Civic Center Shops (Hartford, CT)

[farmingtonvalleymall]

Better known as the Civic Center Mall even though early ads clearly call it 'shops'. This was a three floor indoor mall with an entrance to the Veterans Coliseum home of the WHA/NHL Hartford Whalers (1972-1997).

I don't recall the bottom floor having any stores but was a convention area. Use to go to sport card shows there and the annual "Papermania".

Had a brainstorming session and these are some stores we came up with (could be errors): Whaler gift shop, Eastern Mountain Sports, B. Dalton, Al Franklin records, Wendy's, Margaritaville, Rising Sun, Luettgens department store, Koenig's Art supply, Baskin Robbins, Rein's Deli, the Ticketron was in the mall too

from old ads is appears that there was: Shutterbug, La Crepe, Signature restaurant

Also these are types of stores we know were there but couldn't come up with names: Bridal shop, Cigar shop, package store, Antique store(s), Jewelry store(s).

The mall itself was pretty dead by the late 80's. A lot of the upper lever was vacant as it got no traffic. I can't ever remember going to the mall to shop, it was always a Whaler game, a concert or a convention show that brought us there.

The whaler gift shop entrance was very unique as it use to be the shape of a whale, exactly like the one below



Sometime in the late 80's or early 90's this whale entrance was replaced by a standard square entrance and it the gift shop changed to a generic sporting good shop :(

In February 1978 the civic center coliseum roof collapsed after a succession of winter storms piled too much snow on the roof. The Whalers played home games in Springfield for 2 years while the roof was fixed.

I haven't been there in about 6 years but I hear that the mall is gone now and has been remodeled into apartments or something

[farmingtonvalleymall]

[farmingtonvalleymall]

"official" list of stores in early 90's:

Luettgens Limited, T.J. Maxx, Ann Taylor, Bridal Party Penthouse, Caren Charles, Casual Corner, Eve Adam Ltd., Foxmoor, Henry Miller Clothiers, Weathervane, Honore Gallery, Peter Wittman Jewelers, Sterling Jewelers, Unique Antique, Al Franklins Music World, Ritz Camera, Sears Business Systems, Athlete's Foot, Eastern Mountain Sports, Whaler Pro Image, B. Dalton, Creative Yarns, Koenig Art Emporium, Post Script, Buettner Florist, Cachez Design For Hair, Civic Center Opticians, Civic Center Shoe Repair, Convenient Travel, Federal Express, Barrie Ltd. Bootiers, Prague's In-Step, Arthur's Drug Store, i Natural Cosmetics, Nature Food Centres, De La Concha Tobacconist, D. Charles Gallery, D&W Collectibles, Innovation Luggage, New England Craftsman, Arby's, Au Bon Pain, Bagels & More, Buon Apetito, China Wok, Chuck's Steak House, The Cellar, City Rollers, Chicken by George, Gaetano's, Ice Cream Scene, Margarita's, On a Roll, Sakura Japan, Wendy's, Yogurt Bar, Munson's Chocolates, St. James Gourmet Food, West Side Ltd. II

[RogerAnthony]

In addition to the Wendy's on the first floor there was also another Wendy's on the second floor for part of the 80's or 90's called Wendy's Too.