WARWICK MALL
West Natick and Bald Hill Roads
Warwick, Rhode Island
Warwick, Rhode Island
The completion of Interstates 95 and 295 through Greater Providence, in the 1960s, created prime retail real estate. A land parcel at the junction of these freeways, located 7.5 miles southwest of the Rhode Island State House, became the site of MIDLAND MALL. This complex opened in 1967, as the Ocean State's first fully-enclosed, suburban-style shopping center.
A second fully-enclosed retail hub was built on a 59.8-acre tract, situated .3 of a mile northeast of MIDLAND MALL. WARWICK MALL was developed by a joint venture of Bliss Properties, Incorporated, John T. Brennan, William D. Lane and Stephen P. Mugar. The 768,000 square foot, single-level center was designed by Sumner Schein, of Boston. The complex was officially dedicated -with fifty stores- on July 29, 1970. Present at the dedication ceremony were US Senator John Orlando Pastore (D) and Philip William Noel (Mayor of Warwick).
A second fully-enclosed retail hub was built on a 59.8-acre tract, situated .3 of a mile northeast of MIDLAND MALL. WARWICK MALL was developed by a joint venture of Bliss Properties, Incorporated, John T. Brennan, William D. Lane and Stephen P. Mugar. The 768,000 square foot, single-level center was designed by Sumner Schein, of Boston. The complex was officially dedicated -with fifty stores- on July 29, 1970. Present at the dedication ceremony were US Senator John Orlando Pastore (D) and Philip William Noel (Mayor of Warwick).
At the time of its completion, WARWICK MALL was the state's largest retail facility. It featured three anchors. A 3-level (309,000 square foot), Boston-based Jordan Marsh commenced operation during the July 1970 grand opening. "Jordan's" was followed by a 2-level (119,000 square foot), Boston-based Filene's ["fiy-leenz"], which made its debut on September 21, 1970. A 2-level (120,000 square foot), Providence-based The Outlet Company also began business as part of the mall grand opening.
Charter inline stores included Stowell's, Orange Julius, Lane Bryant, Citizen's Bank, Anderson-Little, Kennedy's of New England, Peerless Company, an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10 and York Steak House. The General Cinema Corporation Warwick Mall Cinema I & II opened in April 1971. This freestanding movie house, constructed in the east parking lot, was eventually reconfigured as a tri-plex. It closed in January 1999.
A second major outparcel, the Chateau de Ville Dinner Theatre, was constructed at the northwest corner of the mall site. This posh facility opened in 1973 and was shuttered in 1977. It re-opened as a short-lived disco and was converted to a medical office building in 1985.
Major shopping hubs in the WARWICK MALL trade area included the aforementioned MIDLAND MALL. In addition, there were LINCOLN MALL (1975) {14.7 miles north, in Town of Lincoln, Rhode Island} and EMERALD SQUARE MALL (1989) {16.6 miles northeast, in Town of North Attleborough, Massachusetts}.
A 2-level (144,600 square foot) J.C. Penney, built at the WARWICK MALL West Entrance, opened for business on March 5, 1980. The Outlet Company closed in August 1982. It was replaced by a Norwalk, Connecticut-based Caldor discount mart, on March 17, 1983.
The shuttering of the Peerless Company, in late 1990, was an incentive for a major renovation of the shopping center. The vacant Peerless space was rebuilt into the Carousel Food Court. Four eateries, out of an eventual eleven, opened for business on August 17, 1992. These initial vendors were Cafe Coffee, Au Bon Pain, Sbarro the Italian Eatery and Chopsticks.
During the 15 million dollar mall makeover, common areas were re-roofed with vaulted ceilings and skylights and floored with Italian tile. Early '70s-vintage interior decor was brought up-to-date, with a center court fountain replaced. Statuary and recessed seating areas were also removed.
A more ambitious expansion was proposed in January 1996, which would have added a new anchor store, multilevel parking garage and ice rink. This plan was never carried out. It had been conceived as a competitive measure against the up-and-coming PROVIDENCE PLACE MALL {8.5 miles northeast, in downtown Providence}.
PROVIDENCE PLACE had been bitterly opposed by one of the owners of WARWICK MALL. Nonetheless, the center city shopping, hotel and entertainment facility was dedicated in August 1999. Meanwhile, at WARWICK MALL, the Jordan Marsh had been rebranded by Macy's on March 31, 1996. In May, a 20 million dollar renovation of Filene's commenced. The store, which was enlarged to 186,000 square feet, was re-dedicated on August 13, 1997.
In May 1999, the Caldor chain went out of business. The first floor of the vacant WARWICK MALL store was divided into nine retail spaces. The largest of these was occupied by a 1-level (52,000 square foot) Old Navy. Construction of an all-new movie multiplex commenced in January 2001. The 12-screen National Amusements Showcase Cinemas Warwick Mall showed first features on June 22, 2001.
A more ambitious expansion was proposed in January 1996, which would have added a new anchor store, multilevel parking garage and ice rink. This plan was never carried out. It had been conceived as a competitive measure against the up-and-coming PROVIDENCE PLACE MALL {8.5 miles northeast, in downtown Providence}.
PROVIDENCE PLACE had been bitterly opposed by one of the owners of WARWICK MALL. Nonetheless, the center city shopping, hotel and entertainment facility was dedicated in August 1999. Meanwhile, at WARWICK MALL, the Jordan Marsh had been rebranded by Macy's on March 31, 1996. In May, a 20 million dollar renovation of Filene's commenced. The store, which was enlarged to 186,000 square feet, was re-dedicated on August 13, 1997.
In May 1999, the Caldor chain went out of business. The first floor of the vacant WARWICK MALL store was divided into nine retail spaces. The largest of these was occupied by a 1-level (52,000 square foot) Old Navy. Construction of an all-new movie multiplex commenced in January 2001. The 12-screen National Amusements Showcase Cinemas Warwick Mall showed first features on June 22, 2001.
The Filene's chain was dissolved as a result of the merger of Federated Stores and May Department Stores. The WARWICK MALL store closed in 2006. Macy's, in the old Jordan Marsh building, moved into the vacant Filene's. This new Macy's opened for business on September 9, 2006.
Jordan Marsh-Macy's sat vacant while several plans for its reuse were considered. The first would have had the entire building leased to a single retailer. The second involved razing the structure and replacing it with an open-air "lifestyle component." A third plan proposed that the store's former sales floors could be leased separately. This was, basically, the plan that was adopted. In late 2007, it was announced that Target would retenant the first level.
The entire store structure were gutted and rebuilt, with a (140,000 square foot) Target dedicated in July 2008. A (40,000 square foot) Sports Authority opened, on a second level, in the spring of 2009. This was soon joined by Off Broadway Shoes. With these modifications, WARWICK MALL encompassed approximately 1 million leasable square feet and housed over eighty stores and services.
On March 30, 2010, the Pawtuxet River flooded its banks and inundated WARWICK MALL with 2 to 3 feet of water. A YouTube video of a trapped security guard being rescued from the Sports Authority store went viral. The shopping center suffered major damage and was closed for several months. Sports Authority re-opened on May 17, 2010, with Target resuming operation on July 11th. Other inline mall stores resumed business between August and November of 2010. Macy's was re-dedicated on March 16, 2011.
Jordan Marsh-Macy's sat vacant while several plans for its reuse were considered. The first would have had the entire building leased to a single retailer. The second involved razing the structure and replacing it with an open-air "lifestyle component." A third plan proposed that the store's former sales floors could be leased separately. This was, basically, the plan that was adopted. In late 2007, it was announced that Target would retenant the first level.
The entire store structure were gutted and rebuilt, with a (140,000 square foot) Target dedicated in July 2008. A (40,000 square foot) Sports Authority opened, on a second level, in the spring of 2009. This was soon joined by Off Broadway Shoes. With these modifications, WARWICK MALL encompassed approximately 1 million leasable square feet and housed over eighty stores and services.
Old Navy relocated within the mall. Its original store became part of 2-level (100,000 square foot) Jordan's Furniture. This Massachusetts-based retailer opened for business on December 21, 2011. In the following year, the southeast corner of the mall was gutted and rebuilt. A 1-level (37,000 square foot) Nordstrom Rack began business on November 8, 2012.
Sources:
The New York Times
The Providence Journal
The Rhode Island Pendulum (East Greenwich, Rhode Island)
https://johnstonsunrise.net
https://johnstonsunrise.net
http://www.labescar.com
http://www.warwickri.gov / City Of Warwick website
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.projo.com
http://www.quahog.org / "Outlet Company, Providence" / Michael Bell
http://www.warwickri.gov / City Of Warwick website
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.projo.com
http://www.quahog.org / "Outlet Company, Providence" / Michael Bell
http://www.findri.com/warwickmall.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
http://www.warwickmall.com
"Warwick Mall' article on Wikipedia
"Jordan Marsh" article on Wikipedia
"Jordan Marsh" article on Wikipedia
