Square One Mall facts for kids
Inside Square One Mall
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| Location | Saugus, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 42°27′39″N 71°01′38″W / 42.4608°N 71.0273°W |
| Opening date | August 17, 1994 |
| Developer | New England Development Corporation |
| Owner | Simon Property Group (56.4%) |
| No. of stores and services | 125 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 6 (5 open, 1 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 929,844 square feet (86,385.3 square meters) |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Parking | Lighted Lot Parking Garage |
| Website | www.square-one-mall.com |
Square One Mall is a large shopping mall located in Saugus, Massachusetts. It sits right along US Route 1, a major road in the area. This mall is home to many popular stores.
Some of the main stores, called Anchor stores, include Macy's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, TJ Maxx, and BD's Furniture. You can also find other well-known shops like Old Navy, Forever 21, Express, Inc., and H&M here.
Building the Mall
The idea for Square One Mall was a big project that cost about $100 million. It was built by a company called New England Development Corporation. Before Square One, there was an older shopping area on the same spot. This older center had stores like Sears, Service Merchandise, and a movie theater that had closed.
When they built Square One Mall, they did something interesting. They used the existing Sears building as part of the new mall. If you look closely, you might notice that the Sears part of the building looks a little different from the rest. The mall officially opened its doors on August 17, 1994.
Location and Growth
Square One Mall is located on Route 1, which is a busy highway. This road has six lanes, with three lanes going in each direction. The speed limit on this part of Route 1 is 50 miles per hour.
The building of the mall helped bring more shops and businesses to the Saugus area, especially along Route 1. This led to a lot of new development and more places to shop and eat nearby.
Changes Over Time
Like many shopping centers, Square One Mall has seen some stores come and go over the years.
Filene's Basement
One of the mall's original main stores was Filene's Basement. This store faced financial difficulties and eventually closed all its locations. The Filene's Basement store at Square One Mall closed in December 2011.
Sears
The Sears store at Square One Mall also went through some changes. In 2015, the company that owned Sears decided to separate many of its properties, including the Sears in this mall.
Later, in 2017, the Sears store became smaller, only using the lower level of its building. Part of its auto center was planned to become a LongHorn Steakhouse. The upper level of the Sears building became empty. On June 30, 2020, it was announced that the Sears store would close completely. It officially shut down on September 13, 2020. There are plans for the lower level of the old Sears space to become an Apex Entertainment Complex, which will offer fun activities.
