Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Hawley Lane Mall; Trumbull, Connecticut


Before the dawn of the smaller enclosed mall era of the late 60's-early 70's, Trumbull was already host to a wealth of shopping centers surrounding it. Most were built in the 1960s with you have now, Westfield-owned regional shopping malls; Connecticut Post and Trumbull. Both were once humble shopping centers a decade before the indoor mall became the commonplace shopping trend. The palette of the consumer knew what it wanted; essential-discounter shops to serve Trumbull's nearby suburbs as well as travellers.

Hawley Lane Mall opened in 1971 anchored with Caldor; a [beloved] department discounter which once dominated the Northeast this side of Wal-Mart and Waldbaum’s; a supermarket comparable to the notoriety of Stop & Shop today. The original line-up served the area with essentialist chains and shops you wouldn’t come to find over at the malls, which in 1971, served a different purpose than it does today. Like the early days before overblown malls, Hawley Lane gave shoppers’ the convenience local residents and travellers what they wanted; the ability to shop with ease within reasonable price range.

Located close to the junction of CT-8 and just off CT-15 (The Merritt Parkway), just minutes from major Interstate 95, Hawley Lane Mall already began with the position to attract a great deal of travellers apart from its local, suburban target.

By 1982, Sage-Allen; Hartford-originated clothing store, was added to the mall's upper-level to boost offerings in attempt to challenge a larger, recently expanded Trumbull Shopping Park and its May Company-owned G. Fox which established itself in 1979. Once a fully commissioned office-space atop the mall's shops, there was a new demographic fusing with changing times, poising Sage-Allen to enter Hawley Lane Mall.

Sage-Allen, which didn't quite equal the scale of G. Fox, fit snugly at Hawley Lane Mall and helped put a higher-echelon balance as well as adapt to the changing trends of shoppers; no longer was a trip to the mall a fancy evening on the town but a common hang-out which blended agendas. In doing so, Hawley Lane took a minor jab at Trumbull’s upscale offerings, but didn‘t have the volume or primary objective to compete with a rising regional mall such as Trumbull. When G. Fox purged under the Filene’s uniformed banner, Sage-Allen and all its stores closed for good. After a few years of silence, Steinbach’s took placement... but not for too long.

With a recently expanded Trumbull Shopping Park in 1979, and Connecticut Post Mall (formerly known as Milford Mall) in 1981 relatively close, Hawley Lane did alright before both slowly began to explode into regional shopping malls with various expansions, which advanced beyond Hawley Lane's smaller "strip-indoor mall" demographic.

But the story of Hawley Lane Mall is a good one not heard enough; like so few smaller indoor malls hanging on today, they hit rock bottom before a miraculous rebound.

It all slowly poured on when the clouds moved in over Hawley Lane in the late 90’s, when Connecticut Post Mall (formerly Milford Mall) over in Milford, anchored it’s own, larger Caldor apart its own rival Stop & Shop supermarket anchor coupled with a much more diverse level of shops. There was a clear competitive angle here by Connecticut Post owners, hoping to one-up its property over Hawley Lane. While the trend of regional shopping malls didn't exactly kill this smaller one as, shoppers who were looking for thrills weren't going to spend an evening at Hawley Lane Mall over the other big ones in the area. Ever too quickly, Hawley Lane was struck with end times.

Seeing new management in 1996, New York-based National Realty Development Corp., went ahead to revamp an aging mall from a neglectant former owner with an $8 million renovation plan, hoping to regain some vitality lost over the decades.

Then, to no fault of its new adopters, a wave of defeat swept the mall attacking all three anchors; Caldor shuttered from years long Chapter 11 in 1999, along with Steinbach‘s, followed by Waldbaum’s.

By the end of 1999, Hawley Lane Mall as we knew it, was an anchorless, vacant, dead mall.

Kohl’s, who purchased a bulk of Caldor leases when they went out, positioned itself inside the former discount department store quickly after Caldor fell in 2000. But the discount clothier, which was quickly taking shape in the Northeast following the demise of Caldor couldn't keep the mall fully-functioning alone which furthered in Hawley Lane's empirical troubles.

Suddenly, most of the smaller shops along the mall’s short corridor began to flee without the help of a magnetic assorted anchor history of a Caldor or a constant flow of traffic garnered by Waldbaum's. McDonalds, once housed inside, saw the liability of the mall’s cancerous-sticken vacancy causing it to leave in 2002 in favor of a brand-new, free-standing restaurant located just outparcel the mall grounds.

A good five-plus years with heaping anchor and tenant gaps at Hawley Lane Mall gave it’s owners some time to regroup, and rebound in challenging times.

Then by 2005, the sun came shining through. A rebirth; Hawley Lane was to live again with four new star anchor stores giving host to a new face of retail to the long-dead setting.

A slew of stores, serving to all demographics, signed on to revive the falling apart mall. HomeGoods, a TJ Maxx-style home furnishing-centric discount store, occupied space left by Waldbaum's. Best Buy announced opening a store upper level the mall within the next year, which was the former home to Steinbach's. A deal with Target was struck to build, like most of their stores, in its own property, in the rear of the mall. After a series of zoning and taxpayer battles, Target was given the green light to begin construction while all the other stores were in the process of moving in.



Meet "Gordy", the gentleman emerging from a personnel-only corridor in the left of this shot; known as the friendly mall maintenance inquisitor.

The set-up of the Hawley Lane Mall is relatively simple, no-frills; a typical compact staple-shaped, single corridor with anchors Kohl's (former Caldor) on the far left end while HomeGoods (former Waldbaum's) occupying the opposing end. Each anchor contains its own "mall entrance"; essentially a proximate corridor beside the store, as well as exterior entrance to fulfill the lifestyle element; not asking patrons to even set foot in the indoor portions.

After the renovation, Hawley Lane Mall received a contemporary lavish; a mainly sterilized white-coated interior, carpeted flooring, complete with ceiling-hanging Main Street-esque signage over each parcel, as well as a (Kohl's-esque) block-facade, glass-encased elevator shaft giving access to Best Buy (former Steinbach's) and the remaining office space. Usual asthetics and amenities; planters and wooden benches are set up throughout the mall in idle areas (so you stay, just not too long!). Presumably, not too much has changed from the original set-up, and if you look closely, you'll see some suspected older elements including a rectangular Caldor label scar on the side of Kohl's (not pictured here).


Known Anchor History
Caldor; 1971-1999, became Kohl’s; 2000-present
Waldbaum’s; 1971-1999, became HomeGoods; 2005-present
Sage-Allen; 1982-1993, became Steinbach’s; 1997-1999, became Best Buy; 2006-present
Target; 2005-present


Suddenly, smaller stores that would suit the atmosphere of the mall flocked in. Quizno’s took over the former McDonald’s, Joyce Leslie; a largely children’s clothier opened the former, long-running Hawley Lane Shoes, which was once a lifeline in the dead mall surviving up until the pivotal turnaround. Older shops, who usually occupy strip malls are still here and seeing more customers; Payless Shoe Source and Dress Barn near Kohl‘s.


As part of the renovation, existing retail were granted ceiling-level signage via a "Main Street" appeal.

While Hawley Lane Mall and its ordinary big-box offerings might not draw those who aren’t local to come here, there’s plenty reason to proclaim it a noteworthy, different and/or more unique place for a few reasons. A revival effort is foremost something most mall management firms only dream of and another thing not seen often happened right here. While the mall itself was never to the magnitude of Farmington Valley Mall or even Naugatuck Valley Mall in size or scale, Hawley Lane Mall is indeed a smaller enclosed mall who survived in a dying breed, whose also adapted to the sweeping "lifestyle" component from the booming era; if a very compact one at that, without losing the original indoor model.



The efforts have paid off for this quaint mall. The most unique Target store in the state is here; complete with its own parking garage! There’s also a bizarre “mall entrance”-style Dunkin’ Donuts, which features a little hallway leading into the mall's Kohl's corridor, as well as the unusual “upper-level” where Best Buy is accessible. It gets even more bizarre; the mall suggests patrons walk through Best Buy, which feels awkwardly frowned upon to use the store as a thruway to get to Target.


Since Hawley Lane Mall was once built on an incline, an upper-level, had to be built in order for another anchor, once Sage-Allen, to connect to the mall. Unless management was to build a separate mall entrance, it couldn’t ask it’s customers to trail alongside the building, in a blow to convenience, just to acess Target who serves as an outparcel.


As for Target itself, who has constructed a unique, larger store housed with its own parking garage, elevators can access the front of the store so customers won’t, again, have to trail alongside the building to gain access to the store’s only traditional frontal entrance. The unfortunate, disjointed layout of the mall wasn’t addressed in the revival plan, most likely seeing grandiose expendatures falling into more of an “indoor-strip mall” hybrid as opposed to a smaller, enclosed mall but nonetheless, empirically, falls into being just that.

In many ways, Hawley Lane Mall could be what's halting the expansion progress of nearby giant and Westfield-owned Trumbull, who’s currently seeking a challenged Target anchor, which also newly anchors another Westfield center in Milford. The effort to add a Target was once fought here, and is currently being shot down by the town to add another shortly down the way. Possibities of adding Best Buy also fall under the same precinct.

Success resulted because of a host of key reasons: there was no bombastic effort to de-enclose it; like many are finding trendy today, and no overblown cosmetic efforts resulting in financial waste. Apart from the developers working with what they had, the mall also luckilly fell on being in an opportunistic, under-served area where its current tenants speak for the demands of shoppers of a wide demographic.

My first encounter with Hawley Lane Mall was back in Summer 2006, when the mall was a pit stop, unbeknownst to me, and also finishing up exterior façade renovations. I actually went inside the mall for the first time just last month, seeing that it’s really a quaint atmosphere and one no longer neglected.

The Caldor Rainbow would also like to thank, who’s real name we never caught but I call “Gordy”; a mall maintenance worker who caught us and riddled with questions as I took these very pictures seen here. Gordy eventually, after offering a copy of my driver’s license for leverage, saw it alright for us to take pictures as long as I wasn’t a pesky competitor, divulging all kinds of trade secrets to the world. As far as that gloomy-eyed lady running the Asian nail place, or the perplexed elderly woman who crossed our path, thanks to you too! Who knows, maybe he thought I was on the payroll for Westfield…
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Saturday, January 13, 2007

Westfield Shoppingtown Trumbull; Trumbull, Connecticut


For a few months now, I’ve been obsessing about getting out to Trumbull. The mall, that is. Just last year, I visited the mall I never really knew existed in the Southern end of Connecticut. Shortly before Christmas, I previewed the mall again, ready to do an report on it on my way down to Bridgeport.

Just this week, my lovely travel companion, Renee, and I made it to Westfield Trumbull on an early Tuesday morning.

Another mall later purchased by the ambitious Austrialian-based Westfield Group, a notorious “Shoppingtown” mall development and management company, who is most well-known for being widely successful in buying up and/or converting their older, historic malls and rebranding or lobotomizing their unique and significant histories. Any mall today owned by Westfield is known too well as a Westfield center as their name Westfield is quite frankly everywhere Westfield. I always thought it would be funny if somehow fate dictated Westfield to have a mall in Westfield, Massachusetts and let the ridiculousness just play itself out. Jokes aside, this was an actual controversy which helped former Westfield-owned Enfield Square gain back it’s original name. Way to go?

In the late 1990‘s, Westfield has made it’s mark around Connecticut with a few centers some of which survived once slumping or staggering fates including one we covered back in September, Meriden Square (tehnically was never dying), Connecticut Post Mall (which was in a distressed state), and the since sold Enfield Square (which Westfield most likely jumped ship), which is now a Vornado Reality-owned center. Their nationwide strategy, inspired by their Aussie origins, essentially saw to “rebrand” their existing or acquired malls under a uniformed banner of “Westfield (and/or) Shoppingtown” prefix, which seemed to bowl over well in their homeland while not quite grasping here in America.
Westfield Centers of Connecticut History
Westfield Connecticut Post (originally known as Milford Mall, later renamed Connecticut Post Mall, later purchased, now owned by Westfield). Opened 1960.
Westfield Shoppingtown Trumbull (Originally known as Trumbull Shopping Park, Opened as an outdoor center 1964).
Westfield Shoppingtown Meriden (formerly known as Meriden Square). Opened 1971.
Enfield Square (formerly known as Westfield Shoppingtown Enfield). Opened 1971. Renamed Enfield Square by new owner, Centro Watt/Centro Properties Group.
Luckilly, we don’t follow outlandish definitions of a Shoppingtown (because we all know how dirty and unsophisticated a word “mall“ is in this day), which has caused the company to partially drop it from all current company associations. The "Shoppingtown" travesty is still evident on many of its malls road pylons in Connecticut.




The wonderous center court includes a triangular multi-spring fountain and mirror-lined escalators.

For better or worse, everything they’ve marketed and rebranded under their Westfield name has turned to be a success. Proof can only point to its crowning, thriving centers today; especially Connecticut Post Mall, which was a once staggering, outdated center purchased by Westfield and turned into a prosperous, upper-echelon "Westfield Connecticut Post"; a three-level center with two food courts and a movie theater! Another center they once owned in Enfield, helped move it along by adding attractive anchors and tenants.

Trumbull Shopping Park opened in 1964, by Jack Frouge as a outdoor shopping center anchored by Korvette; a discount department store, Read's; an upscale clothier, and a Waldbaum's supermarket amongst other five-and-dimers. Sometime in the 1970's, when G. Fox entered the marketplace in Trumbull in the collapsed Korvettes, at the sunrise of the indoor shopping mall boom of the times, the property was enclosed and vastly expanded into a modern mall setting from there and years after including 1986, adding Macy's to the roster to in the former Read's space, where it also hit a milestone from 740,000 to 1 million square feet. In 1992, expansion furthered adding a new anchor Lord & Taylor.

Located on median tree-lined Merritt Parkway (CT-15), accessible a few miles off CT-8 in the quaint suburb of Trumbull on its Main Street, a modern standard of being remotely Interstate-aided, like its competitors, didn't seem to affect its fate over the years. Originally, the center was a servant to locals, when it became an enclosed regional shopping center, the location as well as the Merritt Parkway had to be altered to suit the mall's increased traffic, adding a bridge to cross the highway.

During its time, it survived a long time against some heavy competition; Connecticut Post Mall (built in 1960), which was owned independently in Milford, reportedly a kingpin in size during its time and Lafayette Plaza (built in 1968), a more urban setting in Bridgeport. Later in the ages, the mall was purchased by the Westfield Group and renamed Westfield Shoppingtown Trumbull under the banner of Westfield's brand-centric marketing strategy in the late 90's. The mall's volume grew and became a consistent top-tier servant in the area in terms of shopping far from its conception decades past.



A deteriorating parking garage with dead plantlife growing all over it mustn't be questionably there.

The parking garage, which serves Lord & Taylor, and the former Filene's, now (since relocated) Macy's suppose the garage was added most likely during the 1992 expansion when Lord & Taylor was brought to the map in Trumbull. While no longer considered a "Shopping Park", the property attempts to stay true to the origins; a "park"-esque setting with median landscaping on the driveways in-and-out to Main Street, and even overgrown vegetation spilling over the parking garage walls. By park, you can also interpret that as "parking [lot]".

Of all the Westfield malls in the state, including the later Westfield-purchased Connecticut Post Mall in Milford, being a mere 10 miles away just off CT-15, along the motherload of Eastern U.S. traffic, I-95, Trumbull seems to be the most affected by the very trouble and inabilities competitor Connecticut Post once suffered with no help from the litany of problems pouring out of New Haven County’s ramshackled cities and towns.

Tables turned today where in the early 90's the lesser of the eternal rivals, Connecticut Post, formerly owned independently, was strategically purchased and turned around by Westfield. Releaving the rivalry, Trumbull who was once the regional leader, now seems to be showing it's age and distress against the extreme $118 million makeover Connecticut Post has recieved this past year. Does Westfield have something on the horizon for this once leading Connecticut mall?

Like Trumbull, Meriden and Milford are equally troubled cities. Trumbull seems to bare the enormous burden of crime between them all, having more gray hairs than it’s sister malls and also the latest to see developments and expansions. Once a woeful Connecticut Post of the 1990‘s, a decade later turned completely around with its latest expansion, along with the ever-evolving Meriden (which has just seen a few new anchor stores) leaving Trumbull somewhat behind.

When it comes to crime, it can easily be traced back to the notorious neighboring city, Bridgeport and all its problems which have bled into Trumbull aplenty during the early 90‘s; having a history of violence right here at the mall. One instance included a riot which broke out involving over 100 people with 10 security guards attempting to break it up in 1994, various and repeat reports of gun-related activity, parking lot muggings and various brawls.

The violence, which has had an unfortunate, continuing saga at the mall, plagued by it’s proximity to the city, prompted a boost by Westfield to take action. In 2003, a Trumbull Police sub-station housed itself inside the mall to assist the center's own security in an attempt to repel rampant criminal activity. While not overrun with surveillance cameras, common with other Westfield malls, regular patrols from police and mall security are stationed throughout, which is why we couldn't secure any shots of the food court. Make no mistake, security protocol is mainly precautionary, perhaps more so than other malls, but it isn't particularly dangerous to shop here.


The former Filene's, pre-dates to 1979, when G. Fox was in the spotlight.


JCPenney, as usual, unable to escape their bug and dust-filled interior sign lighting.

Despite its odds, Trumbull is without a doubt one of the more interesting shopping malls and in Connecticut for any mall enthusiast for it‘s unique attributes in design which presmably contains origins predating to the 1970's. Despite the many possible expansions, the mall has a non-pareil flair about it to this day, staying plenty true to it’s earliest indoor-conversion before the bombastic shopping big box age of the post-1980’s helped most classy centers lose their charm and soul.

Allow me to announce my bias, I typically favor such malls which have a lot of vintage flavor still in them, as they were the glory days of mall design and architecture. Any existing in such a form today, largely untampered with are no less than golden. As much a fan of Westfield I’m not, many of their centers leave much from the old days evident, even if they've decidedly tried to change that in past years.



Upper Level, on the left, Lower Level on the right. Trumbull has eventually molded into an eccentric "A-shape" design.
Distinct aspects of Trumbull are certainly the unusual layout and decor. While a modern standard two-levels, the mall’s layout feels more bizarre, and somewhat labyrinth-confusing when physically inside than it looks; an “A”-molded map, non-symetrical on each floor. You’ll find there are plenty areas inside the mall you may never suspect are multiple leveled with no oversight to lower levels, feeling about as bunkered as a one-level mall usually feels.

With butterscotch and caramel tones in the tiles, various stationed planters and seating areas, decidedly mahogany hues along the walls, random lower-level overlooks, and wood-trimmed planks covering the sharpely shaped-framed ceilings and spiked skylights, there’s little doubt they ever changed most of the upholstery past the 1970's and some '80s era. Nothing in the state compares to Trumbull‘s offerings. While borderline mediocre and somewhat ghastly, there's something about it, surely something else you won't find at other Connecticut malls.


Brown and tan hues against industrial-frame skylights might be the eras in contrast.

Due to the level of darker tones, jagged, blind corridors, a half-artificially lit center leaves some areas of the mall feeling trapped; some with no windows, or natural light around. On one end, a cramped food court; a flourescent fantasy set to the back of dark shades, on the other various skylights stroon about to contrast the darker aspects of the mall‘s colors - some not situated in areas that could‘ve used it (especially the mess hall, er... food court). With some conditions, primarily in the areas like the food court you'll most want to relax, is uncomfortably tense and close quarters.


Pathway to the food court coming from a bunkered corridor.

Given that, some corridors evidently harken back to early design often stumbling upon escalators on some oddly-placed areas of the mall as if they later added more due to customer complaints of wondering how to access lower levels of the mall. Westfield Trumbull, while having the expansion of today’s mall, are a throwsback to what malls were like before the evolution of uninspired, copycat malls which became commonplace today.











Just one of the unusual aspects of Trumbull; like this corner preview to a lower level.


Known Anchor History
Korvette; 1964-1978, became G. Fox; 1979-1993, became Filene’s; 1993-2006, became Macy’s; 2006-present
Read's; 1964-1979, became Jordan Marsh; 1987-1992, became Abraham & Straus; 1992-1995 , became Macy’s; 1995-2006, currently vacant
Lord & Taylor; 1992-present
JCPenney; 1970's (?)-present
Circuit City; Mid-1990’s (?), outparcel


A vintage Read's clothier which later housed Macy's, now a piece of neglect by the new way of today.


Boarded-up doesn't bode well for an active mall.

The state of the mall, including it’s future, has changed the possibilities just within the last decade with the purge of the Filene’s brand caused by the Federated uniform of Macy's. As a result, the original Macy’s has vacated their original location aside Lord & Taylor to move into the newer store, former G. Fox/Filene's leaving the original 1964 Read’s to sit a vacant, partially boarded-up leaving a wood-fenced eyesore A/C-unit atop the roof.

The rising electronic age in the 90's brought Circuit City to the mall, having opened sometime in the mid-1990‘s. Due to the lack of retail space in the area, Circuit City is positioned outparcel and recognized as an anchor.
So what’s missing from this list? Sears, you say? Malls almost require Sears as a median anchor, especially due to Trumbull having been the premiere shopping center in the area. So why no Sears over at Westfield Trumbull? Could it be the company’s own financial problems? Well let’s look at the possibilities...
Sears had plenty stores already in the area including the Connecticut Post Mall only 10 miles away, Naugatuck Valley Mall, since moved to the newly-built Brass Mill Center in 1997. Many Sears not featured previously in malls, moved in sometime in 1990's making some mall anchor space more complete with such a familiar, household name. But it never happened at Trumbull.

The reason can be partially attested to the now collapsed Lafayette Plaza, renamed The Hi-Ho Center in the 1980's shortly before it’s demise due to the city of Bridgeport [still] suffering from urban decay. Established pre-indoor mall era, Sears competitively had a location inside the Hi-Ho Center to contrast New Haven's Chapel Square Mall Macy's store, and Trumbull's Read's. When it closed in 1992, it has sat vacant since.

When the Trumbull mall initiated its '92 expansion, they seemed to just miss the mark to move Sears in after sealing the fate of the Hi-Ho Center, losing an opportunity to add Sears as a future mall anchor.

In 1993, Sears closed its store in Hamden due to declining sales, sealing the fate for yet another location, lessening the possibility of opening any brand-new store in the New Haven area. However, in the same year, another Westfield property saw Sears opening: in the Meriden Square, with its new 1993 expansion. It’s clearly possible Sears planned a retreat against the New Haven area due to two stores failing, seeing it only to be an area of decline.

But who knows what the future holds, especially with the new Sears prototype coming, and the proposed 2007 expansion, a Sears could possibly come to Trumbull better than ever.
Expansion '07
From the lost opportunity of being able to grab Sears, timing seems to be another challenging element not entirely on the side of this Trumbull mall. Like their other properties in Meriden and Milford (Connecticut Post), Trumbull is hoping to dose another expansion, to the scale of $250 Million in 2007. Talks of new anchors; Target, which hopes to occupy and demolish the vacant former Macy’s, and hopes to garner upscale clothier, Nordstrom; being a first for a Connecticut Westfield center and a second state-wide location aside the Westfarms Mall in West Hartford.

Some of the expansion boomers of the times; Target, Kohl’s and Best Buy, also current day saviors to mall expansion prospects and/or reviving dying centers are certainly ideal strategies which have helped other Westfield centers thrive; Best Buy at Meriden and Target at Connecticut Post.

But that card has already been played - over at the once struggling, since rebounded smaller Hawley Lane Mall on the Trumbull-Stratford border, also a wrench between the Westfield malls. Does Trumbull really need another Target store just a few miles off?

The proposal has been challenegd various times with hopes to add the hip discounter to the Trumbull mall's 20th century expansion roster is still being hammered against the backdrop of a decrepit, old Read's/Macy's building. There's also one over at Connecticut Post, so why another here? There's a good chance when Waldenbooks' lease is up this month, a likely candidate for replacement will be a Borders, which recently added onto the Meriden branch, but nothing has been proposed yet.


With the upcoming expansion, Circuit City is likely to renovate from the "plug-outlit" design into the 2001 "[bland] big box" design of the chain's new look.




A "Mall Entry" label scar from the Shopping Park-era behind a Westfield sign.

Lastly, we would like to thank Billholden over at TRUMBULLchat who shed some light on Trumbull Shopping Park history, John Lauria of TrumbullHistory for historic image. We'll be continuing our malls in Connecticut here at The Caldor Rainbow. If you've got any insight or clarity regarding the history of Westfield Trumbull, please let us know by throwing over a comment or two.


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