South Shore Plaza is a shopping mall in Braintree, Massachusetts. It opened as an open-air plaza in 1961; it was enclosed in 1976 and expanded between 1995–96. With 192 tenants and 1,586,446 sq ft (147,385.7 m2) of gross leasable area, the mall is the largest in New England in terms of square footage and is the 16th-largest mall in the United States. It is currently owned by Simon Property Group.
As of 2022, the mall has 6 anchor stores which are DSW Shoe Warehouse, Macy's, Nordstrom, Sears, Primark and Target. Previous anchors include Filene's, Filene's Basement, Jordan Marsh, and Lord & Taylor.
South Shore Plaza, a regional-class shopping venue, had no sizable competition in its vicinity. Dedham Mall (1960) {7.6 miles northwest, in Dedham}, Westgate Shoppers Park (1963) {8.6 miles south, in Brockton}} and Harbourlight Mall (1976) {4.5 miles northeast, in Weymouth}, were smaller, community-type shopping malls. In fact, the entire leasable area of the Dedham or Harbourlight Mall centers could have fit into the Jordan Marsh at South Shore Plaza with room to spare.
History[]
Opening and expansion[]
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. It consisted of a main retail level and service basement. A 2-level (85,000 square foot), Boston-based R.H. Stearns began business October 30, 1962. 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.
Macy's
The South Shore Cinema I-II-III-IV was shuttered in 1992 and demolished. It was replaced by the General Cinema Corporation Braintree 10 megaplex, which opened in May 1993. The theater was rebranded as an AMC venue in 2002.
Sears
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 new 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.
Effects of Federated–May merger[]
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.
Redevelopment[]
Circuit City
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 June 2011, Newbury Comics opened in the former F.Y.E, which opened in 1996.
With this expansion, South Shore Plaza encompassed 1,589,000 leasable square feet and assumed the position of third-largest retail hub in Massachusetts (following the Natick and Northshore malls).
In 2009, South Shore Plaza faced a new lifestyle-type rival. Stores at Legacy Place tential lifestyle-format competitor was put on hold, due to The Great Recession. Also in 2009, Circuit City, which was by the mall, filed for bankruptcy and closed permanently. It was replaced by a Dave & Buster's.
In April 2012, it was announced that a prospective Westwood Station {6 miles southwest, in Westwood} would be renamed University Station. The mixed-use complex was completed in March 2016.
In 2017, the Irish clothing retailer, Primark, opened in the former top level of Sears.
In December 2020, Lord & Taylor closed its anchor store in the South Shore Plaza after filing for bankruptcy a couple of months prior.
Lord & Taylor And Filene's
Anchors[]
- Macy's (opened in 2006, former Filene's)
- Sears (opened in 1980, downsized in 2017)
- Primark (opened in 2017)
- DSW Shoe Warehouse, former Filene's Basement
- Dave & Busters (opened in 2011) former Circuit City
- Nordstrom (opened in 2010) former Jordan Marsh
- Target (opened in 2010) former Jordan Marsh
- Jordan Marsh (opened in 1967 closed in 1995) site became Target and Nordstrom
- Macy’s former Jordan Marsh location (opened in 1996 closed in 2006) when it relocated to the former Filene’s in 2006
- Filene’s (opened in 1961 closed in 2006) became Macy’s
- Circuit City (opened in 1993 closed in 2009) became Dave & Busters
- Lord & Taylor (opened in 1979 closed in 2020)
- Filene’s Basement opened in unknown closed in 2011 became DSW
- R. H. Stearns (opened in 1962 closed in 1977
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Photos[]
External links[]
South Shore Plaza's Official Website
