The Maine Mall

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The Maine Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in South Portland, Maine, United States. At 1.2 million square feet, it is the largest shopping mall in the state of Maine. Anchored by Best Buy, JCPenney, Linens 'n Things, Macy's, Sears, and Sports Authority[1], the mall features over 140 tenants and a food court.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

The first store to open on the site of the Maine Mall was a Jordan Marsh department store, which opened on August 8, 1969.[2][3] Two years later, the mall itself opened. Retro-fitted to the existing Jordan Marsh store, the Maine Mall included 50 stores, including Sears and Woolworth.[2][3][4]

Porteous, a department store chain based in Portland, Maine, announced in 1979 that it planned to open a location at the Maine Mall.[5] Porteous arrived in 1983, as part of a major mall expansion which doubled the mall's size.[3] This expansion also brought in JCPenney,[3] as well as the first Filene's in the state of Maine.[6][7]

1994 saw a $6.5 million renovation to the Maine Mall[8]; this renovation added a food court, as well as Lechmere.[3][9] Porteous closed in 1996 and was replaced with a two-level structure, containing a Filene's Home Store on the lower level, with Sports Authority on the upper level.[3] Jordan Marsh was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1996; as a result, the former Jordan Marsh at Maine Mall became Macy's. Woolworth and Lechmere both closed in 1997; within a year, they were replaced by Linens 'n Things and Best Buy, respectively.

General Growth Properties of Chicago, Illinois purchased the mall in October of 2003.[10] In 2005, Federated Department Stores, the owner of Macy's, acquired the Filene's chain. Due to the presence of an existing Macy's at the Maine Mall, both the Filene's and Filene's home store were shuttered in 2005 to prevent overlap.[7]

[edit] The Mall Today

In 2007 the vacant building that formerly housed Filene's was to be demolished and replaced by a 16-screen movie theater and restaurants.[11] General Growth also wanted to relocate the current Best Buy and David's Bridal stores to an adjacent property in an attempt to create a Lifestyle Shopping Center at that site. The project, however, was put on hold for unknown reasons.[12] Joseph Soley, a local property owner who owns two retail centers near the mall, attempted to file a lawsuit, claiming that General Growth's expansion of the mall would negatively impact his own businesses; the lawsuit was dismissed.[13] The project has been delayed until 2008 because of the suit.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b General Growth Properties - center info for The Maine Mall
  2. ^ a b History & Development
  3. ^ a b c d e f http://www.geocities.com/zayre88/plaza-mainemall.html The Maine Mall - South Portland, ME (Retailers from Woolworth to Wal-Mart)
  4. ^ South Portland -- A Window on the Past
  5. ^ Economy
  6. ^ Two Maines: Separate but not equal
  7. ^ a b Filene's at Maine Mall to close this year
  8. ^ Malls.pdf
  9. ^ Montgomery Ward buys Lechmere; continues growth through acquisition
  10. ^ THE MAINE EVENT
  11. ^ Mall owner aims to get overhaul under way
  12. ^ Maine Mall to add nearby 'lifestyle' shopping complex
  13. ^ South Portland seeks dismissal of Soley lawsuit

[edit] External links