Stillwater Avenue and Bangor Mall Boulevard
Bangor, Maine
In September 1976, plans were announced for a new shopping center that would serve Bangor and its environs. The fully-enclosed complex would be built on a 60-acre portion of a 150-acre tract; this located 2.3 miles northeast of the center city. Up to this time, the site has been utilized as the Davis Dairy Farm.
Ground was broken for the 30 million dollar BANGOR MALL in August 1977. The complex was designed by Philadelphia-based Evantash Associates and developed by a joint venture of Philadelphia's Kravco, Incorporated and New York City's Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States.
Consisting of a single retail level and 494,900 leasable square feet, BANGOR MALL held its official "Supergrand Opening" on October 5, 1978. The keynote speaker was US Congressman William Cohen (R). Linda Carroll, "Miss Maine 1978," officiated. Music was provided by the University of Maine U.M.O. 30-piece Orchestra.
The interior of the shopping hub was done in subdued earth tones. There were ceramic tile floors, skylights and live tropical plantings. Center Court featured snowflake pattern skylights above a large fountain and reflecting pool. There was an adjacent waterfall and tropical garden. A 1-level (110,300 square foot) Sears had become the mall's first operational tenant, on October 2, 1978. A 1-level (70,000 square foot), Portland, Maine-based Porteous, Mitchell & Braun held its dedication as part of the October 5th Supergrand Opening.
Charter inline stores included B. Dalton Bookseller, Mothercare, Card-O-Rama, Anderson-Little, Fanny Farmer Candies, Foxmoor Casuals, DeOrsey's Record & Audio, Morrow's Nut House, Spencer Gifts, Chess King and a CVS (Consumer Value Store). The third anchor, a 1-level (94,400 square foot) J.C. Penney, was launched on February 28, 1979. BANGOR MALL now housed seventy stores and services.
Two other, less flashy shopping venues pre-dated BANGOR MALL. WESTGATE MALL {2.6 miles southwest, in Bangor} commenced operation in 1968. AIRPORT MALL {2.9 miles southwest, in Bangor} began business in 1970.
A freestanding movie house was built on a pad southwest of BANGOR MALL. It opened, as the Cinema Centers Corporation Bangor Mall Cinemas 1-8, in July 1985. In 1991, it was expanded into a 10-screen venue, known as the Bangor Mall Cinemas 10. Over the years, the complex has been operated as Hoyt, Regal and Entertainment Cinemas venues.
A face lift renovation of BANGOR MALL was completed in November 1997. This was followed by the dedication of a 160,000 square foot expansion, which was held on November 12, 1998. The addition included a 2-level (120,000 square foot), Boston-based Filene's ["fiy-leenz"] and nine inline stores. These included The Disney Store, Northern Experience, Claire's Boutique and a Hallmark Store. The mall now encompassed approximately 655,000 leasable square feet.
The Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group established majority interest in Philadelphia's Kravco Investments and Kravco, Incorporated in November 2003, which brought BANGOR MALL into the Simon property portfolio.
Anchor rebrandings at BANGOR MALL began with the shuttering of Porteous, on January 18, 2003. That store re-opened, as a Pittsburgh-based Dick's Sporting Goods, in August 2004. Next in line was Filene's, which was "Macy-ated" September 9, 2006. This store went dark in March 2017.
By this time, the mall was in dire straits. An inline store exodus played out between January 2016 and January 2018. Tenants such as The Gap, New York & Company, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Pacsun and Charlotte Russe closed for good. Sears pulled up stakes in April 2018. Among all of the store closings came a new tenant. Furniture Mattresses & More set up shop in the vacant Macy's space in July 2018.
Meanwhile, Simon had defaulted on their mall loan in October 2017. Miami's LNR Property, Limited Liability Company assumed management and operation. A new manager, Fort Worth, Texas' Woodmont Company, was placed in charge in July 2018. A new owner eventually acquired the struggling shopping complex. It was purchased by a joint venture of Mason Asset Management, the CH Capital Group and Namdar Realty Group, in April 2019.
Sources:
The Bangor Daily News
http://www.geocities.com / Zayre88
http://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
http://www.movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
Retail Traffic Magazine
https://bangormall.com
The Bangor Daily News
http://www.geocities.com / Zayre88
http://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
http://www.movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
Retail Traffic Magazine
https://bangormall.com
https://namdarrealtygroup.com / Namdar Realty Group
