.

Also, Buffalo Wild Wings announced they will be opening a chain in the closed restaurant Charley's.

D'angelo's has closed, and is going to be replaced by Subway.  Blah.

[d_fife]

this mall reminded me of the pheasant lane mall in Nashua

[Bdubs]

Happened to be passing through the area on Sunday, and decided to stop in and see how this "Renovation Project" is going.  I was totally blown away as I stepped out of JC Penny and saw the old original brown tiles have been let out to breathe!
They peeled back that crappy 90's white and teal to reveal what has been hiding under there for 15 years.  Totally a trip down memory lane.

On the other side of the mall, it appears they have started laying new tile over the top once again.  A more neutral looking pattern, but I would have been totally happy to have them keep that original brown tile!  It really fits the original design of the mall.

[dayville81]

Now they have new carpeting on the upper level near Sears. All mall entrances will be upgraded with new signage. New exterior directional signs have been installed around the mall. Inside the mall, new overhead white lights have been installed. New soft seating areas are popping up in areas that used to have hard benches or kiosks. The lower level of Macy's has turned into a big area with many chairs. Sort of like a hangout for shoppers as this was the former home of the indoor playground which moved to the lower level of Christmas Tree Shops.

[giantsfan2016]

In September I might be attending an event with a buddy at the New London-Waterford Speed Bowl and I'm trying to convince my buddy to go to the mall too. He's into malls and plus there's a Buffalo Wild Wings in the mall so I'm hoping we can go there for lunch. I've never been to this mall.

[JJBers]

Just went to the mall today, boat load of images: Album link
Here's a sample:

Sears (Crystal Mall) by JJBers, on Flickr

JCPenney (Crystal Mall) by JJBers, on Flickr

Crystal Mall by JJBers, on Flickr

Crystal Mall by JJBers, on Flickr

[danfifepsu]

How is this mall doing now?

[Everything Community]

How is this mall doing now?

2

That mall isn't as busy as it once was (or even when I visited in very early 2019) with less people shopping and more vacant stores.

[Everything Community]

Crystal Mall is being sold next month
https://news.yahoo.com/crystal-mall-being-sold-next-003100845.html