Methuen Mall
The Methuen Mall was a single-story shopping mall in Methuen, Massachusetts. It was built in 1973 on a 60-acre (240,000 m2) site and initially included Jordan Marsh and Sears as its anchor stores, as well as some-70 other retailers. It remained in operation until 1997, and was demolished in early 1999.
The Methuen Mall opened slowly, a few stores at a time, with Sears being the first, opening on Tuesday, September 4, 1973. When the mall was built, the area was mostly a farming community (directly across Pleasant Valley Street was Mann's Orchards, which still stands today). The success of the mall began to turn the Pleasant Valley section of Methuen into a much more commercialized area. In the years after the opening, the area also became home to a McDonald's, Burger King, Andover Bank (now a TD Bank), and an adjacent shopping plaza, which was initially anchored by a Caldor department store and DeMoulas/Market Basket.
The mall stood close to three major highways: Route 213, now also known as the Loop Connector, ran directly behind the mall and connected the major interstates of Route 93 and Route 495, both a short distance from the mall site. The mall's decline started in 1991 when the Mall at Rockingham Park opened across the border in Salem, New Hampshire, with the advantages of being a much larger mall and the lack of sales tax in New Hampshire.
The Methuen Mall was once a center of late-seventies to early-eighties suburban "headbanger" culture. The mall differed greatly from today's "McMalls" in that creative touches maintained an element of raw adventure: aardvark- and anthill-themed play areas were placed at either end of the mall, annual petting zoos were held inside (near Sears), and life-sized Christmas dioramas, complete with spun-fiberglass snow and plastic reindeer added a warm touch to any holiday season.
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