GREEN MOUNTAIN MALL
Memorial Drive and Sanger Circle
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
What was Vermont's first mall-type shopping center? There are two contenders that commenced operation at around the same time. The first store in RUTLAND MALL {in Rutland County} debuted in October 1974, with the first in GREEN MOUNTAIN MALL opening for business in November of the same year.
GREEN MOUNTAIN MALL was built on a 15-acre plot, located 2.4 miles north of the St. Johnsbury city center. The complex was developed by the Green Mountain Realty Trust Company, which was a joint venture of William Costa, Orlando Costa and Harvey Caplan (of the Town of St. Johnsbury) and Matthew Sugarman, Bernard Healy and Barry Malitsky (of Massachusetts).
The 3.5 million dollar shopping venue spanned approximately 181,000 leasable square feet and was anchored by a (45,000 square foot) Zayre discount mart, (61,000 square foot) Grant City discount mart and (30,400 square foot) A & P supermarket. Inline stores included Citizen's Savings Bank & Trust Company, The Countryman & Gallery apparel and St. Johnsbury Plain & Fancy Card & Gifts.
GREEN MOUNTAIN MALL had a rocky start. Grant City opened in August 1975, but closed in February 1976. A & P debuted in April 1975, but went dark in May 1976. Following this anchor store exodus, a McDonald's restaurant -and several other potential tenants- broke leases.
Things began to pick up. A Martin's Shop & Save supermarket opened, in the vacant A & P space, in August 1977. Zayre relocated into the larger Grants area. J.C. Penney assumed the original Zayre spot and commenced operation on January 16, 1980. A Sears Appliance & Hardware set up shop in the inline section of the mall. The store welcomed first shoppers in 1981.
Over the years, stores came and went. Zayre was shuttered in January 1989. The store re-opened, as a Salem, Massachusetts-based Rich's, in 1991. At this time, the president of the Rich's chain, Howard Rich, bought a fifty-percent share of GREEN MOUNTAIN MALL, and invested 3 million dollars into renovating the facility.
By January 1997, the Rich's chain was out of business. Their (61,000 square foot) anchor store, the largest space in the mall, was occupied by Rocky Hill, Connecticut-based Ames in late 1997. Shop & Save, on the north end of the mall, became a Butson's supermarket, which morphed into a Sav-A-Lot grocery in March 2000. This store was shuttered in 2006. A North Kingston, Rhode Island-based Ocean State Job Lot assumed the vacant space in early 2008.
Meanwhile, the Ames chain went belly-up, with its GREEN MOUNTAIN MALL location going out of business on October 13, 2002. The vacant anchor box was eventually occupied by a relocated J.C. Penney, which held its grand opening on September 26, 2007. The empty Zayre / Penney's space was reconfigured as an extended North Wing concourse, with a Yankee 1 Dollar housed in one of the newly-created store spaces.
Bernard Healy and Howard Rich, proprietors of GREEN MOUNTAIN MALL, performed a face lift renovation in mid-2011. This was accompanied by the opening of offices for the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce, in December 2011. Subsequent dedications were held for Fitness Unbound (May 2015) and Saint J Brewery Draft Room & Hoagie Bar (February 2016).
Sears, a circa-1981 charter tenant, closed their "Hometown Store" in 2018. After operating in GREEN MOUNTAIN MALL for over 41 years, J.C. Penney also pulled up stakes. Their store closed for good in May 2021.
Sources:
The Burlington Free-Press
The Caledonian Record (St. Johnsbury, Vermont)
http://www.greenmountainmall.com
http://www.geocities.com/ "Zayre88"
http://www.amesfanclub.com
