The University Mall, often referred to as the U-Mall, is an enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

South Burlington, Vermont South Burlington is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. Along with neighboring Burlington, it is a principal city of the Burlington metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,292, making it the sec ...

. The name refers to its proximity to the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

. At , it is the largest shopping mall in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

and is the only enclosed mall in the entire state in general and the Burlington metropolitan area in particular following the closure of

CityPlace Burlington CityPlace Burlington (previously named Burlington Square Mall and Burlington Town Center) was a formerly enclosed shopping mall. Located on the Church Street Marketplace open-air mall in Burlington, Vermont, United States, it opened in 1976. The ...

in 2022.

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...

Kohl's Kohl's Corporation (Kohl's is stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain store, chain. currently has 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawaii. The company was founded by Polish immigrant Maxwe ...

, and

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * 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 artille ...

are the anchor stores. It also features an H&M. The mall encompasses 77 shops, including two sit-down restaurants, and a

food court A food court (in Asia-Pacific also called food hall or hawker centre) is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food Vendor, vendors and provides a common area for self-serve di ...

. KeyPoint Partners, LLC of

Burlington, Massachusetts Burlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,377 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History It is believed that Burlington takes its name from the English town of Bridlington, York ...

is the mall's management company.

History

Construction of the University Mall was completed in 1979. Original anchors were Almy's and

Zayre Zayre () was a chain of discount stores that operated in the eastern half of the United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters were in Framingham, Massachusetts. In October 1988, Zayre's parent company, Zayre Corp., sold the store ...

. Zayre relocated to a freestanding store in the mall in 1987 and an expansion took over the old Zayre in 1989 connecting the new Zayre. Zayre was rebranded as

Ames AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British Air Ministry's radar development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards RAF Bawdsey) in the immediate pre-World War II era. The team was forced to move on three occasion ...

the same year. Almy's closed in 1987 and became Steinbach in 1992. The mall got a second expansion in 1992 with

becoming the third anchor. The mall got a third expansion in 1998 with a 2-story

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

becoming the fourth anchor, plus a 4-story parking garage. Steinbach closed in 1999 and became

The Bon-Ton Bonton Holdings Inc. operating as Bonton () was an American department store chain and group founded in 1898. It operated in Western New York, Pennsylvania, Western Maryland, and throughout the Midwestern United States. The former York, Pennsy ...

the same year. Ames closed in 2002 following their

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 U.S. Code is the bankruptcy code that governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. This is in contrast to bankruptcy under Chapter 11 and Chapter 13, which govern the process of ''re ...

and became

in April 2004. The mall was renovated in 2005. On October 18, 2017, it was announced that regional division The Bon-Ton would be closing in January 2018. On October 19, 2017,

announced that they will be opening a small-format store and their first store in Vermont in the former Bon-Ton on October 19, 2018. On November 7, 2019, it was announced Sears would be closing.

Operations

The rental per square foot is proprietary information. Average pro-rata tax payment for a non-anchor store is about $2 per . As of January 2015, mall management reported that the mall was fully tenanted with the exception of two food court spaces.

Tenants

The University Mall has an array of stores and areas to eat. Various national retailers have their only Burlington, Vermont area store within the mall, including the four current anchor stores. In 2009, Vermont's first

International House of Pancakes IHOP Restaurants LLC ( ; acronym for International House of Pancakes) is an American multinational pancake house restaurant chain that specializes in American breakfast foods. It is owned by Dine Brands—a company formed after IHOP's purchase ...

opened here, becoming the mall's second sit-down restaurant. There is also a food court in the center of the mall. On ''September 29, 2024 IHOP closed this location leaving Vermont the only state in the nation without an International House of Pancakes.''

References

External links

University Mall website
{{Coord, 44.465825, -73.183794, , display=title Buildings and structures in South Burlington, Vermont Shopping malls in Vermont Shopping malls established in 1979 Tourist attractions in Chittenden County, Vermont 1979 establishments in Vermont