Burlington Mall (Massachusetts)

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The Burlington Mall is a large, two-story, indoor shopping mall complex located off Route 3 and Route 128 in Burlington, Massachusetts. The mall is one of many shopping venues in the Middlesex County area, including the Shops at Billerica, Square One Mall, Acton Plaza, and Middlesex Commons. The Burlington Mall has a gross leasable area of 1,282,339 square feet (119,133 m²). The mall has approximately 170 shops and restaurants, including a large food court (capable of seating 775), and is in a high-density commercial district. Built in 1968, it was expanded in the 1970s and 1980s. It is managed by Simon Property Group, Inc.

As of 2016, Burlington Mall is anchored by Lord & Taylor, Macy's, Nordstrom, and Primark. Sears closed on April 8, 2018. .

Video Burlington Mall (Massachusetts)

History

The Burlington Mall was developed by Herbert H. Johnson Associates (architects) and Symmes, Main, and McKee Inc. (associate architects and engineers). New York-based Bellwether Properties purchased the property in 1920 for more than $2000. Part of the land the mall is on was owned by a local produce merchant and farmer, Vesili Matto. The Albanian Immigrant leased his land to the developers for $10,000 a year until 2065, when the 100-year lease is up. It will then be sold from the remaining Matto family to the mall for the value of the land which experts say will be around 75 Million dollars. The mall opened with the anchor stores Sears, Jordan Marsh, and Filene's. In its early years, the mall also featured a small Stop & Shop supermarket (Bank of America is there today), a two-screen cinema (Besito is there today), and an indoor open-air food court called "Town Meeting".

A new addition housing Lord & Taylor was built on the east side of the mall in 1978, and a second story was added to the entire mall in 1988. However, when the mall was built, the anchors were in their two- and three-story forms. Before the renovations and expansions on the Natick Mall, the Burlington Mall was the largest mall in Massachusetts. It holds the #2 spot on the list.

The 2009 film Paul Blart: Mall Cop was filmed at the mall, representing the fictional West Orange Pavilion Mall. Around this time, the mall had a several stores that were used in the film and are no longer in business, such as a KB Toys store, which appeared in a deleted scene (replaced by a Payless ShoeSource), and a Sharper Image store, from which during a scene in the film, Blart grabs a camera to find out where Veck Sims (Keir O'Donnell) is holding the hostages (which as been replaced by Sur La Table.)

Burlington Mall is also notable for several unique dining venues and it was home to the Blue Stove in Nordstrom (but is no longer there), and one of only a few Chick-Fil-A locations in the state of Massachusetts. The mall also once had a Rainforest Cafe which was used in Paul Blart: Mall Cop during a chase scene, until it closed in 2016 and was replaced by the Arhaus Furniture Store.

Also in 2016, the Irish clothing retailer, Primark, opened in the former upper level of Sears.

On January 4, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 103 stores nationwide. The store will close in April 2018. On April 9, 2018, Simon announced plans to repurpose the Sears with new shops and restaurants. Its one of the five malls owned by Simon that will redvelop a former Sears.

Maps Burlington Mall (Massachusetts)

Expansion

From 2006 to 2008, the mall underwent an expansion project that added a new wing (with approximately 20 new stores) on the site of the demolished Filene's building with a new Nordstrom department store anchoring the wing. The new wing was partially opened in late 2007. Tenants in the new wing were generally upscale stores such as Michael Kors, BCBG, Juicy Couture, Burberry, Lacoste, Ruehl No.925, Martin + Osa and Zara, although some of these have since closed. The new wing counts Anthropologie, Lululemon Athletica, and Kiehl's among its tenants.

A similar expansion, also including a Nordstrom department store, at the nearby Northshore Mall commenced construction shortly after. In 2015 Disney Store and Elite Ideas Trading opened their stores.