Stamford's Ridgeway Center



Connecticut's first post-war shopping plaza was built to alleviate traffic in the Lock City's downtown area. The complex featured one of the nation's first shopping center-format Sears stores.
Graphic from Alphons Bach Associates 

 

Four circa-1947 images show storefronts in the original section of RIDGEWAY CENTER.

Photos from the Architectural Record / December 1947 / Ben Schnall (photos in the public domain) 

A late '50s layout of RIDGEWAY CENTER. The complex housed around 275,000 leasable square feet of retail and 75,000 square feet of office space. A bi-level parking area accommodated 1,400 autos. Like many of America's early shopping centers, it was not built at once, but in stages. These were completed between March 1947 (in black) and April 1958 (light gray). 

Another vintage RIDGEWAY photo. The Connecticut shopping complex was one of the first in the United States to include a multistory office tower. This became a feature of many mid-20th century shopping malls.
Photo from http://www.fdrich.com / F.D. Rich Company

A circa-1975 logo, which includes mention of the RIDGEWAY CENTER "Forty  Boutiques" indoor shopping arcade.
Graphic from Ridgeway Center Associates

RIDGEWAY CENTER TENANTS 1975:

SEARS / GIMBELS / FORTY BOUTIQUES (indoor mini-mall) / GRAND CENTRAL MARKET grocery / Barry's Shoes / Better Nature Health Foods / Bread Trader / Consumers Distributing / Datemaker / Discount Records / East Winds Restaurant / Frame Art / George's Art Treasures / Gingham's Dog & Calico Cat / Hand Crafted Novelties / House of Cameras / Jay's Slacks / Lafayette Radio / Leisure Learning / Martha West / Paper Palace / Pitter Patter Maternity / Red Cross Shoes / Ridgeway Flowers / Ridgeway Theatre / Robert Bruce / Sol's Toys / Thom McAn Shoes / Trim Fashions / Waldenbooks / Young Set

 

Saks 34th Street, the primary RIDGEWAY anchor store, morphed into a
Gimbles in 1965. This store was shuttered in 1986. Hartford's Sage-Allen
chain assumed the vacant space and opened for business in November 1986.
Advert from Sage-Allen & Company

By the early 1980s, RIDGEWAY CENTER was well past its prime. A remodeling and expansion was first proposed around 1982, but was bitterly contested by local residents. Several years of litigation followed, with plans finally being approved by the city. A refurbished RIDGEWAY debuted in 1998. On this layout, newly-built retail space is indicated in medium gray.

 

A share in the complex was sold to a Connecticut-based company in July 2002. They did further modifications to the south store block, with new tenants signed. A shuttered movie theater was reconfigured as part of an LA Fitness facility. Modell's Sporting Goods moved into upper level space that was once part of a Sears store

A circa-2014 view of RIDGEWAY CENTER with Staples, Bed Bath & Beyond and Party City in the foreground.
Photo from http://www.ubproperties.com / Urstadt Biddle Properties

In 2014, Old Navy and Dress Barn occupy Ground Level space in the south store block.

Photo from http://www.ubproperties.com / Urstadt Biddle Properties

RIDGEWAY CENTER
Summer and 6th Streets
Fairfield County (Stamford), Connecticut

Alphons Bach was a multifaceted watercolor artist, architect and industrial designer. Born in Germany in 1904, he migrated to New York City in 1926. In 1932, he established an industrial design firm and soon became recognized for his tubular steel furniture, appliance designs and renovations of retail stores. 

Bach relocated to Stamford, Connecticut in 1937. At the end of World War II, he entered the realm of real estate development. A 15-acre site, lying .8 mile north of Stamford's center city, would become the first regional shopping center in Connecticut.

Designed by Bach and the Thorn & Jorge firm, the first phase shopping complex opened for business on March 26, 1947. Charles E. Moore (Mayor of Stamford) cut a ceremonial ribbon. Charter RIDGEWAY CENTER tenants included W.J. Sloan Home Furnishings (October 1948), Pennsylvania Drug (May 1949), Deena's, Chizzini, Fisher Fordick, Young Set and a Slenderella Figure Salon.

Construction commenced on a second phase in February 1950. This southern block of stores included a 6-story office building, designed by Stamford's Bertram Lee Whinston, a 3-level (72,000 square foot) Sears and single-screen cinema. Originally known as the Navist Theatres Ridgeway Theatre, the venue showed a first feature on August 31, 1951.

The third -and final- RIDGEWAY construction phase entailed the addition of a central store block. This housed a 2-level (37,000 square foot) Saks 34th Street, which opened for business on April 29, 1958. A Grand Central Market grocery was housed in a basement floor. RIDGEWAY CENTER now encompassed approximately 350,000 leasable square feet and housed forty-six stores and services.

RIDGEWAY CENTER was sold to a joint venture, headed by Harry B. Helmsley, in February 1960. Ridgeway Center Associates, another New York City-based joint venture, acquired the complex in October 1960. Silverstein and Mendik, a third joint venture, took possession in October 1976.

The RIDGEWAY CENTER Saks closed and re-opened, as a Gimbels branch, on July 12, 1965. This store was shuttered in 1986. It became a Hartford-based Sage-Allen on November 12 of the same year. Meanwhile, a major shopping center competitor was being developed. 

 

STAMFORD TOWN CENTER, a center city urban renewal project, opened in stages between February and April of 1982 and immediately usurped the smaller and older shopping hub. By the early 1990s, RIDGEWAY CENTER was being described as a "hodgepodge of lackluster architecture punctuated with vacant stores."

The complex was now owned by a joint venture of Manhattan's Larry Silverstein and the Planned Expansion Group, of White Plains, New York. A renovation and expansion had been envisaged in 1982, but was opposed by local residents. Several years of litigation followed.

Sage-Allen was shuttered in December 1992. Grand Central Market vacated their basement level store at around the same time. The Sage-Allen space sat vacant for nearly a year, with Marshalls moving in in late 1993. Sears, a charter RIDGEWAY tenant, closed in early 1996. Marshalls moved, temporarily, into the upper level of the vacant Sears.

By this time, the long-awaited RIDGEWAY remodeling was underway. The old Saks structure was demolished and replaced with a larger building. This housed several big box-type retailers. A (47,000 square foot) Bed, Bath & Beyond occupied ground level space. The upper level contained a (27,000 square foot) Michaels and (33,800 square foot) Marshalls. A (60,000 square foot) Stop & Shop supermarket was installed in the basement.

The office building was demolished and the entirety of the shopping center structure fitted with brick facades, pitched roofs and spans of glass. A multilevel parking garage was also built in the northwest corner of the site. Stores in the original shopping center, such as Salvatore's Restaurant, Fayva Shoes and Baskin-Robbins ice cream, remained in business. 
 

A renewed RIDGEWAY CENTER was dedicated in May 1998. It now enveloped 331,000 square feet of retail stores and 29,000 square feet of office suites. There were thirty-seven tenants, including Staples, CVS and Old Navy. Greenwich, Connecticut's Urstadt Biddle properties bought an interest in RIDGEWAY CENTER in July 2002.

In 2003, Urstadt Biddle began to refurbish and retenant space in the south store block. The movie theater had been shuttered in the year 2000. It was reconfigured as part of a (42,700 square foot) LA Fitness. Adjacent office space was also gutted and incorporated into the new fitness facility. A (19,800 square foot) Modell's Sporting Goods opened, in upper level space, on September 27, 2007. 

 

In January 2011, Urstadt Biddle established full ownership of the shopping complex. In May 2023, they sold it to Jacksonville-based Regency Centers. In the previous year, Bed, Bath & Beyond had shuttered their store. The vacant space was assumed by Burlington, who opened for business on July 5, 2024.  

Sources:

The New York Times
The Hartford Courant

The Pentwater News (Pentwater, Michigan)
The Hour (Norwalk, Connecticut)
The Stamford Advocate (Stamford, Connecticut)

The Sunday Herald  (Bridgeport, Connecticut)

The Bridgeport Post

The Architectural Record

https://collection.cooperhewitt.org / Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum
"Urstadt Biddle Properties: The History of a REIT 1969-2007" / Gene Brown
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://movie-theatre.org
http://www.permutterproperties.com
http://www.ubproperties.com / Urstadt Biddle Properties
https://www.ctinsider.com / Connecticut Insider

https://www.regencycenters.com / Regency Centers

Connecticut's Meriden Square

The original logo of MERIDEN SQUARE. The shopping hub was officially dedicated in October 1971.

Graphic from May Centers, Incorporated

Hartford's G. ("Gerson") Fox & Company anchored the south end of the mall. The store opened, as the first operational MERIDEN SQUARE tenant, in August 1971.
Drawing from May Centers, Incorporated

The 2 shopping levels of MERIDEN SQUARE were linked by a Speedwalk Speedramp, which whisked passengers from floor to floor in 58 seconds. Another New England retail hub, Rhode Island's MIDLAND MALL, had a similar feature. So did San Diego's MISSION VALLEY CENTER.
Drawing from May Centers, Incorporated

Several stores in MERIDEN SQUARE featured "see-in" (window-less and door-less) entryways.
Drawing from the G.R. Kinney Company

The north end of the original shopping center was anchored by J.C. Penney. This store, which was dedicated in April 1972, was the final tenant to open in the original complex.
Photo from www.labelscar.com / "Caldor"

The original MERIDEN SQUARE was a definitive "dumbell plan" mall. The 15 million dollar complex incorporated nearly 600,000 leasable square feet, with a tenant list of fifty stores and services. Parking was provided for nearly 3,000 autos.

MERIDEN SQUARE TENANTS 1972:

G. FOX (with restaurant) / J.C. PENNEY (with Coffee Shop, Beauty Salon and freestanding Auto Center) / Allen Carpet Shops / Baker's Shoes / Barricini Candy / Card Gallery / Card 'N Party Shop / Chess King / Child World / Coney Island Snax / CVS Drug / East & West Gift Shop / Expresso International / Fabric Tree / Foxmoor Casuals / Florsheim Shoes / Friendly's Ice Cream / Galleria International Restaurant / Gordon's Jewelers / Helen Gallagher Gifts / Joel's Bootery / Joyce Leslie ladies' wear / Kay Jewelers / Kinney Shoes / Hickory Farms of Ohio / Lerner Shops / Mall Liquor Store / Mary Jane Shoes / Miles Shoes / Music City / Michaels Jewelers / Mom To Be Maternity / National Shirt Shops / Nature Food Center / Ormond's Package Store / Parklane Hosiery / Perkins Tobacco Shop / Pet Towne / Regal Shoes / So-Fro Fabrics / Sun Lighting / Susies Casuals / The Plum Tree ladies' wear / Thom McAn Shoes / Treasure Trove / The Tweed Shop ladies' wear / Waldenbooks / Welcome Aboard Vacation Center / Worth's ladies' wear

The first mall expansion, done between May 1991 and March 1993, is shown in medium gray. It adds 280,000 square feet in a Sears-anchored East Wing. There were now eighty-seven tenant spaces. The existing south anchor, now a Filene's, was also enlarged by 50,000 square feet. This project got underway in early 1993 and was completed in late 1994.

The original south anchor, G. Fox, is shown as it appeared during its Filene's phase (1993-2006). The store also operated with a Macy's nameplate (2006-2020).
Photo from www.labelscar.com / "Caldor"

Two vintage trademarks for the mall. In the first, from late 1997, we see the origination of the center's "Westfield Shoppingtown" moniker, which had reached fruition by the time of the second logo, from late 1998. The Shoppingtown branding debuted with Sydney, Australia's BURWOOD SHOPPINGTOWN mall, which opened in October 1966.

Graphics from www.westfield.com / The Westfield Group

WESTFIELD SHOPPINGTOWN MERIDEN in August 1999. The second enlargement of the shopping hub (in medium gray) expands its gross leasable area by 170,000 square feet. A new West Wing, anchored by Lord & Taylor, connects into the upper floor of the mall.

In mid-2005, the Shoppingtown co-branding was removed from the official names of all Westfield properties. Here we see the truncated trademark for the mall in Meriden.
Graphic from www.wesftfield.com / The Westfield Group

A circa-2005 aerial view of WESTFIELD MERIDEN.
Photo from www.wesftfield.com / The Westfield Group

In the 1970s, there were two similarly-named malls in -and around- the Silver City. MERIDEN MALL was formally dedicated on September 24, 1970, with MERIDEN SQUARE holding its grand opening on October 19, 1971. MERIDEN MALL was renamed MERIDEN HUB in 1981. The complex closed in 2003 and was demolished in 2007.

Graphic from Meriden Mall, Incorporated

At the time of a late 2006 layout, the 1,080,000 square foot WESTFIELD MERIDEN housed 127  stores and services. Dick's, Best Buy and Borders Books have been installed in the Lord & Taylor space, which was vacated in early 2004. The south anchor has just been rebranded by Macy's.  

 

J.C. Penney, a charter anchor, shuttered their store in the spring of 2014. Pennsylvania's Boscov's opened their first New England location -in the vacant Penney's- in late 2015. In early 2019, Sears went dark, followed by Macy's, in early 2020. In June, the Namdar Realty Group bought the complex. It shed its Westfield trappings and remerged as MERIDEN MALL.