Northshore Mall - History

History

The Northshore Shopping Center first opened in September 1958 as an outdoor open air shopping center. The center occupied a field that was formerly owned by Elias Hasket Derby whose daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law Nathaniel West built Oak Hill Estate designed by Samuel McIntire, which was then sold to Richard S. Rogers as a summer residence in 1850. His son Jacob C. Rogers and his wife sold parts of the interior to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and sold the property in 1922 to the Congregation of St. Francis Xavier who would establish the St. Joseph Juniorate, which remained at the location for 33 years. Portions of the 100-acre (0.40 km2) land had been used for farming purposes and included a dairy while other parts had gardens and fountains. The estate was later torn down and in 1955, Allied Stores bought the land and built the shopping center.

Originally, the center was planned for Beverly instead. It was anchored by Jordan Marsh and an adjoining Filene's, and included Sears, as well as Kresge, J.J. Newberry, RH Stearns, and Stop & Shop. Recreational facilities at the time included a bowling alley, a cinema, and a small amusement park called Kiddietown next to the old Sears & Roebuck, where Toys R Us now sits.

The shopping center has been home to the St. Therese Society of Mt. Carmel Chapel since 1960. It is the first chapel ever built within a shopping center, paving the way for another Carmelite chapel to open at Bergen Mall in New Jersey as well as other mall chapels throughout the country at places such as Plymouth Meeting Mall. There is an elevator adjacent to the main entrance next to Joe's Bar & Grill which leads to the chapel, the chapel gift shop, and a dental office. The mall also houses the Peabody Police Department Community Outreach Center. The shopping center went through several changes in the 1970s and 1980s, including the expansion of Sears to a full-line anchor. Eventually, starting with a small section near the Sears store, the entire center was enclosed to better compete with nearby Liberty Tree Mall constructed by New England Development in 1972.

During the original construction in 1958, a unique underground delivery tunnel was incorporated that ran the entire length of the mall. Prior to the mall enclosure, snow cleared from the central concourse was dropped through traps into dumptrucks in the tunnel below. This tunnel is still in use today for delivery and refuse removal.

In 1986 Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. acquired an interest in North Shore Shopping Center from Allied.

In 1992 the shopping center was acquired by New England Development, which initiated a major renovation that expanded the mall to almost 1.7 million ft² when completed in 1994. On the northwest end of the mall, Filene's built a replacement store where the amusement park once was, while Lord & Taylor constructed a new store at this end as well, with both stores opening in 1993. A new food court was added adjoining the former Filene's site, which was gutted and rebuilt for the addition of J. C. Penney. In 1999 New England Development sold the mall to a joint venture led by Simon Property Group, which also assumed management of the center.

Except for the renaming of Jordan Marsh in 1996 to Macy's, the mall's structure and anchors remained essentially intact from 1994 until 2005, when May Department Stores (the then parent of Lord & Taylor and Filene's) was acquired by Federated Department Stores (the owner of Macy's). In March 2006, Federated briefly closed the Filene's store, before using the space to relocate its Macy's store that May (the remainder of the Filene's stores were renamed Macy's later that year). In June 2006 Federated closed down its Lord & Taylor store as it prepared to divest that chain.

Faced with such large vacancies, Simon had already announced an agreement with Nordstrom to open a store in 2009 at Northshore Mall. Plans called for the gutting and demolition of the original 1958 former Jordan Marsh store for a new wing of mall retail space, the construction of a new Nordstrom at the end of the new wing and for Macy's to move their Men's and Home departments to the vacant Lord & Taylor. The new wing opened on November 4, 2009. Unlike the rest of the mall, it has stores on two floors, both of which connect to and have access to Nordstrom. The food court entrance was also renovated and expanded, with the additions of The Cheesecake Factory, which opened in October 2007, and P.F. Chang's China Bistro, which opened in early 2009.