Connecticut Post Mall (formerly known as Westfield Connecticut Post) is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

, located on the

Boston Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into one of the first major highways in the United States. The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road (now U.S. Ro ...

( Route 1) in

Milford, Connecticut Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located between New Haven and Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the village of Devon and the borough of Woodmont. ...

. It is currently the largest mall in the state of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

and is partially owned and operated by Centennial Properties.

History

The original, open-air mall was built by Sol Atlas and opened in 1960, anchored by a W. & J. Sloane furniture store and a

Stop & Shop The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, known as Stop & Shop, is a regional chain of supermarkets located in the northeastern United States. From its beginnings in 1892 as a small grocery store, it has grown to include 406 stores chain-wide. Sto ...

supermarket at opposite ends. In 1962, the sixth branch of the

Alexander's Alexander's is a real estate investment trust that owns 7 properties in New York metropolitan area, including 731 Lexington Avenue, the headquarters of Bloomberg L.P. It is controlled by Vornado Realty Trust. It was founded by George Farkas and ...

department store chain opened. Following an early fire at the west end of the mall, a

Caldor Caldor, Inc. was a discount department store chain founded in 1951 by husband and wife Carl and Dorothy Bennett. Referred to by many as the Bloomingdale's of discounting, Caldor grew from a second story "Walk-Up-&-Save" operation in Port Chest ...

discount store was built as the new anchor. In 1981, the mall was enclosed. The mall underwent a renovation in 1990, which added the Skyview Cafe food court, and lost anchor Alexander's. On August 7, 1991,

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

opened in the former Alexander's space. G. Fox was added in 1991 and was rebranded as

Filene's Filene's (formally William Filene & Sons Co.) was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts, was supplemented by the foundation of its off-p ...

in 1993. Caldor closed on May 15, 1999, and was later demolished. Stop & Shop relocated to a freestanding store sometime in the late 1990s and was demolished for

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

, which opened on April 1, 2000. The Mall strongly opposed the proposed rival

New Haven Galleria The New Haven Galleria at Long Wharf was a shopping mall proposed for construction in New Haven, Connecticut by mayoral candidate Wally Grigo in 1993.

mall at Long Wharf, filing over 15 lawsuits. A $118 million expansion project took place in 2005–06, adding: * an additional level of parking * a third floor to Filene's which was later rebranded as

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

in 2006. * a large extension to the building with a movie theater (Connecticut Post 14, replacing the Milford Fourplex, previously located in an adjacent building. Was Cinema De Lux, later a

Rave Cinemas Rave Cinemas, formerly known as "Rave Motion Pictures", is a movie theater brand founded in 1999 and owned by Cinemark Theatres. It previously was headed by Thomas W. Stephenson, Jr., former CEO of Hollywood Theaters, and Rolando B. Rodriguez, fo ...

, now a

Cinemark Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (stylized as CineMark from 1998 to 2022 and CINEMARK since 2022) is an American movie theater chain that started operations in 1984 and since then it has operated theaters with hundreds of locations throughout the America ...

), a new food court, and two more anchors,

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...

and

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

on the site of the former Caldor. In December 2015, Westfield sold Connecticut Post in a $1.1 billion deal involving 5 malls. In 2017, it was announced Boscov's will replace JCPenney, which would close. On October 15, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide. The store closed on January 7, 2019. On November 7, 2018,

Dave & Buster's Dave & Buster's is an American restaurant and entertainment business headquartered in Dallas. Each Dave & Buster's has a full-service restaurant and a video arcade. As of October 2022, the company has 151 locations in the United States and two i ...

joined the mall. On May 13, 2019, it was announced that a Muse Paintbar would open. On June 3, 2019, the

Red Robin Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc., more commonly known as Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews or simply Red Robin, is an American chain of casual dining restaurants founded in September 1969 in Seattle, Washington. In 1979, the first franchised ...

shuttered as part of a plan to close 10 restaurants nationwide. On August 2, 2019, a Guacamole's Mexican restaurant opened. On January 27, 2020, the

Bar Louie Bar Louie is an American bar and restaurant chain founded in 1990. Bar Louie serves food, beer, and cocktails, from locations predominantly located in urban and suburban markets. there are approximately 69 locations. Bar Louie is headquartered ...

shuttered as part of their Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. In 2020, the former Sears space was to be demolished for a new mixed-used development project called The Post. However, these were cancelled when the Milford P&Z Commission declined the proposed project to be built. On May 20, 2021, it was announced that a Cast Iron restaurant would open in the former World of Beer space. On August 3, 2022, it was announced that

P.F. Chang's P. F. Chang's China Bistro is an American-based, casual dining restaurant chain founded in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang that serves Asian fusion cuisine. Centerbridge Partners owned and operated Chang's until acquired by the private eq ...

would open a new location in this mall in the former Bar Louie space, which will open in 2023. On October 22, 2022, it was announced that Ulta Beauty would be relocating from the Connecticut Post Mall to a new location in Orange, in the former Talbots Outlet space. The new store will open in June 2023, with the Connecticut Post Mall location closing shortly after.

References

External links

Connecticut Post Mall website
{{Portal bar, Connecticut Shopping malls in Connecticut Buildings and structures in Milford, Connecticut Shopping malls established in 1960 Tourist attractions in New Haven County, Connecticut Shopping malls in the New York metropolitan area 1960 establishments in Connecticut