Watertown, Massachusetts Boasts Two Unique Malls

West of Boston is a suburb that boasts two malls, right across the street from each other and within easy walking distance, proving that small malls are not the way of the dinosaur.

While many of us have seen new lifestyle centers are anchored by non-traditional type stores, here in Watertown on Arsenal Street these same stores are in the comfort of one-level climate controlled shopping malls.

While the Watertown Mall is a typical small shopping mall, the Arsenal Mall is a historic building which used to house a Civil-War era arsenal complex and as a result has a lot of unique features.

According to the Labelscar Web site, in October 1975, the 250,000 square foot L-shaped Watertown Mall opened and was anchored by a Bradlees Department Store and a Stop and Shop Supermarket.

Stop and Shop was soon converted into an Omni Foods before closing completely in 1999.

In 2000, Omni Foods was replaced by a Best Buy, which features both a mall entrance and an outside entrance into the parking lot.

Bradlees, the mall's other anchor, closed in 2001 after the discount chain closed permanently.

While this created serious problems for small enclosed centers throughout the northeast, this did not happen at Watertown Mall.

In 2002, the space was filled by Target Department Stores, which also has an entrance into the mall and outside.

The mall space between the two anchors has been kept alive by customers wishing to go between the two anchor stores without having to walk outside or drive around the small mall.

According to the Boston Globe, the future of the mall will include less space for small retail as Target seeks to expand its store into the mall itself.

This might not be too problematic since there are several empty storefronts in the mall and the Target expansion could possibly decrease that amount.

The article cited that commission members cited the importance of Target to maintain its mall entrance to avoid having shoppers walk all the way around.

According to the Watertown Mall Web site, the mall is anchored by Target and Best Buy today and its smaller retailers include Avenue, Carter's, Payless ShoeSource, Work 'N Gear, Moda, Tobacco Shed, P&J Souvenirs, Almoda Jewelry, Marcou Jewelry, Friendly's Restaurant, Old Country Buffet, Papa Gino's, Quick Test, Mass. Motor Vehicles Office, and Snip Plus.

The mall features a unique sign/letter marquee board on the main road with a blue W intertwined with a purple M, and if you look at it closely you can see it resembles a multi-colored "XXXX", which in some minds is reminiscent of XXX-rated movies or XXX - used to indicate poison.

A number of wooden benches and planters are located in the central mall corridor with large skylights bringing plenty of natural light into the mall.

The Mall's Web site states that this small shopping center features a number of programs and events that would be impossible to have in a lifestyle center (at least during windy, rainy, snowy, or extremely hot weather) such as Girl Scout cookies sales, health lectures, the Good Life Club, a walking club, and blood pressure screenings.

The mall is open Monday through Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

It is located at 550 Arsenal Street.

In 1983, across the street, the 600,000-square-foot Arsenal Mall opened after a skywalk was built connecting two long buildings together.

A roadway passage under the skywalk allows cars to drive from the front parking lot to the rear.

The mall has a historical character with brick details and since it was retrofitted has a unique layout with only a portion of the mall having both an upper and lower level.

The outside of the building looks like an old factory and not like a mall at all save for a few small light-up signs advertising retail chain names affixed to the building.

According to the Labelscar Web site, it was originally anchored by a lower level Ann & Hope Department Store (which once occupied 80% of the mall), Filene's Basement on the upper level, and a lower level Marshall's.

Ann & Hope's closure in 2001 caused the space to be subdivided to create a unique-looking Home Depot (with none of the elements of the typical stand-alone Home Depot building as seen in shopping centers) with exterior parking lot access only along with Old Navy and Linens N' Things, which both have mall access.

The mall's upper level food court received an upgrade in the late 1990's when Boston Garden closed.

The food court used some of the items from Boston Garden transforming it into a sports-themed food court with quite a bit of Boston history as well as a large scoreboard, several televisions with sports programming, multi-colored seating, and the floor design of an old gymnasium wooden planks with foul lines on them.

The food court also houses the Foot Locker, Lady's Foot Locker, and Kid's Foot Locker which boasts large unique signs calling out to those enjoying their food.
Most of the smaller shops are located on the mall's lower level.

Because it's in a historic structure, it is unlikely Arsenal Mall will ever be big-boxed; the term used for malls that turn inside-out and become lifestyle centers.

According to the mall's Web site, the mall boasts 65 stores which include chains, outlet stores, and independent stores and consist of Aeropostale, Aldo Shoes, Almoda, B. Dalton Bookseller (I thought the chain had closed but apparently not), Bath and Body Works, Burger King, Celia's World, Claire's Boutique, Coffee Traders, Daniel Blaze, Dunkin' Donuts, Everest KMS Accessories, Express, Famous Footwear, Filene's Basement, Footaction USA, FYE - for your entertainment (which used to have a location in Watertown Mall), Game Stop, Gap Outlet, Global Cellular, GNC, Hannoush Jewelers, Healthcare Massage, Kay Jewelers, Kim's Hallmark, Master Work, Mobile Solutions, Olympia Sports, Open Box, Pearle Vision Center, Perfume Outlet, Radio Shack, Red Persimmon Nail Salon, Ritz Camera, Samsonite Company Store, Sbarro, Silver and Gold Connection, Silver City, Stride Rite, keds, Sperry Top-Sider Outlet, T-Mobile, Tello's, Things Remembered, Trade Secret, Trini's Mexican Restaurant, Victoria's Secret, Victoria's Secret Beauty Company, Vitamin World, Watch Imports, Wet Seal, Wireless Link, Wireless Zone, and Yankee Candle.

Additionally the mall has two full-service restaurants with bars including Ruby Tuesday located in the mall and Bugaboo Creek Steak House accessible via the mall's parking garage.

This Simon-owned mall has an interesting rainbow pane logo next to its name on the sign/letter marquee board near the road.

It is located at 485 Arsenal Street.

While neither of the malls have traditional department stores such as Sears, J.C. Penney, or Macy's, both are doing quite well and have adapted to today's trends in retail.