Crystal Mall is an enclosed, two-level regional mall in Waterford, Connecticut. It is situated in a central retail area off the Hartford Turnpike (Route 85), across from a smaller, open-air shopping center, Waterford Commons. The mall covers a gross leaseable area of 782,786 sq ft (72,723 m2), making it Connecticut's ninth largest mall, boasting 110 shops.[2] Its primary trade area includes a trade population of 296,161 people, mostly serving the nearby towns of Waterford, Stonington, Norwich, Groton and New London.[3] The mall features JCPenney.
The mall was developed in 1984 by New England Development. When it opened, it was the only regional mall in the area, and many smaller shopping centers faced strong competition. Some, like nearby New London Mall, were eventually forced to change strategies, such as becoming a "lifestyle center". The original anchors were Sears, JCPenney, Filene's, and Jordan Marsh. Jordan Marsh became Macy's in 1996.
After about 10 years in operation, Crystal Mall's look was becoming outdated, and management realized it needed to be renewed. In 1997, the mall underwent a renovation to upgrade its interior design. The previous dark color scheme was replaced by a brighter white, the food court was remodeled, and lighting as well as other fixtures were improved. The elegant center chandelier was slated to be removed during the renovations, but the fixture was popular with shoppers, so it was shined and has remained. The mall has still been criticized for its aging exterior look, and for not updating its tenants to keep up with the times.[4][5]
In 2006, one of the mall's longstanding anchors Filene's closed its store, as this was one of a number of New England Malls that had both a Macy's and Filene's. After the May Co Department Store Company was purchased by Federated Department Stores (now renamed Macy's, Inc.) duplicate stores were closed at many New England malls. In 2007, it was announced that two anchors would backfill the original Filene's, those two anchors being Christmas Tree Shops and Bed Bath & Beyond.[6] Both retailers opened a few months later in early 2008, with Christmas Tree Shops on the first level, and Bed Bath & Beyond on the second level.[7]
The dawn of the 2020's saw several storied traditional department store retailers update their brick-and-mortar formats after being encroached upon to a degree by several digital retailers in recent years.
On October 15, 2018, It was announced Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate its brick-and-mortar format. Several prospective tenants have been in discussion.[8]
On January 6, 2021, Macy's, which retains additional larger outposts in the region, announced after a strategy had been implemented by them to solely focus on their highest achieving locations that they would be leaving the shopping center.[9] On November 1, 2021, it was reported that the previous Macy's outpost had been sold to a development firm.[10]
On September 15, 2022, it was announced that Bed Bath & Beyond would shutter months before the chain filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations. It was later relaunched as a digital first format.[11]
On June 29, 2023, it was announced Christmas Tree Shops would be shuttering after finding itself unable to satisfy their long-term established debt due to ongoing supply chain shortages, which left JCPenney as the only anchor left.[12]
On February 9, 2024, it was announced that JCPenney would be closing by the end of spring 2024. This will leave the mall with no anchors left, basically making it a dead mall.[13]
^Emil Pocock (February 23, 2009). "Largest Connecticut Shopping Centers". Shopping Center Studies. Eastern Connecticut State University. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
^"Crystal Mall"(PDF). Simon Property Group. 2010-05-03. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2011-06-28. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
