HELL OR HIGH WATER - THE COMEBACK STORY OF WARWICK MALL - WARWICK RI

In southern Rhode Island is an absolute treasure of a mall, named after the city in which it's situated, the Warwick Mall. We visited this mall in March of 2019 and were enchanted by the mall as it is today. Long, well lit concourses, a fantastically aesthetic and architecturally pleasing barrel ceiling, beautiful planters and a whimsical carousel in its food court, indicated by a pretty sweet neon sign.

Little did we know the FULL story of this place. Many times we research a mall BEFORE going to it, especially in cases where a mall may be in some sort of trouble or transition or just out of sheer curiosity about a place. Other times, we simply Google the place, see a few pictures, and check if it's still an open property (there have been times we missed out on a mall, just because that's the way of things with dead malls).

Upon doing a quite cursory search of the Warwick Mall, we decided it was a MUST SEE on this particular trip we were making in the greater New England region. We had seen what the place looked like and were keenly interested to film it. Little did we know this mall had quite the story.

But first, let's back up all the way to when this mall began. Billing itself a "family owned business" and stating that continues to this day, Warwick Mall had a strong beginning. Opening in 1970, with noteworthy New England anchors Filene's, Jordan Marsh, and Rhode Island's own Peerless, and additionally The Outlet, and nationally known Woolworth, this mall would have been preceded in opening three years earlier by the Rhode Island Mall, Warwick's competition. 

It's worth noting that eventually the Rhode Island Mall (alternatively Midland Mall) would be turned outward into a power center, bearing its current name, Midland Commons. So, we see who ultimately "won" the Warwick mall market. 

The early 80s would add a JCPenney to the anchor roster, and with The Outlet closing its doors, another New England based discount chain, the well-known Caldor would fill the void. The anchor arrangement was objectively precarious, but the mall would continue on through the 1980s. During this time, the competing Midland Mall was, in fact, the dominant mall in the city, with Midland now boasting a food court and being a larger mall overall. Later on, at the dawn of the next decade, Peerless would vacate, leaving an empty anchor spot.

During the 1990s, the mall would get a major overhaul, aesthetically speaking. Out with the more vintage aspects of the mall... IN with the arched ceilings that captured our attention in the photos that drew us to Warwick in the first place.  Infrastructure improvements such as a brand new fire alarm system, and the flipping of the empty Peerless space into a well-needed food court being among them. Apparently, the clock in the middle of the place is original to the old look of the mall.

These changes would put Warwick at the top of the mall game for a change. May Co. dealings would help Warwick in a backhanded sort of way by May opting to shutter their G. Fox & Co. store at nearby Rhode Island Mall, leaving Filene's, another of their acquisitions to be top priority, even including an expansion! Not good news for Rhode Island Mall after already losing their crown. Federated Department Stores would shake up action at Warwick, by rebranding the Jordan Marsh store there as yet another Macy's.

1997 would be the end of an era at Warwick, with Woolworth's, an anchor since the beginning, exiting the mall. Limited Brands would purchase the vacant spot, which would be sectioned off into Express, Bath & Body Works, & Structure. Caldor's bankruptcy in 1999 would mean that anchor would soon be empty. Old Navy would snap up the first floor, meaning that only the second floor would remain without a tenant.

1999 would see the opening of yet another Rhode Island mall, Providence Place. Fortunately, Warwick I guess is far enough removed so that it didn't really notice any effect. 

With the 2000s in full swing, Warwick welcomed a movie theater, the Showcase Cinemas. Federated & May would merge, as Federated bought out the May Co. Hence, the Filene's would become the new Macy's, leaving a void in the former Macy's space. Target would welcome the opportunity to open a location on the first floor of the former Macy's, and a Sports Authority would occupy a portion of the second.

It's at this point in the history that I will digress for a bit about our trip to the Warwick Mall in early 2019. As stated before, we arrived at the mall basically cold, in terms of having any background on the place. Often, we just like to enjoy a mall, as it is, without any prior knowledge of the place to potentially cloud our experience or judgment. 

A little about the Raw & Real formula here... we work as a team to cover these malls. My husband does the filming and the editing and I take the photos and do various promotion for the channel in social media circles. It's a formula that just... works. We get to more places with a streamlined process, so we can bring you as many malls as we can.

So, the day of our visit to Warwick, Pat set off with his camera one direction in the mall, while I took off with my camera another direction. I'm walking with a big stupid smile on my face at the sight of the food court neon sign, around the mall, through the main concourse, taking side jaunts to the anchor wings/courts. All the while happily, but discreetly taking photos. Somewhere else in the mall, Pat's filming scenes for our walkthrough. Everything is going smoothly... or so we think.

Well, I don't know exactly what happened here, but as I had finished up taking photos in the carousel court and outside, where the Independent Man statue is, and made my way back to the main mall concourse, I saw my husband talking to an older gentleman, quite near the entrance where we came into the mall. I walked up, a little meekly, not knowing who he was speaking to, and asked what was going on. 

We generally are discreet and are not trying to film people, just the space, and some malls seem to turn a blind eye, while others are strict about a no-filming/no-photography policy. Some will say, in their Code of Conduct that permission may be obtained by mall management to do so. (Having knowledge of several content creators who have tried, to no response at all, to gain permission, our approach has always been to attempt filming anyway, unless asked to stop. Then we stop.)

The gentleman my husband was speaking with was none other than the Director of Security for Warwick. Discovering my husband taking photos after wrapping up filming, he politely asked what he was doing. And mentioned that he was going to have to ask him to stop.

At that point, Pat began to talk to the man about how much we had been enjoying the mall, we were out of towners who had ventured a long way to see it, and a few other pleasantries, the gentleman dropped a serious nugget of information on him. This mall was an inspiring comeback story!

WARWICK MALL FLOODING IN THE NEWS

The Director of Security told my husband that the mall had suffered a serious catastrophe in 2010. The mall had since then, rebuilt to more or less pre-flood conditions, and had bounced back, stronger than ever!

Here is a link to some of the news footage of that horrible time in Warwick's history:

NEWS FOOTAGE ABOUT WARWICK FLOOD

AERIAL FOOTAGE OF WARWICK FLOODING

As flooding from the Pawtuxet River sent the waters over its banks and into the town of Warwick, it would leave the mall submerged under several feet of water. A boat rescue was necessary to save a stranded security guard. The story of the flooding was so profound it made national news.

The area, already saturated from rains earlier in the week, was hit by up to 10 inches of rain in a short 24 hour period. This catastrophic flood would occur on March 30, 2010.

March 30, 2010. Our visit to the mall was March 30, 2019... nine years to the day from that horrible event. An eerie synchronicity I did not realize until the writing of this blog post. 

Many malls would have been daunted by such a terrible fate. Many would have never rebuilt, and their mall become a casualty of history. NOT WARWICK. VERY quickly, as soon as the flood waters receded in early April, after declaring all inventory a total loss, plans would be underway to come back from this devastation.

It would be necessary to gut the mall, going up four feet into its structure from the ground, just to repair the extensive water damage. The main concourse would receive a makeover, and flooring would be replaced, using beautiful imported porcelain tile from Italy. Topiary touches would grace the mall, and other landscaping type assets would be added. 

Thankfully the classic carousel in the food court was able to be restored to fully working condition. It would have been a shame if they had opted not to return it to service, but alas, it remains to this day. 

By the short time of one month later, some of the outparcels of the mall were beginning to reopen. Necessary repairs of mall features delayed some of the store openings after the flood repairs were complete. Staggered openings of anchor stores and inlines would be the story the remainder of 2010. Macy's would take the longest to reopen, doing so on March 16, 2011. The mall would finally reopen just shy of the one year anniversary of the catastrophic flood. I call that an amazing turnaround... and an incredibly inspiring comeback story.

Some trawling around of the internet suggests that the mall was such a boon to the community, that owners and officials made a serious push to get the mall back open for business as soon as possible. Major props for not only quickly reopening, but for the beautiful job that was done on the mall. Those images we saw were enough to make us go a little out of our way to visit this delightful property!

An aside here, to talk about a feature OUTSIDE the mall, something you see as you approach the mall entrance at the food court/carousel entrance. A statue known as "Independent Man" stands tall, greeting you and welcoming you into the mall property! Originally named "Hope", this statue is a replica of one seen on top of the Rhode Island State House in Providence. One Louise Lind, wrote a blog about her connection to this statue on Quahog.org.

Her father would point to the statue of Independent Man when she was a young girl and proclaim it was him. Being just a kid, she simply believed him without question. As she grew older, she began to become skeptical of her father's story and asked of someone with knowledge of her father's life if it was indeed him.

This source would emphatically answer yes to that question, going so far as to relate to her the humble beginnings of her family, and their exodus from Sweden to the United States. To earn money in the new world, her father and uncle would pose for artists at the Rhode Island School of Design. One such work that resulted from this modeling would be the work, "Independent Man".

Despite any resemblance to Lind's father, she has been assured that it was him who was the original model. Originally intended to be a statue of Rhode Island statesman and historic figure, Roger Williams, it's agreed that the statue couldn't possibly be him, as Williams would have never presented in a mere loincloth, nor was he as muscular and "built" as the statue atop the State House or at Warwick Mall!

It may not matter about WHO the Independent Man really is or was, because he appears to be an archetypal symbol of the Rhode Island spirit. He stands tall at the State House, and his replica at Warwick Mall, to greet you as you approach the carousel entrance at the food court. Artistic license? Who knows?

Shortly after the mall reopened in 2011, Jordan's Furniture based out of nearby Taunton, MA would announce its intentions to open a new store in the former Old Navy/Caldor space. This new location would make good use of both floors of empty space, yet another improvement, and for Jordan's, would be their first store ever at a mall location. Jordan's would have its grand opening on December 16, 2011. A mere two weeks later, Nordstrom Rack announced it would open a location at Warwick as well, in the new wing developed after the flood. It would take just under a year to open, in late 2012.

2016 would bring unfortunate news to the mall, as Sports Authority, as a result of its bankruptcy filing, would shutter locations nationwide. The most recent new opening at Warwick would be in March of 2020, as Golf Galaxy would fill the void left behind by the Sports Authority. As of the filming of our video in early 2019, the mall seemed to be doing quite well for itself, having few vacancies and a healthy amount of foot traffic. There has been criticism by officials who reviewed the mall's comeback and reopening, that implies that the mall has done nothing in terms of infrastructure or engineering to ensure that the same thing doesn't happen again. I will leave that for the experts to iron out, as history will be the judge. From my own observations as a bystander I am pleased to say that Warwick successfully weathered the storm it endured in 2010, and for those the mall serves, that seems to be good enough for now.

2020 brings an entirely different catastrophe to Warwick, and retail in general, in the COVID-19 health crisis. With many malls only just reopening as we approach the month of July, we can only wait and see what's going to be in store for Warwick Mall, and others. I can say that if the residents of Warwick have any say in the matter, they won't go down without a fight. Independent Man with his strong presence may be an unintentional symbol of the mall's strength and resilience, in the face of adversity, and a sign of "Hope" as was his original name.

You can check out our video of Warwick Mall HERE:

WARWICK MALL - A COMEBACK STORY - RAW & REAL RETAIL

THANKS FOR TAKING A LOOK!

THREE STORES WERE CLOSING WHEN WE VISITED, DUE TO THEIR RESPECTIVE COMPANIES GOING BANKRUPT.

Sources:

Labelscar

Quahog.org

Rhody.com

Wikipedia

Warwick Mall Official Site

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NESHAMINY'S NATIVE CONNECTION - NESHAMINY MALL - BENSALEM PA

For 13 years, I lived within short walking distance of Neshaminy Mall. As such, I will always call it one of my "local" malls, even though now I live 20-30 minutes away, depending on traffic. As mentioned in a previous post, my new local mall, for going on a year now, is the beautiful Willow Grove Park.

Neshaminy Mall, located just off US-1 in Bensalem PA, opened in 1968. In 1966, plans were begun to construct the mall, with Sears and Strawbridge & Clothier signing on as original anchors. The mall, set to cost a handsome $24M at construction, was a collaboration between the Korman Company and Strouse Greenburg.

The mall was on the grow, as a few short years later, in 1975, it woud receive an expansion, that would add a Lit Brothers department store. An unfortunately short-lived location, this store would close in 1977, and a Pomeroy's store would take its place. A decade later, in 1987,  when Pomeroy's was sold off, the space would change hands to The Bon-Ton.

1989 would see Neshaminy add a much-needed food court. Mutual of New York would sell off the mall to Homart Development Company in 1990 for $50M. Bon-Ton would close its Neshaminy location in 1994. The space would not sit vacant for long.

Time for a renovation in 1995! This would see (my favorite) Boscov's department store fill the void left behind when The Bon-Ton vacated, in addition to enlarging the food court. It was also around this time that GGP (General Growth Properties) would come to own the mall as part of its acquisition of the Homart Co.

BOSCOV'S AT SUNSET

Any good mall needs a cinema, and in 1997, Neshaminy Mall got just that... via a brand new 24-screen AMC Theater. Having been initially opposed by Bensalem officials, the theater would ultimately be greenlighted, and in 1998 after a year of planning and construction, the AMC would be completed and opened, with a price tag of $11M.

2006 would bring sad news to the mall, as it's original anchor, Strawbridge & Clothier (often shortened to simply "Strawbridge's) would become Macy's as The May Co. had been acquired by Federated Department Stores at that time. Strawbridge's had played such an important role in Neshaminy's development, aesthetic, ethos, and *character* that its exit from the mall would be pretty tragic. Here's where I must give credit to Macy's for having preserved many of the elements that had been integral to the mall. Macy's has tried to remain true, in many cases, to the legacy of the previous classic department chains they would acquire.

I will devote some of this post to a brief history of the Strawbridge & Clothier Co. Based in Philadelphia PA, the chain was begun by Quaker dry goods sellers Justus Clayton Strawbridge & Isaac Hallowell Clothier in 1868. The chain would be responsible for the creation of Philadelphia radio station staple WFIL at its original outset in 1922, the "Famous 56" on your AM dial! They would merge, ultimately with Lit Brothers' radio station WLIT in 1933, keeping the callsign WFIL and now part of the NBC Blue network of affiliates.

A major part of Strawbridge's branding was the famous Seal of Confidence. The seal depicts William Penn, founder of the State of Pennsylvania, shaking hands with a Lenape tribesman. It was said that William Penn had a gentleman's agreement,"never written, never broken", with the native tribes that he would always deal with them fairly. The Strawbridge's Department Store used this powerful imagery as a metaphor for how they would likewise deal with their customers and clientele with fairness and honesty, up to and including a money-back guarantee on anything it sold. This seal would be on marble seals, embedded inside and outside their store locations. It would appear printed on boxes and shopping bags, even things like shoe horns and the like. It would appear on charge coins, used in lieu of credit cards for many years. It was literally everywhere. 

Sadly, when the May Co. acquired them, you would begin to see the Seal become less and less a part of their branding. To their credit, however, they left the seals on the interior entrances and on the exterior of the stores... even in the case of the massive single seal that appears outside the Macy's in Concord Mall in Wilmington DE. 

Another interesting symbol appearing in their flagship store in Philadelphia was the statue of a wild boar. A copy of "Il Porcellino" by Pietro Tacca, it was legend to rub the boar's nose for luck. The statue was rubbed to a shine with all those wanting a piece of that luck!

At the Neshaminy Mall location, two major installations by the Strawbridge Company would give the mall a unique character and history as well. These were the Freedom Wall & the Indian Statue & Fountain that appeared in the courts in front of the store. The "Indian Fountain" would replace the more generic fountain the mall was originally built with.

The "Freedom Wall" appeared to the left-hand side of the entrance to Strawbridge's. These were a wonderful and interactive tribute to the history of Pennsylvania, and its larger place in American History overall. These were intricate diorama's placed behind glass. Originally, they were animated and depicted some of the most pivotal events in the founding of the United States.

Alternatively known as the "Windows of History" they featured animatronics showing seven different scenes. The Signing of the Declaration of Independence, The Battle at Germantown, The Liberty Bell Taken to Allentown, Washington's Crossing of the Delaware, Washington at Valley Forge, Benjamin Franklin, and the self-referential William Penn shaking hands with the Neshaminy Indian. Eventually the animations stopped working and as they no longer were a draw to that spot in the mall, they have never been repaired. A petition from Bensalem resident Hal Aaron to restore the dioramas was begun years ago, and apparently went nowhere, as the they appear to be, sadly, permanently stilled. 

The second major feature that Strawbridge's placed, was the characteristic fountain. Neshaminy Mall takes its name from the Neshaminy Valley, where it sits, and its nearby Neshaminy Creek. 

The word "Neshaminy" in the Lenni-Lenape tongue means, "double drinking place" or "where we drink twice" depending on translation. The word is a reference to the Native Indians discovering the creek they would name Neshaminy, had an odd geographic feature. This feature of the creek known as the Neshaminy Palisades is where the course of the creek slows itself down, changes direction at a near-right angle, and almost forces the water back upon itself. Located within Dark Hollow Park, it lies between Warwick Township & Buckingham Township.

The famous statue-and-fountain depicts Lenni-Lenape tribal leader, Tawanka (itself meaning "willingness to achieve") taking a drink from the fountain, a reference to this "double drinking place" the mall, and the area itself, derives its name from. It is a wonderful feature, probably my favorite mall fountain, simply because of its deep symbolism and historical importance to the community it resides within. Every visit to the mall must include a stop at the fountain, to sit and listen to the water, and have a moment of reverence for this beautiful and significant piece, and the life of Tawanka, being representative of the greater Lenni-Lenape tribe.

It's touches like these, that even though Neshaminy has undergone some pretty drastic cosmetic and aesthetic changes over the years, that make Neshaminy Mall a constant favorite to go Boscoving (yes, that's a verb), do some mall walking, grab a bite at the food court, or drop some cash at the array of inlines. The Strawbridge's seals are still present on the exterior, the Freedom Wall still exists, non-working unfortunately, and that unique fountain... all paying tribute to the Strawbridge Co.'s role in the development of the mall, and its overall ethos and interest in preserving history, and their dealings with the public.

One feature that also once gave a nod to the the Native American culture was the placement of the famous totem pole. Constructed in 1973 by the Simpson Sign Co. out of nearby Croydon, PA, it once stood tall by the roadside of US Rt. 1, and could be seen for miles as one approached the mall. Sadly, a 1995 renovation for the signage, to keep up with the new theme of the mall's renovations, saw the removal of the totem pole. There has been speculation that some saw the structure as problematic, because of a potential negative racial connotation, but those rumors were more or less unfounded. The official reason given for its removal was that it looked "dated", and further, a friend and former coworker whose name I withhold for privacy purposes, who once worked security for the mall says they were told that the totem pole succumbed to dry rot by mall officials. Regardless, the once mighty totem pole that paid tribute to the area's heritage, and alerted passing motorists of the mall's presence, is now gone, preserved only in the few photographs that show it existed.

Macy's, in the former Stawbridge's space, would remain at the mall until 2017. It was announced shortly after the new year, on January 4, that the Neshaminy location of Macy's would be closing as of the month of April. This turn would signal a shift for the mall... as now, more vacancies were showing up, some drawing the conclusion that the exit of Macy's had something to do with it.

The mall was now down to two anchors, Sears and Boscov's. As a result of the continuing deterioration of the Sears company as a whole, it was sad, but not shocking news, that the Neshaminy location would announce their closing, as part of a 142-store list that wouldn't make the cut. It would close in late 2018, along with its nearby sibling, the Oxford Valley Mall Sears.

In the latter portion of 2019, Round 1 Entertainment, a facility offering bowling, arcade and other games, karaoke, and even dining, would announce their plans to replace the vacant Sears space within Neshaminy. An opening date sometime in July of 2021 is expected.

2020 would bring news for the years' vacant Macy's space as well. Collier's Retail, on behalf of owners Kin Properties, sold the building to SANT properties. Collier's will remain part of the project as leasing agents for the new development. This redevelopment aims to turn a 16-acre parcel of land, including the former Macy's building, into a mixed-use development. This will entail retail, restaurants, and other tenants, to eventually be announced. As of this writing, no leases have been signed onto for this new project, and developers are tight lipped about how much they bought the property for in the first place, only stating that marketing for the development was in progress.

In these posts, it is important to bring up the dreaded subject of COVID-19, and its impact on malls and the entirety of retail. I can only imagine with this unexpected crisis that many best-laid plans and ideas, including some of the tenative changes at Neshaminy for the Sears and Macy's spaces are put on hold for a while. Time will tell what is to come.

I will say, as a patron of the mall, its closure due to COVID-19 for the last few months has probably done the mall no favors. Even prior to 2020, for several years now, I have been observing multiple inline closures in addition to (and the result of?) the Macy's and Sears departures. Many tenants that do replace vacant inlines are of a sketchy, local, fly-by-night variety that I do not see as sustainable. Locals, and interested people from afar, have noted the decline of the mall over the last decade or so, and whereas, it saddens me, I am not at all surprised.

NESHAMINY MALL DURING COVID-19

Nearby Oxford Valley Mall, during the same time frame has been rapidly declining as well. The trend for malls in this area has not necessarily been a good one. I can't say what effect Willow Grove has on Neshaminy, if any, but most Southeastern PA malls' proximity to King of Prussia Mall, the behemoth "shopping destination" in neighboring Montgomery Co. has to at least have *some* effect on these smaller, local malls. 

It's also a reality that shoppers' habits are changing in favor of online shopping, but that is too quick and easy a scapegoat to lay the blame upon. Many factors, especially poor mall management and inactive recruitment of new tenants, plus a general disinterest, is often to blame. Add to that the plethora of stores going under in the "retailpocalypse" and the consolidation of others in attempts to reorganize their companies, and you have a perfect storm, leading to the whirlwind destruction of these smaller malls, and even their larger counterparts as well.

Neshaminy Mall holds a special and dear place in my heart. It was the first mall I ever set foot in a Boscov's (and anyone who knows me will tell you how important Boscov's is to me, in terms of loving to shop there, as well as my deep respect for their business model and overall ethos), the mall closest to home for my first 13 years residing in Pennsylvania, and the place I grew to love roaming the concourses, shopping the Barnes & Noble, FYE, Bath & Body Works, and both the Boscov's & Sears (before its heartbreaking closure). 

Taking the time to say hello to Tawanka at the Neshaminy Indian Fountain and enjoy its ambiance, breezing past the Freedom Wall when the notion strikes, or taking a wistful photo of the 1967 plate and Strawbridge Seal of Confidence at the entrance by the old place. Walking hand in hand with my husband around the mall as it's decked out for various holidays. The mall holds so many sweet and dear memories for me. Its rich history, noble beginnings, and unfortunate decline meet at a melancholic crossroads.

Neshaminy Mall may not be what it used to be. But for me, it will always be firmly fixed in my list of local malls that have been canonized as favorites, because they represent why I came to love malls to begin with. Sure, you can visit the biggest, most impressive malls in the country, but there will always be those local haunts you return to, again and again, for the stores you trust and love, the nostalgia, and the memories.

THANKS FOR TAKING A LOOK!

Our latest video from 2020:

NESHAMINY 2020

You can check out our Neshaminy Mall Christmas 2019 Video HERE:

 

CHRISTMAS 2019 AT NESHAMINY MALL

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