Industry | Retail |
---|---|
Founded | 1874 |
Defunct | 1976 |
Fate | Liquidation |
Headquarters | Springfield, Massachusetts |
Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. |
Website | None |
Forbes and Wallace was an American department store chain based in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Forbes and Wallace Store was constructed by partners Alexander B. Forbes and Andrew Brabner Wallace in 1873 at the corner of Main and Vernon (now Boland) Streets, Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1896 Forbes retired and Wallace became sole proprietor.
In 1905 the Store consisted of eight floors and had grown into a complex of six buildings, taking up the entire city block. Forbes & Wallace was considered Springfield's leading retail establishment.
In the 1940s through the early 1970s, Forbes & Wallace also ran several other department stores in Massachusetts and New York State under their original nameplates. In Massachusetts, stores were operated in nearby Holyoke as McCauslan Waklen, and in Northampton as McCallum's. McCallum's former location is now the site of the successful indoor Thornes Marketplace, which took over the vacant space in the late 1970s. The Boston Store in downtown North Adams, MA was also part of the Forbes & Wallace chain. In New York State, Wallace's department store in downtown Schenectady, NY, with branches in Kingston and Poughkeepsie, NY was also operated by Forbes & Wallace until it closed in 1975.
Forbes & Wallace also operated 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) store at Fairfield Mall, now the site of Home Depot, in Chicopee, MA. Forbes & Wallace and the now-defunct Two Guys were the low-rent mall's two anchor stores. The Forbes & Wallace at Fairfield Mall was closed in the mid-seventies, replaced by now-defunct Caldor. Two Guys, at the opposite end of the mall, also closed and it was replaced by now-defunct Bradlees.
The mall, then faced with competition from the new and massive Holyoke Mall at Ingleside, went into a long period of decline. It closed in 2001 and was eventually torn down. The site is now a successful plaza featuring Home Depot, Staples, Sleepy's, a party shop and some other stores, anchored on the Bradlees side of the old mall with a Wal-Mart Super Center and ringed by Friendly's, Applebee's and a 99.
Forbes & Wallace also had branch stores at the Eastfield Mall in Springfield, MA and opened a small store at the Manchester Parkade in Manchester, CT. The Eastfield Mall location served Springfield's affluent eastern and southeastern suburban areas and was a very popular shopping destination. The Manchester, CT location was not as successful, as it was located in a small shopping center some distance from Forbes & Wallace's normal trading area, and it competed unsuccessfully with the established Hartford, CT department stores G. Fox & Co. and Sage-Allen Co.
After the demise of Worcester, MA-based Denholm & McKay Company in 1973, Forbes & Wallace briefly operated a store at the Auburn Mall in Auburn, MA in the former Denholm's location.
In 1970, it had a skywalk connecting it to the new 30 story Bay State West. Bay State West had a retail court which was also connected to Springfield's other leading private department store, Steiger's. In 1976 the store was closed and the buildings remained vacant until demolition in 1982.
In 1987, Monarch Place was constructed on the store's former site.
Bradlees Department Store, more commonly known as Bradlees, was a discount department store chain based in Braintree, Massachusetts, which operated primarily in the Northeastern United States. Bradlees sold various retail items in its stores, including clothing, jewelry, health care, beauty products, footwear, furniture, electronics, housewares, and bedding. At its peak in the 1990s, Bradlees operated over 105 stores in seven states across the Northeast, with close to 10,000 employees. Along with being a part of Stop & Shop from 1961 until 1992, the chain went through Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2000, with all of its stores eventually closed by March 15, 2001.
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, known as Stop & Shop, is an American regional chain of supermarkets located in the northeastern United States. From its beginnings in 1892 as a small grocery store, it has grown to include 406 stores chain-wide.
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The Loop, formerly Methuen Mall, is a shopping mall in Methuen, Massachusetts, United States. It was built in 1973 as an enclosed shopping mall on a 60-acre (240,000 m2) site and initially included Howlands and Sears as its anchor stores, as well as 70 other retailers. In 1977, Howlands was replaced by Jordan Marsh, while Filene's Basement was added in the 1980s. Methuen Mall suffered a significant loss in tenancy after both Sears and Filene's Basement moved to The Mall at Rockingham Park across the state line in Salem, New Hampshire. It remained in operation until 1997 and was demolished in early 1999, undergoing redevelopment soon afterward into a strip mall known as The Loop. Major tenants of The Loop are The Home Depot, Marshalls, and AMC Theatres.
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The Eastfield Mall was a shopping mall in Springfield, Massachusetts, which was owned by Mountain Development Corporation, and was built in late 1967 by the Rouse Company. The three anchors, JCPenney, Macy's, and Sears closed in 2011, 2016, and 2018, respectively. The movie theater, Cinemark, closed in 2020. The mall was managed by Mountain Development.
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Concord Mall, a shopping mall located north of the city of Wilmington in the unincorporated Brandywine Hundred area along U.S. Route 202, is Delaware's second-largest shopping mall. A short distance south of the Pennsylvania border, it attracts shoppers from Pennsylvania and other neighboring states wishing to take advantage of tax-free shopping in Delaware. The mall contains over 90 stores and features a fountain surrounded by a garden. It is owned by Namdar Realty Group. The mall anchors are Macy's, Macy's Home, and Boscov's.
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