Wakefield Mall

[dayville81]

A very small one-level mall in Wakefield, RI, a beach community. Only mall I know that has two anchors that do not have mall entrances when the mall itself is open with very few vacancies. Anchored by Shaw's Supermarket and Staples, the mall caters to tourists visting the region. Has two mall entrances near the anchor stores. Information below from deadmalls. com:

DEADMALLS.COM FEATURE:
WAKEFIELD MALL: SOUTH KINGSTOWN (NEAR PROVIDENCE), RI
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Kevin Clarke's Commentary:
Posted February 4, 2004 (user submitted)
Wakefield, Rhode Island 1 Level - approximately 10-15 tenants Anchored by Shaw's Supermarket

I first visited the Wakefield Mall in Wakefield, Rhode Island when I was eight. I remember wondering how there could be a mall in my small home state that I had never even heard of (I had always known of the other then three malls). However, it's clear to me now that this mall could easily hide in the shadows where only a quarter of the state's population would ever know about it.

Wakefield Mall is a VERY small one story center in southern Rhode Island near the beaches of South County. It has about 10 stores, and two anchors. For as far back as I have known, the anchors were Rich's (a now defunct discount department store chain) and NHD, a regional hardward and home goods store. Rich's closed when I was young, and about 7 years ago, NHD also closed its doors. The Rich's space was taken over by Shaw's, a supermarket, and it sealed it's mall entrance. It was clear that Shaw's was attempting to maintain a seperate identity from the rest of the mall. They even took down the original mall sign (with the 70's style "WM" logo) and replaced it with a giant Shaw's sign (with the words "Wakefield Mall" atop the sign in small letters).

I remember the tenants being Record Town (now FYE), CVS, KayBee toys, a few local tenants (jewelry, candy) McDonalds, Weathervane, and Fashion Bug. As far as I know, Shaw's, CVS, the jewelry store, KayBee, and surprisingly FYE are still open.

I visited the mall six years ago and stopped into the then Record Town. It was one of the smaller older concept stores, with a huge neon "record" on the ceiling, with mirrored panels....clearly not a store on the company's remodel list. I was surprised to see a staff that was optimistic about their mall and proud to work at that location. I spoke with the store manager, who said that other then the fact that it was hard to reach the ever-changing landlord, that the mall wasn't destined to close anytime soon.

The mall is still open today. Why? Because of summer sales. The mall sits empty during the year except for the occasional local shopper. However, in the months between May and September, when Rhode Island experiences a brisk tourist season, the mall is popular. Where else in South County could you buy your cd's? The Shaw's location also draws in customers. While the store doesn't open into the mall, I witnessed customers travelling between the supermarket and the mall entrance.

Wakefield Mall will always have a place in my heart. I hope to stop in this summer when I go home to visit. I promise I will try to get pictures and post them here.


Links:
South County's Web Site - you can kind of get a mall store list from it.

[d_fife]

it said the 71,520 square foot rich's department store was a woolworth that closed in 1994 and Rich's replaced it then and closed 2 years later.

I believe JC penny is there and it became Staples.

[dayville81]

Unique feature: The end of the mall that has Staples has glass walls with a red interior wall and a Staples sign, although no sign or arrow indicating there is no entrance there but most would figure it out anyway.....while the end with Shaw's just has a regular white drywall.