Swansea Mall was a regional

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 in

Swansea, Massachusetts Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts. It is located at the mouth of the Taunton River, just west of Fall River, south of Boston, and southeast of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 17,144 at the 2020 cens ...

. It served the Southeastern

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

area. Located off Exit 3 of

I-195 Interstate 195 (I-195) is the designation for the following Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to I-95: *Interstate 195 (District of Columbia), a future designation for the north–south portion of I-395 from the Sout ...

, the building is situated at the intersection of

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...

and

Massachusetts Route 118 Route 118 is a north-south state highway in Bristol County, Massachusetts. Its southern terminus is at U.S. Route 6 (US 6) in Swansea and its northern terminus is at Route 123 in Attleboro. Along the way it intersects US 44 in Rehoboth. Rou ...

, on Swansea Mall Drive. It had three out-parcel buildings: a

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

building behind the mall, a former

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loc ...

, a shared PriceRite (closed in 2020) &

Dollar Tree Dollar Tree, Inc. is an American multi-price-point chain of discount variety stores. Headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, it is a ''Fortune'' 500 company and operates 15,115 stores throughout the 48 contiguous U.S. states and Canada. Its st ...

(formerly a

Service Merchandise Service Merchandise was a retail chain of catalog showrooms carrying jewelry, toys, sporting goods, and electronics. The company, which first began in 1934 as a five-and-dime store, was in existence for 68 years before ceasing operations in 2002. ...

). The Swansea Crossings shopping plaza is across the street, and contains a

Big Lots Big Lots Stores, Inc. (stylized as Big Lots!) is an American retail company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio with over 1,400 stores in 47 states. History The Big Lots chain traces its history back to 1967 when Consolidated Stores Corporation w ...

and a

Regal Cinemas Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens i ...

movie theater. The mall closed permanently on March 31, 2019. It was purchased by Anagnost Companies in May 2019 at auction. Redevelopment has begun on the mall.

History

During the building of the mall, there were issues between union and non-union workers that led to multiple fights between the sides and several injuries. Swansea Mall originally opened in 1975 with two anchors:

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 ...

and

Edgar Department Stores Edgar Department Stores was the name of a U.S. based department store that operated in New England. Originally called "The Boston Store," it was founded in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1890. After a second devastating fire in less than 20 years, Ja ...

. The mall had a 4-screen movie theater. In the early 1980s, the mall expanded and added two anchors, national discount department store

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 ...

and Rhode Island-based department store

Apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex ...

. Two out-parcels were located just south of the original mall, populated by

and

. In 1989, the mall underwent a major interior renovation. By the 1990s, the movie theater was closed, original anchor Edgar's, then out-of-business, was replaced by

Jordan Marsh Jordan Marsh (officially Jordan Marsh & Company) was an American department store chain that was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and operated throughout New England. It was founded by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh in 1841. The o ...

, the hall space was altered with the removal of water fountains, the installation of new lighting, and new floor tiling, and the mall's logo was changed to its current design. In 1996, Jordan Marsh was sold to

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 ...

suffered damage during a fire in 1997 and was closed for a year of renovation. It closed permanently when the company went out of business in 1999. Several restaurants left the mall in the late '90s, such as the pizzeria Roman Delight and Newport Creamery. In 1995, the food court was opened. In 2001, a

replaced the previous Caldor location after its purchase in 1999. Apex closed the same year. Walmart moved out of the mall and into its own building in September 2013. The previous Walmart wing of the mall was demolished and replaced with parking and a new mall entrance. In December 2013, mall owner Carlyle Development sold off the two southern out-parcel buildings, a

Toys R Us A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include Toy block, toy blocks, Board game, board games, and Doll, dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed sp ...

and

Price Rite Price Rite is a chain of supermarkets found in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York (state), New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Based in Keasbey, New Jersey, Price Rite is owned by New Jersey-based Wake ...

, to Gator Investments, and announced that it was putting the Swansea Mall up for sale. In January 2014, the mall brought management in-house and ended its relationship with management company, Jones Lang LaSalle. Also in 2014, Kaplan Retail Consulting was hired to oversee the leasing of the mall's retail space. A sale agreement was reached via online auction in November 2014, but by January 2015 the plans had fallen through. On December 28, 2016, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of its plan to close 150 stores nationwide. The store closed in March 2017. The closure of Sears left the mall with Macy's as its only anchor. Swansea Mall (Swansea, Massachusetts)

On June 29, 2018, the out-parcel Toys "R" Us was closed after the chain filed for bankruptcy and closed all US locations. The space was rented as a Spirit Halloween for multiple years after the Toys "R" Us closed. On January 9, 2019, it was announced that Macy's would be closing on March 31, 2019, as part of its plan to close 9 stores nationwide. In January of 2019, the Swansea Board of Selectmen discussed a proposal to take the mall property by

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

for redevelopment. On January 31, 2019, Carlyle Partners, the mall's owner, announced that Swansea Mall would be closing by March 31, 2019. On March 31, the mall ceased business and closed. In May 2019, Anagnost Companies, a real estate developer and management company, purchased the property at auction for $6.65 million with plans to turn it into a multifaceted facility. In May 2021, the developers estimated they would spend $200 million between redeveloping the mall and constructing apartments on the property. For a time, town officials considered moving the town offices to the property, but announced in October 2021 that legal issues restricted the move.

References

External links

Proposed expansion as of 2007
{{Shopping malls in Massachusetts Shopping malls in Massachusetts Shopping malls established in 1975 Defunct shopping malls in the United States Buildings and structures in Bristol County, Massachusetts Tourist attractions in Bristol County, Massachusetts 1975 establishments in Massachusetts Shopping malls disestablished in 2019