South Shore Plaza is an upscale shopping mall owned by the Simon Property Group. It is located in Braintree, Massachusetts. With 2,165,000 sq ft (201,100 m2) of leasable area and 220 retailers, it is the largest mall in New England in terms of square footage and is the 15th largest mall in the United States. South Shore Plaza is home to seven different department store anchorsâ€"Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Macy's, Sears, Primark, Target, and DSW.
In 2008 the mall was used to film sequences of the movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop.
History
South Shore Plaza originally opened in 1961 as an open-air plaza with a 120,000 sq ft (11,000 m2) Filene's and thirty smaller stores. A 300,316 sq ft (27,900 m2) Jordan Marsh opened in 1967. The center was enclosed in 1976 and saw additional anchors, such as Lord & Taylor in 1979 and Sears in 1980, when the mall reached 100 stores. In 1995 and 1996, a second level was added, including the "Boardwalk Cafes" food court, and the Filene's store was expanded to include a home store. This nearly doubled the mall's size, giving it a bright and airy feel, largely because of abundant skylighting and spacious corridors. Also in 1996, the Jordan Marsh store was renamed Macy's. In 1998, Simon Property Group acquired the mall owner, Corporate Property Investors, and assumed management.
In 2005, May Department Stores, at the time the parent of Lord & Taylor and Filene's, was acquired by Federated Department Stores, the owner of Macy's. As a result, the Filene's store was briefly closed in March 2006, before using the space to relocate its Macy's store that May. The remainder of the Filene's stores were converted Macy's later that year. Federated sold the Lord & Taylor chain later that year and sold the vacant Jordan Marsh/Macy's space to Simon Property Group. Filene's Basement, one of the mall's former anchors, filed for bankruptcy protection on May 4, 2009. New York's Crown Acquisitions made a bid to buy Filene's Basement including their famous Downtown Crossing location which closed for reconstruction in 2007. The South Shore Plaza store in Braintree closed in December 2011.
A redevelopment opened on the former site of Jordan Marsh on March 26, 2010. The center now holds 2,165,000 sq ft (201,100 m2), making it New England's largest mall, and includes a newly constructed three-level, 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m2) Nordstrom, though the Jordan Marsh building was four stories. Simon Property Group announced on May 12, 2009 that they were in negotiations with the town of Braintree and Target to include a Target store on the lowest level of the 3 level mall addition. Its grand opening was on October 10, 2010. Numerous high-end retailers have joined the mall in the Nordstrom wing, including Sur La Table, Juicy Couture, Vera Bradley, and Sephora. The mall also received new carpeting, wall decor, food court seating/televisions, and signage as part of the renovations. The parking deck bridges that once connected to Jordan Marsh have now been restored.
In 2017, the Irish clothing retailer, Primark, will be opening in the former top level of Sears.
References
External links
- Boston.com article on South Shore Plaza
- Simon Malls
- South Shore Plaza
