Now considered the largest concentration of retail in New England, the Golden Triangle of Framingham-Natick ["Nay-tick"] is bounded by Worcester Road, Cochituate ["Kuh-chich-oo-it"] Road, Speen Street and Concord Street. The area is bisected by the corporation line of the cities of Framingham and Natick and lies 19 miles southwest of central Boston.

Originally, the grouping of merchandisers were situated along a stretch of Worcester Turnpike / Worcester Road, referred to as the Golden Mile. The first large retail entity, the SHOPPERS' WORLD open-air mall, was dedicated in late 1951. Soon, all of the major New England discount chains had built stores in that center's periphery.

Zayre, in the new SHERWOOD PLAZA, was completed in May 1960. A freestanding Bradlees came along in 1962. Caldor made its debut in 1966. By this time, the shopping district had expanded from the Golden Mile nucleus and was known collectively as the Golden Triangle.

A second regional shopping center, NATICK MALL, held its grand opening in April 1966. This was followed by the smaller ROUTE 30 MALL in 1970, NATICK TOWNE MALL in 1978 and FRAMINGHAM MALL in 1979. An even smaller, enclosed center, known as MARSHALLS MALL, also opened in 1979.

The original Golden Triangle area, as it was situated around the year 1980.
Click on image for a larger view
 
The illustration above is a depiction of the Golden Triangle area as things were configured in 1980. Superhighway access, via the "MassPike" (Massachusetts Turnpike), had been provided in May 1957.

Stores in operation in 1980 included the aforementioned discount marts, plus Jordan Marsh, Filene's ["fiy-leenz"], Filene's Basement, Sears, Kmart, F.W. Woolworth, Marshalls, Lechmere ["leech-meer"], Service Merchandise, Toys "R" Us and Channel Home Center.

The predominant supermarket in the Golden Triangle of 1980 was the Super Stop & Shop located behind the FRAMINGHAM MALL. Second in line would have been the Heartland Food Warehouse in SHERWOOD PLAZA.

There were also two multiplex cinemas in the region; the Cinema I-IV (at SHOPPERS' WORLD) and Loews Theaters I-IV, located across from the mall, on the south side of Worcester Road. In addition, SHERWOOD PLAZA had its Flick Movie Theater.

As one can see, many changes have taken place in the Golden Triangle by the year 2008.  
Click on image for a larger view
 
By the 2010s, things had changed drastically. SHOPPERS' WORLD was demalled into a parking lot pandemonium "power center." The FRAMINGHAM MALL gave way to a Target Greatland. Bradlees has been rebuilt into a Kohl's. Caldor has morphed into a WalMart.

The CLOVERLEAF center is now an un-mall MARKETPLACE. MARSHALLS MALL has been gutted and renovated into Bed Bath & Beyond and a Home Depot has been built at the intersection of Speen Street and Chrysler Road. However, the most significant change has been the dramatic metamorphosis of NATICK MALL.

Sources:

Framingham Natick Retail / Justin Tardiff webmaster
http://framingham.wordpress.com


From Our Shopping Center Article Library, We Now Present Massachusetts' Golden Triangle: 

Boston's Shoppers' World
 

 

This sign, which stood along Worcester Road, commemorated the October 1951 grand opening of America's second suburban shopping mall (the first, Seattle's NORTHGATE CENTER, had opened for business in April 1950).

"Klattu barada Jordan Marsh?" The sight of this futuristic, "space ship-shaped" SHOPPERS' WORLD anchor store might make one imagine the Gort robot walking out of its main entrance. In fact, "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (a motion picture) premiered on September 28,1951. Jordan Marsh -at SHOPPERS' WORLD- was dedicated less than a week later.

A Brockelman Brothers "super mart" was the first grocery store to operate at the SHOPPERS' WORLD mall. The store had 3 levels and 20,000 square feet of selling space. It included a bakery and delicatessen.

Plotkin Brothers, a Back Bay specialty retailer, also opened a store in the original mall. It sold the latest ladies' fashions and accessories.

The official dedication of SHOPPERS' WORLD was held on the same day that the first game of the World Series was being played in New York City. Concerned that this might effect attendance at the mall's grand opening, a staff of "Ask Me Girls" was put in place, each with a portable radio in hand. They kept customers up to date on the ball game.
Photo from https://www.framinghamhistory.org / The Boston Globe

The bi-level SHOPPERS' WORLD mall was situated around a large, open Central Green, with a kiddie ride area on its northern perimeter. The center was conceived as a two-anchor operation, with large department stores at either end. The second anchor store would not be completed until 1967.

SHOPPERS' WORLD TENANTS 1951: 

JORDAN MARSH (with bakery) / Baker's Shoe Warehouse / Berny's Linens / Beverly's ladies' wear / Brett's Luggage / Brockelman Brothers Market / C & T Paint & Wallpaper / Candy Cupboard / Cinema in the Shoppers' World (single screen) / Cobbie Shop / Country Flair Sportswear / Creed's Ice Cream Parlor & Restaurant / Dorothea Millinery / Edward's Fruit & Vegetable Store / Femina Beauty Salon / Framingham Trust Company / Fritts Photo & Sport Shop / Gorin's Department Store / House of Kenney Interior Design / Idea Box Gifts / Johnny Appleseed's / Johnny Antell Shoes / Kennedy's of New England / Kerwin's Shoes / Lepie's Drapes & Curtains / MacDonnell's ladies' wear / Modell's men's wear / Peck & Peck ladies' wear / Pierre Marcel, Incorporated Coiffures / Plotkin Brothers ladies' wear / Sarni's Cleaners / Sawyer's men's wear / Sears Catalog & Appliance / Sharaf's Restaurant / Shoppers' World Gulf Station (outparcel) / Spencer Shoes / Stork Time Maternity / Talcoff's Fashion Accessories / The Family Store / The Pharmacy (with luncheonette) / Tot 'N Teens children's wear / Van's Hosiery Shop / WKOK Radio Studio  

A cut-away view of the north end of the center. It had several unique design features, such as the absence of stairs or escalators between the 2 retail levels. Patrons entered from the parking lot and used ramps to get either up or down. In essence, the mall was handicapped-accessible years before this was mandated.

A view of the northern end of the mall and Central Green. The SHOPPERS' WORLD kiddie ride area is seen in the foreground.

Photo from http://framingham.wordpress.com

A late 1950s aerial view of the shopping facility, which was heralded as "The Showplace of New England". At the time of this photo, Jordan Marsh had just completed an expansion. A second mall addition would soon get underway.
Photo from Jordan Marsh and Arber French & Company

The Cinema In The Shoppers' World was dedicated, along with the mall, in October 1951.
Photo from www.generalcinematheatres.com

The Brockelman's Brothers grocery store, another charter mall tenant, was acquired and rebranded by the Stop & Shop chain. The conversion took place in September 1953.
Advert from the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company

The Fountain On The Mall was installed on the Central Green in October 1963. Patterned after water features at the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair, it featured synchronized colored lights and an accompanying musical soundtrack. This played over loudspeakers placed throughout the mall. In this snapshot, we also see the storefront of the J.G. McCrory 5 & 10. It joined the mall in late 1962.
Photo from http://natickmass.info

SHOPPERS' WORLD, circa-1964. An expansion of the Jordan Marsh "dome store" (in gray) had been dedicated in October 1959. A new Stop & Shop supermarket, built onto the north end of the complex, made its debut in October 1961. This was a relocation of the original store in the East Wing of the mall.

The theater, as it appeared following the addition of a second auditorium. With this 1964 addition, it became the Cinema I & II.
Photo from www.generalcinematheatres.com

Our final SHOPPERS' WORLD site plan is dated 1974. The north end of the complex has been sealed-off with the addition of a Jordan Marsh Great Basement Store and enclosed atrium area (in medium gray). This new "Jordan's" store was completed in 1967. The final addition to ever done to the mall, a second enlargement of the cinema, is shown in light gray.

A SHOPPERS' WORLD logo montage includes trademarks of stores populating the shopping hub in the 1970s. Three of the stores (Jordan Marsh, Stork Time Maternity and Kennedy's) were charter 1951 tenants.

The 1980s version of the mall's motion picture venue, which has been reconfigured as a 6-screen complex.
Photo from www.generalcinematheatres.com

An early 1990s view of the SHOPPERS' WORLD courtyard, which is decorated for one of the mall's final yuletide seasons. On the left, we see the cupola atop the Santa Kiosk. In the distance is the 20-foot-high "General", who commanded a battalion of twenty-four wooden soldiers. These had been crafted, in 1975, by Hal Purrington, a mall maintenance worker.    

Photo from https://www.massmoments.org

Alas, America's second shopping mall bit the proverbial dust in the mid-1990s. It was replaced by the open-air power center seen above.

Photo from http://www.ddr.com (Developers Diversified Realty, Incorporated)

SHOPPERS' WORLD
Worcester and Cochituate Roads
Framingham, Massachusetts

The first mall-type retail facility in New England was developed by a joint venture of Boston's Suburban Centers Trust, Incorporated and New York City's Alstores Realty Corporation (a division of Allied Stores). Its trend-setting design was envisaged by five firms; New York City's Ketchum, Gina & Sharp, Boston's Frederick J. Adams, Boston's John T. Howard, Cambridge, Massachusetts' Anderson & Beckwith and Grand Rapids, Michigan's Kenneth C. Welch. The landscape architects on the project were Boston's Arthur & Sydney Shurcliff.

SHOPPERS' WORLD was built on a 70-acre tract, nestled between two major highways, that was located 18 miles southwest of downtown Boston. Construction got underway in April 1950, with an official grand opening being held on October 4, 1951. Massachusetts Governor Paul A. Dever (D) officiated at the dedication, which included an appearance by actress Anita Eckberg. Also speaking at the ceremony were Huston Rawls, President of Suburban Centers Trust, Incorporated, and Edward R. Milton, President of Jordan Marsh department stores.

Open-air in format, the 500,000 square foot SHOPPERS' WORLD was heralded as "a palace from another world". The 8.5 million dollar complex opened with forty stores, with this number eventually being expanded to fifty. There was free parking for 6,000 autos.

A spaceship-shaped Jordan Marsh was the first suburban branch of the Boston-based chain. This 3-level (175,000 square foot) store sat at the southern end of the complex and was 227 feet in diameter and 54 feet in height. Two 2-level mall wings extended north from Jordan Marsh. At the center of the center was a 100-foot-wide Central Green that was landscaped with flowers, shrubbery and trees. 15-foot-wide walkways surrounded the Green on three sides. On the fourth was a kiddie ride area.

One of the more interesting design features of SHOPPERS' WORLD was the absence of stairways or escalators between floors. Patrons entered from the parking lot and took ramps, going either up or down, to the get to the two retail levels.

The Midwest Drive-In Theatres Framingham Cinema in the Shoppers World showed its first feature on October 4, 1951. Other charter stores and services included a 1-level (18,000 square foot) Kennedy's of New England, 2-level (30,000 square foot) Gorin's ladies' wear, 1-level (20,000 square foot) Brockelman Brothers Fine Foods and a studio for radio station WKOX.

Although most original mall stores were profitable, the physical operation of the complex proved problematic. By 1953, the Suburban Centers Trust had filed for bankruptcy reorganization. The reasons for this included errors in estimating operating costs and the failure of the owner to sign a second anchor store. By 1955, Alstores Realty was in control of the mall.

The first SHOPPERS' WORLD expansion got underway in September 1958. The project would enlarge the existing "Jordan's" to 235,000 square feet and add a freestanding Jordan Marsh Car Care Center. The revamped store was dedicated on October 11, 1959. A second phase expansion added a 2-level (33,000 square foot) Stop & Shop supermarket to the north end of the West Wing. This store opened for business on October 5, 1961.

This renovation was followed by an enlargement of the existing cinema into a twin-screen venue. The General Cinema Corporation Cinema I & II made its debut on May 20, 1964. A 2-level (72,100 square foot) Jordan Marsh Great Basement Store was also built, which opened for business on July 29, 1967.

The final mall expansion, completed in 1974, brought the General Cinema Corporation Cinema IV. In 1982, the movie house at SHOPPERS' WORLD was reconfigured as a six-screen venue. Meanwhile, the Stop & Shop grocery was shuttered, with Toys "R" Us leasing the building in 1979. The mall proper now encompassed approximately 725,000 leasable square feet. 

The completion of NATICK ["nay-tik"] MALL {.3 mile east, in Natick}, in 1966, did not immediately impact business at SHOPPERS' WORLD. However, as the years progressed, stores began relocating from SHOPPERS' WORLD to the newer, fully-enclosed NATICK MALL. A second competitor for SHOPPERS' WORLD was CHESTNUT HILL MALL (1974) {11 miles east, in Newton}.

Enclosed malls continued to proliferate in the MetroWest suburbs, which caused the open-air SHOPPERS' WORLD to decline. A plan had been formulated by November 1990, whereby SHOPPERS' WORLD would be redeveloped into an upscale, fully-enclosed shopping center. NATICK MALL would be rebuilt as an open-air power center.

Chicago-based Homart Development bought both properties in early 1992. They reversed the previous redevelopment plan, rebuilding the NATICK property as an upscale interior mall, which was officially dedicated in November 1994. SHOPPERS' WORLD would now be reconstructed as a power center.

Meanwhile, the General Cinema Corporation Framingham 14 was built on a pad lying between the NATICK MALL and SHOPPERS' WORLD sites. The megaplex showed its first features on December 16, 1994. Two additional screens were added in 1999, with the complex becoming an American Multi-Cinema venue in 2002.

The original SHOPPERS' WORLD mall had been demolished in December 1994. It was replaced by a 96 million dollar power center, also known as SHOPPERS WORLD (spelled sans-apostrophe). The first stores were open by August 1995, with the new shopping hub being officially dedicated in the following year.

Charter SHOPPERS WORLD tenants included a (45,000 square foot) Toys "R" Us, (40,000 square foot) Jordan Marsh Furniture Gallery and (39,800 square foot) T.J. Maxx. The center was acquired by Beachwood, Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty, Incorporated in November 1995.

Sources:

The Boston Globe

Architectural Record / Volume 110, Number 5 / November 1951

Allied Stores Corporation Annual Reports 1951 and 1957

"Shoppers' World" / Framingham News / October, 1951

"Shopping Centers: Locating Controlled Regional Centers" Eugene J. Kelley -1956

preservenet.cornell.edu/publications/Longstreth Branch Store.doc

https://exhibitions.framinghamhistory.org

https://sca-roadside.org / "Regional Shopping Centers Have Made A Decisive Imprint On America's Landscape" / Kathleen Kelly Broomer / 1994

www.framinghamnatickretail.com / Justin Tardiff webmaster

http://framingham.wordpress.com

https://patch.com

https://www.framinghamhistory.org

https://www.cinematreasures.org 

Boston's Natick Mall

NATICK MALL opened for business in 1966 and was the Bay State's second fully-enclosed mall. It followed WESTGATE SHOPPERS' PARK, in Brockton, which was the first.
Graphic from S.R. Weiner & Associates

NATICK MALL was built between two freestanding department stores. Sears began business in March 1965. The store encompassed 256,000 square feet and included a peripheral Sears Auto Center.

Photo from Sears, Roebuck & Company Annual Report 1965

Filene's Natick opened in August 1965. The posh store, which spanned 140,000 square feet, featured a stunning rock garden and fountain on its exterior. On the inside was an Upper Level, glass-enclosed restaurant.
Drawing from William Filene & Sons 

In its original state, NATICK MALL exemplified "Mid-Century Modern" design. Here, we see the mall's Main Entrance, which faced Route 9 (or Worcester Road).

Stowell's Jewelers was a charter mall tenant.
Drawing from S.R. Weiner & Associates 

A couple stroll by a fountain in the East Court at NATICK MALL. A Sears mallway entrance would be behind them. Parklane Hosiery occupies a corner space along the fully-enclosed concourse.
Photo from https://www.thisisframingham.com

A physical layout of the original, 606,000 square foot, NATICK MALL. In addition to its East Wing Fountain Court, the shopping venue featured a Tropical Garden at the Filene's mall entrance (on the west end). There were initially thirty-five stores and services and a parking area with room for 4,000 autos.

NATICK MALL TENANTS 1966:

FILENE'S (with restaurant, coffee bar and beauty salon) / SEARS (with Coffee Shop and freestanding Auto Center) / F.W. WOOLWORTH 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / Ann Taylor ladies' wear / Baker's Qualicraft Shoes / Bond Clothes / Brigham's Restaurant & Ice Cream Shop / Charles B. Perkins Tobacconist / Cummings ladies' wear / Fanny Farmer Candies / Flagg Brothers Shoes / Fox Travel Agency / Franklin Simon ladies' wear / Joseph's Barber Shop / Krey's Disc Shop / Marriott Cafeteria / Natick Five Cent Savings Bank / National Shirt Shops / Newton Waltham Savings Bank & Trust / Paperback Booksmith / Parklane Hosiery / Pray's Furniture / Regal Shoes / Richard's Shoes / Roaman's ladies' wear / Spencer Gifts / Stanley Green's Delicatessen / IGA Star Market outparcel)  / Stowell's Jewelers / Thayer-McNeil Shoes / Thom McAn Shoes / Tie Rack / Touraine's / Wallach's / Youngland Shoes 

The physical structure of the original NATICK MALL was never expanded. However, space in its northwest corner was reconfigured. Pray's Furniture closed. Boston Baby, a children's furniture and toy store, set up shop in 1971. This morphed into Play Mart in 1975. The store had closed by 1979, with its space gutted. Twenty-two small stores were installed, along with a 4-bay Food Court. These were dedicated in early 1980.

Graphic 1 from John H. Pray & Sons Company

Graphic 2 from Mammoth Mart, Incorporated

Graphic 3 from Play Mart Family Fun Stores

By the late 1980s, NATICK MALL had been eclipsed by newer, more trendy, malls in its trade area. A plan was devised to demolish the facility -leaving its Filene's intact- and replace it with a brand new structure.
Drawing from http://beyond.framinghamnatickretail.com

A new NATICK MALL debuted in October 1994. The core of Filene's (in dark gray) was the only remaining vestige of the original structure. Now encompassing 1,155,000 leasable square feet, the bi-level, superregional center housed 164 stores and services. Free parking was provided for 5,600 autos.