Natick Collection

The Natick Collection, formerly known as Natick Mall until February 2007, is a large shopping mall owned by General Growth Properties (GGP), located near Route 9, Route 30, and the Mass Pike (I-90) in Natick, Massachusetts, adjacent to Shoppers World. After the most recent expansion in 2007, the mall now has convert|1700000|sqft|m2|abbr=on leasable area and over 270 retailers.

History

Originally the location was two separate stand-alone stores, Sears and Filene's, separated by a parking lot; the mall being constructed later between the two locations beginning in 1964. The first Natick Mall opened in 1965 with 25 stores as a one-story mall and was the second enclosed mall in the Boston metropolitan area (Brockton's Westgate Mall -1963- being the first). The newly constructed mall included two more smaller anchors located on the north side of the mall, Woolworth's and Boston Baby, and had a large fountain/entertainment area in front of the new Sears mall entrances.

When the Boston Baby store closed in the early eighties, the structure was remodeled into a new retail wing with a dozen smaller stores such as The Gap, and a small food court. The former York Steak House near Sears underwent a similar transformation when the restaurant closed in 1985, becoming home to several national retailers such as J. Jill and Land's End. The mall eventually became the home to over fifty stores and restaurants.

By the 1990s, the owners of the mall decided it was undersized and showing signs of aging. Then began an expansion of the structure in the 1991, intending to add a third anchor location, Lord & Taylor, on the front of the mall off the main entrance in the center and a second floor. Construction began with the citing of the footings for the new structure, but came to a halt in 1992 when the mall was sold to the Sears real estate division, Homart Development Company. Homart, who also purchased the adjacent Shopper's World property, canceled the expansion plans for both mall complexes and developed two new concepts for a completely rebuilt, enclosed mall on the larger Shopper's World property and a power center at the Natick Mall location.

However, one of the major tenants, Filene's, had completely remodeled and expanded its Natick location as part of the former Natick Mall expansion plans and was unwilling to spend more capital on constructing a new building at Shopper's World. In response, Homart reversed the plans and developed the concepts that became the new Natick Mall and Shoppers' World. The original mall's tenants were moved in to the Shopper's World complex in 1993, and the mall torn down. A new, modern two-story structure with over 200 stores was built and opened in late 1994. The facility included a new Sears, a Lord & Taylor and relocated Jordan Marsh.

2006-2010 Renovation and expansion

The mall underwent a large scale renovation and expansion beginning in late 2006. The mall re-branded its image, beginning by attempting to change its name to simply "Natick", but settling on "Natick Collection" after resistance from the town. [cite web |url=http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/02/21/mall_reborn_as_natick_collection/ |title=Mall reborn as Natick Collection |last=Drake |first=John |date=2007-02-21 |accessdate=2007-09-15 |publisher=The Boston Globe]

The first phase of the renovation project was opened to the public on September 7, 2007, though not all stores were ready for business at the time. Those stores not ready for operation at the time planned to open through winter 2007 to spring 2008. This phase of the expansion project included the renovation the original mall, the addition of approximately 100 new stores and two new anchors, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, in a new wing on the site of the former Wonder BreadHostess baking factory adjacent to the mall property on the north-east side. This addition, along with a new eight-story parking facility, makes the Natick Collection the twelfth largest mall in the country, fourth largest on the East Coast, and the largest in New England.

As of September 2008, the south-western section of the mall along route 9 is undergoing the second phase of expansion called "The Promenade at Natick Collection". The construction of a The Cheesecake Factory finished shortly after the completion of north side addition and work on a the two story Crate and Barrel store, a relocated California Pizza Kitchen and the American Girl Boutique and Bistro began construction in April 2008, with a projected finishing of November 2008. [ [http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2008/05/american_girl_s.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed5 American Girl store is coming to Natick Collection - Daily Business Update - The Boston Globe ] ] Additionally, the south-west mall entrance will be moved over approximately convert|100|ft|m|abbr=on, placing it next to the new Crate and Barrel location and across from the north-west wing housing J.C. Penny's. The existing entrance hall with a new elevator will be converted into stores.

The third phase, the construction of the condominiums, which originally had a projected completion of Summer 2008, is underway with a now estimated completion time frame of Winter 2008–2009. The final phase, the addition of a ten to twelve story luxury hotel adjacent to the new wing and across from J.C. Penney, is still in the planning phases with a projected start of spring 2009. Initial site work has been completed and is awaiting finished designs.

Anchors

* J.C. Penney, convert|210000|sqft|m2|abbr=on - originally Jordan Marsh, converted to Macy's 1996.
* Lord & Taylor, convert|115000|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Macy's, convert|210000|sqft|m2|abbr=on - originally Filene's, converted to Macy's 2006
* Sears, convert|190000|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Neiman Marcus, convert|112000|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Nordstrom, convert|144000|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Crate and Barrel, convert|80000|sqft|m2|abbr=on

Major stores

* Salvatore Ferragamo, convert|3400|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Apple Store
* Burberry, convert|5424|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Tiffany & Co., convert|5295|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Zara, convert|9000|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Calvin Klein, convert|13000|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Louis Vuitton, convert|3637|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Gucci, convert|5005|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Bottega Veneta, convert|2700|sqft|m2|abbr=on
* Hugo Boss, convert|6011|sqft|m2|abbr=on

ee also

* Southdale Center - the first enclosed shopping mall in the country
* Shoppers World - located adjacent to the Natick Collection

References

External links

* [http://www.natickcollection.com Natick Collection official site]
* [http://framinghamnatickretail.com/natickmall/index.html A History of the Natick Collection]
* [http://www.framinghamnatickretail.com/ Framingham/Natick Retail]
* [http://www.labelscar.com/massachusetts/natick-collection Labelscar on Natick Collection]