Westgate Mall (Brockton) facts for kids
Sears (closing 2021)
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| Location | Brockton, Massachusetts, United States |
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| Coordinates | 42°05′44″N 71°03′07″W / 42.0955°N 71.0519°W |
| Address | 200 Westgate Drive |
| Opening date | February 24, 1963 |
| Developer | Joseph Campanelli |
| Management | New England Development |
| Owner | New England Development |
| No. of stores and services | 65+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 11 |
| Total retail floor area | 600,000 sq ft (56,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in Sears) |
| Website | www.shopatwestgatemall.com |
Westgate Mall is a popular shopping mall located in Brockton, Massachusetts. It holds a special place in history as the oldest enclosed shopping mall in the state of Massachusetts.
This mall is home to many well-known stores. You can find places like Sears, Burlington, Best Buy, Liam's Home Furniture, Old Navy, Planet Fitness, and Dick's Sporting Goods. Even though the mall building itself isn't huge, it's surrounded by many other large stores. These include Walmart, Lowe's, Aldi, Market Basket, Marshalls, and Ocean State Job Lot. All these stores together make Westgate a big shopping spot for many people.
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Mall History: How Westgate Grew
The Westgate Mall you see today opened a long time ago. It first opened in February 1963. Back then, it was called Westgate Shopper's Park. It was much smaller, about 356,000-square-foot (33,100 m2). The very first main store, called an "anchor store," was Gilchrist's.
Changes and Updates Over Time
The mall has grown and changed a lot since it first opened. It was made bigger in 1984 and 1985. Then, it got a major makeover between 2000 and 2003.
- In 1977, the Gilchrist's store was replaced by Jordan Marsh. This store later became Macy's in 1996.
- Sears joined the mall in 2000, adding another big store.
- Another store, Bradlees, was replaced by a new Filene's store in 2002. This Filene's also became a Macy's in 2006.
Who Owned the Mall?
The ownership of Westgate Mall has changed several times. In 1999, a company called New England Development bought the mall. They wanted to make it new and exciting again. They spent a lot of money to remodel it, and their efforts really helped the mall.
In 2004, New England Development sold the mall to another company. But in 2010, New England Development bought it back. They are still the owners of Westgate Mall today.
Recent Store Changes
Over the past few years, some big changes have happened at Westgate Mall.
- On January 4, 2017, it was announced that Macy's would be closing. The store closed its doors in March 2017.
- On June 29, 2018, Toys "R" Us closed down. This happened because the company was closing all its stores.
- Later in 2018, Fallas also announced it would be closing.
- The large space where Macy's used to be was split up. In September and October 2018, Burlington and Planet Fitness opened in parts of that space.
- On January 8, 2019, Ocean State Job Lot announced plans to open in the old Toys "R" Us spot.
- Liam's Home Furniture opened in the former Fallas space on January 5, 2020.
- On August 8, 2020, Dick's Sporting Goods opened in another part of the old Macy's space. They moved from a different location.
More Recent Closures
- On January 14, 2021, Best Buy announced it would be closing its Westgate Mall store. It closed on February 27, 2021.
- On February 12, 2021, Sears also announced it would be closing. This store closed on April 25, 2021.
Westgate Mall continues to be an important shopping spot for the Brockton area, even with these changes.
