Enfield Square, formerly Westfield Shoppingtown Enfield Square, is an enclosed

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 ...

Enfield Enfield may refer to: Places Australia * Enfield, New South Wales * Enfield, South Australia ** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb ** Enfield High School (South Australia) ...

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 ...

. The mall is owned by the

Namdar Realty Group Namdar Realty Group is an American shopping mall investment company based in Great Neck, New York. They primarily purchase shopping malls with partner Mason Asset Management. Namdar and Mason are both family owned, and as of 2021, own over 400 pr ...

. At , Enfield Square is the 10th largest mall in the state of Connecticut, containing 54 shops, all on one level. As of 2018, there was only a single anchor store:

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 ...

History

May Centers CenterMark, formerly known as May Centers, was a mall development company owned by a consortium of Westfield Holdings Ltd., General Growth Properties, and Whitehall Street Real Estate L.P. III. And it was formerly owned by The May Department Store ...

, the mall development branch of

May Department Stores The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many ch ...

, built the Enfield Square, which opened in 1971, with three anchor stores: G. Fox,

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 ...

and

Steiger's Steiger's was a department store company of New England in the 19th and 20th centuries. Founded in Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1896, its flagship store for much of the company's history was in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the time of its purchase ...

. In 1993, G. Fox was converted to a

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 ...

store as a result of a merger. Steiger's ceased operations at the east side of the mall in 1994 when the chain went out of business. In 1996, the owner of the mall, CenterMark Properties, was acquired by the

Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...

. On April 26, 1997,

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 ...

opened in the space formerly occupied by Steiger's. In 1998, the property, valued at $50 million, was transferred to Enfield Square LLC and was rebranded as Westfield Shoppingtown Enfield Square. In August 2000, JCPenney closed as a result of a nationwide closing of unprofitable stores. The space remained vacant until Filene's expanded operations by moving its men's and home departments there in February 2001.

built a new anchor on the north side of the mall in October 2001. In 2006, both of the Filene's stores were 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 ...

after yet another merger. Additionally, the Westfield Group sold the property to Australia-based

Centro Properties Group Vicinity Centres , previously known as Federation Centres and Centro Properties Group, is an Australian Real Estate Investment Trust specialising in ownership and management of Australian shopping centres. As at December 2021, it had stakes i ...

for $80 million, which its joint venture subsidiary Centro Watt (now

Brixmor Property Group Brixmor Property Group is a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust that primarily invests in shopping malls. They own and operate over 400 open-air shopping centers totaling over 73 million square feet of retail space. Brixmor Property Gr ...

) managed the property. In 2012, Brixmor Property Group hired

Madison Marquette Madison Marquette Real Estate Services is a Washington D.C.-based investor, developer and operator of mixed-use real estate. Madison Marquette provides investment management, development, leasing and property services to a diverse portfolio of 33 ...

to manage the Enfield Square. In January 2016, Macy's announced they were closing both of the locations at the mall as a result of a nationwide closing of unprofitable stores. In February 2016, J.P. Morgan Chase foreclosed on the mall after Brixmor Property Group (Centro Enfield LLC), defaulted on a $240 million loan taken out in 2006 for renovation purposes. On August 7, 2016, the Ruby Tuesday location at the mall closed. On December 28, 2016, Sears announced that it would close its Enfield Square location in April 2017 as part of a plan to close 150 stores nationwide which left Target as the only remaining anchor store.

Party City Party City Holdco Inc. is an American publicly traded retail chain of party stores founded in 1986 by Steve Mandell in East Hanover, New Jersey. Party City’s parent organization is Party City Holdings Inc. Based in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, the compa ...

moved their Enfield location into the mall in 2017. On April 25, 2017,

Express Express or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid Music * ''Express'' ...

announced that its Enfield Square location would be closed on May 6, 2017. In June 2018, KeyPoint Partners was chosen to manage the mall. The property was sold by

J.P. Morgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the w ...

through online auction company Ten-X.com on December 12, 2018 for $10.85 million, however, the buyer was not identified. On January 15, 2019, it was announced that the property was purchased by New York-based

. On January 25, 2020, the Enfield Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously voted to approve Namdar Realty Group's proposal to resubdivide the property into 13 parcels as part of a redevelopment plan. During the summer of 2022, the roof covering the old Macy's store collapsed. The Town of Enfield has stepped in to remediate this dangerous situation after numerous requests to the landlord have gone unanswered. A lien of $44,000 has been placed on the property to cover the cost of the work performed.

References

External links

* {{Shopping malls in Connecticut Shopping malls in Connecticut Enfield, Connecticut Shopping malls established in 1971 Tourist attractions in Hartford County, Connecticut Buildings and structures in Hartford County, Connecticut 1971 establishments in Connecticut Namdar Realty Group