| Westfarms Mall | |
| Address: | 1500 New Britain Avenue, West Hartford, Connecticut, United States |
| Coordinates: | 41.7228°N -72.7633°W |
| Opening Date: | [1] |
| Developer: | Taubman Centers |
| Number Of Stores: | over 150 stores |
| Number Of Anchors: | 5 |
| Parking: | free outdoor and covered parking |
| Footnotes: | [2] |
Westfarms is a shopping mall on the West Hartford - Farmington town line in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was opened in 1974, expanded in 1982 and 1995 - 1997, and remodeled in 2008 - 2009. With 1267000ft2 of gross leasable area, Westfarms is the third-largest mall in Connecticut. It is located on Route 71, off the I-84 and Route 9 junction and near several open-air shopping plazas. The mall is currently owned and managed by Taubman Centers, a subsidiary of Simon Property Group.
Westfarms opened in 1974. It was developed by Bloomfield Hills-based Taubman Centers, which remains in charge of its management since then. Its original anchors were G. Fox & Co., J. C. Penney, and Sage-Allen. The mall was expanded with a new retail wing in 1982, which included a Lord & Taylor store. They relocated from Bishops Corner in West Hartford.
Hartford-based G. Fox was acquired by Boston-based Filene's in 1992, and the Westfarms store was rebranded on January 30, 1993.[3] Sage-Allen filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992, and closed permanently in 1993.[4] Facing competition from the newer Buckland Hills Mall in nearby Manchester, Taubman began a USD $100-million renovation and expansion of Westfarms in 1995. In the first phase, Filene's and Lord & Taylor were remodeled,[5] and the vacated Sage-Allen space became a Filene's Men's & Home.[6] A four-level parking garage was built in the second phase in 1996,[7] and a new retail wing between J. C. Penney and Lord & Taylor with two additional parking garages was completed in 1997.[5] The wing is anchored by Seattle-based Nordstrom, which opened on September 6, 1997.[8] It was the first Nordstrom in New England and remained their only store in Connecticut until The SoNo Collection in Norwalk opened in 2019.[9]
On September 9, 2006, Filene's became Macy's.[10]
In August 2020, it was announced that upscale specialty department store retailer Lord & Taylor would shutter its traditional brick and mortar format as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] [12] In December, 2022, it was announced that Jordan's Furniture would be reconstructing the original Lord & Taylor structure which opened in 2023.[13]
Unlike many enclosed malls, Westfarms does not feature a common-area food court, but some wings of the mall contain several quick service restaurants that are housed in their own storefronts.[14]
| Name | of floors | Year opened | Year closed | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filene's | 2 | 1993 | 2006 | Replaced G. Fox | |
| Filene's Men's & Home | 2 | 1995 | 2006 | Replaced Sage-Allen | |
| G. Fox & Co. | 2 | 1974 | 1993 | ||
| JCPenney | 2 | 1974 | |||
| Jordan's Furniture | 2 | 2023 | Replaced Lord & Taylor | ||
| Lord & Taylor | 2 | 1982 | 2020 | ||
| Macy's | 3 | 2006 | Replaced Filene's | ||
| Macy's Men's & Home | 2 | 2006 | Replaced Filene's Men's & Home | ||
| Nordstrom | 2 | 1997 | First location in Connecticut and New England | ||
| Sage-Allen | 2 | 1974 | 1993 |