The Shoppes at Buckland Hills
Mall interior, 2018
LocationManchester, Connecticut
Coordinates41°48′25″N 72°32′43″W / 41.80694°N 72.54528°W / 41.80694; -72.54528[1]
Opening dateMarch 14, 1990[2]
DeveloperHomart Development Company
ManagementSpinoso Real Estate Group
OwnerSpinoso Real Estate Group
No. of stores and services145
No. of anchor tenants6 (1 under construction)
Total retail floor area1,082,708 sq ft (100,587 m2)[3]
Websitewww.theshoppesatbucklandhills.com

The Shoppes at Buckland Hills, formerly and commonly known as Buckland Hills Mall is a shopping mall located in Manchester, Connecticut and is currently owned by Spinoso Real Estate Group.[4][5] The mall features the traditional retailers Macy's, JCPenney, Bob's Stores, and Barnes & Noble while featuring prominent specialty retailers such as Aeropostale, Charlotte Russe, Express, Forever 21, H&M, Build-A-Bear, Newbury Comics, and Windsor.

The Shoppes at Buckland Hills is located off I-84, near the intersection of I-291.

History

John Finguerra, with his business partner, Richard Ripps, planned the mall in 1972.[6] Finguerra worked for JCPenney, which at the time had a 2,000,000-square-foot (190,000 m2) warehouse nearby, once used for their now-defunct catalog business.[6]

Finguerra's familiarity with local economic factors led him to believe that a regional mall would be successful. The location selected for the mall was elevated and overlooked a valley, and was close to an interstate highway, which would enable traffic flow to the mall, and future developments in the corridor.[6]

The mall opened in 1990, and was called the "Pavilions at Buckland".[6] The mall was successful, and new businesses in the surrounding area developed.[7] A multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion of the mall was completed in October 2003, and the name was changed first to "Buckland Hills Mall", and then to "The Shoppes at Buckland Hills".[8]

Design/Tenants

One of the mall's entrances

The main building has an area of 1,082,708 square feet (100,587 m2) on two floors. However, the name "Buckland Hills Mall"' can informally refer to the mall plus the cluster of surrounding retail stores, hotels, and restaurants on the hill, totaling nearly 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m2) or 1/4 square mile.[8]

There are approximately 145 shops and eateries in the mall, as well as four anchor stores, including Macy's (originally G. Fox, later Filene's), Macy's Men's, Children's, Juniors, and Furniture (originally Steiger's, later Lord & Taylor, then Filene's Men's, Children's, Juniors, and Furniture), JCPenney, which opened in 1992, and Barnes & Noble with two vacant anchors last occupied by Dick's Sporting Goods (originally Sage-Allen) and Sears. In 2006, Newbury Comics opened its first Connecticut store inside the mall. There was once a D&L (Davidson & Leventhal) department store below the food court, which later became Filene's Men's Store and is now various shops and restaurants.

The dawn of the 2020s saw several storied traditional department store retailers update its brick-and-mortar formats after being encroached upon to a degree by several digital retailers in recent years

On November 13, 2020, it was announced that Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate its brick-and-mortar format. Potential replacement tenants have been rumored in discussion since 2021.[9][10]

In April 2021, Dick's Sporting Goods, transitioned to an entirely new store format at a nearby plaza and was reconstructed to feature Bob's Stores and Eastern Mountain Sports. Bob's Stores opened on November 23, 2022, while Eastern Mountain Sports was projected to open in spring 2023. However, as of August 2023, Eastern Mountain Sports has still yet to open, and it is currently unknown when or if the store will open. [11][12][13]

The mall was the location for the music video "Miracles Happen (When You Believe)" by Myra from The Princess Diaries in 2001.[14]

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Buckland Hills Mall Shopping Center
  2. ↑ "MALL SALES DRIFTED INTO DOLDRUMS DURING STORM". Hartford Courant. March 15, 1993. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Shoppes at Buckland Hills - Manchester, CT". Spinoso Real Estate Group. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  4. ↑ "The Shoppes at Buckland Hills". Malls.com. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
  5. ↑ "Shoppes at Buckland Hills - Manchester, CT - Spinoso Real Estate Group".
  6. 1 2 3 4 Uhlinger, Dan (March 7, 2011). "Buckland Hills' other 'dreamer'". Hartford Business Journal.
  7. ↑ Condon, Garret (November 24, 1995). "HOW A MALL CHANGED A TOWN". Hartford Courant.
  8. 1 2 "The Shoppes at Buckland Hills - Projects - Birdair, Inc". www.birdair.com. Retrieved 2017-04-16.
  9. ↑ "Liquidation Sale Commences At Doomed Manchester Sears". Manchester, CT Patch. 2020-11-13.
  10. ↑ "Buckland Business Brief: January 2021". THE MANCHESTER SCOOP. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  11. ↑ "The Manchester Scoop". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  12. ↑ "The Manchester Scoop". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-10-29.
  13. ↑ "Bob's Stores opens in Manchester". Facebook. 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2023-01-14.
  14. ↑ https://www.tumblr.com/the-myra-movement-blog/141808574764/fourth-photo-set-of-the-music-video-for-miracles
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