I live in Massachusetts and go to this mall very frequently. They actually have escalators specifically designed for shopping carts. It’s actually convenient having a grocery store in a mall so we can get our shopping trip over with while we are at the mall. I forget if you said this or not but they have 5 parking garages which is convenient as supposed to some other malls where there’s just one parking lot.
Oh. OK. I've never seen an escalator designed for a shopping cart. I'll have to check it out sometime. I was impressed with the parking garages too. They were free and plentiful, unlike many other malls.
Good to know at least some malls are still thriving. I remember when the mall used to be just one floor and we'd either go here or to the old shoppers world. Wish I could find old video of the mall before it's first remodeling.
Why was the bakery "infamous"?? I used to go the Hostess bakery in Natick as a kid and young adult. It was great. The aroma just being in the vicinity of it was fantastic.
I live down the street from this mall. The empty store you asked about was a burger restaurant that closed during COVID. Shame that the Wegmans closed too :(.
Wow this brings back memories. Used to go here as a kid in the 90s. My siblings and I would go to Aladdin's Castle (arcade) to play Mortal Kombat 3. It was located in the corner of the food court. Good ol' days...
I used to love going there as a teen and going to the movies there. It was a lot different back then. There was a Jordan Marsh that was always nice for Christmas. There were cool stores to buy records, posters and a crystal shop. I go there now too.
Thanks for the video. I will have to visit on my next trip to Boston. I used to live in PA and there is a Tesla store in the King of Prussia mall and a Wegman’s in the Montgomery mall.
Great video! I'm always amazed that many of the malls you've covered have a parking deck attached. Out here in Ohio we don't see parking decks attached to malls all that often. Our malls are usually surrounded by acres of parking lots. Thanks for the video!
Interesting. I'm guessing there are more parking garages in New England because generally the malls are in more urban locations, so there is less room for expansive parking lots. That's not always the cause of course, but it often is.
I used to work at certain stores in the Natick Mall 22 years ago. I worked at Suncoast, The Warner Brothers Store and Auntie Anne's. I kept going as a consumer until 2012. When FYE left, there was nothing for me, but I remember the condos being built and the price was $1,000,000 . I occassionally went to Newbury Comics to buy a Blu Ray, but their selection was lousy and I doubt that they carry Blu Rays anymore.
Back in the 70s Anne and Hope had a cart carrier. It was so cool to watch. I work in Sherborn Ma , never been to the Mall. I’m going to have to check it out.
In case you are wondering, on that mini wing where there is a holister and the Brazilia place, there used to be a Johnny Rockets there, and that wing opened up to another garage.
I'm actually surprised you didn't bring up the condos earlier. They are a big reason for the 2007 renovation, and why there are so many upscale stores. And why there is a grocery store. And a very fancy underground parking lot. There's actually access from the interior of the mall to the condos on the second level.
Unfortunately, the new section of the mall opened right as the Great Recession hit. Those empty store fronts had high-end, designer stores in them such as Michael Kors, Betsey Johnson, Dior, etc. Most of these stores let their leases run out and there are still several vacant store fronts. There were some great restaurants and even an American Girl store--all gone now. I don't know if it will ever reach it's full potential as a hig-end mall. Also, there is very little parking. Sears is gone, Filene's closed and Macy took over that space. Wegman's moved into the old Macy's spot. Wegman's had a nice Mexican restaurant, Blue Agave, which closed. Maybe now that the housing prices in and around Natick have been soaring, it will bring in the money necessary to revitalize the mall.
@@HarrisonHanson-hy7or yes there was 3 actually: There was a Betsey Johnson boutique on Newbury St. in Boston, one in Burlington, and a small one at this Natick mall for a few years. They all closed in the early 2010s. I used to shop at the Boston one all the time. Also, it wasn’t exactly the peak of luxury but I used to shell out $200+ for a corset top in 2008. It wasn’t Givenchy but it was by no means a cheap brand back then.
Miss having Wegmans. Publix is very good for subs, but the amount of good prepared foods at Wegmans is awesome. We tell people about Wegmans and they don’t believe it…
They're supposed to open a Wegmans soon here on LI NY, but, it was announce a year aqo already, and no info. yet on when it will open, and it's going to be out east in Lake Grove, which doesn't help me at all since it's a 90 min. drive from home. We need at least two Wegmans, one out east, one here in Nassau. it's rather dumb. They have one in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn at the Navy Yard, which I hear is great. I used to live around the corner in the late 90s and our nabe had zero food shopping, a total food desert. I'm hoping Wegmans gets on the stick and opens a few on LI.
I’m an adult American Girl doll collector along with my mom (I got her into collecting) and we miss the American Girl Boutique and Bistro that used to be here. It closed down in 2019.
Level 99 is unbelievably fun, it's not really an escape room but it's in the same vein of being a fun game-oriented place for both kids and adults. I likened it to a friend as a collection of video game minigames, but in real life. They recently opened a second location in Providence Place in Providence RI, highly highly highly recommend it to anyone close enough to either Natick or Providence :) I first discovered it as a surprise date idea from my ex-boyfriend in 2022 and I have since then brought numerous friends to it and none of them have been disappointed
Finally had a chance to visit this mall and walk through my first Macy's. However, we arrived just as the mall was closing 😢 I would say from my short visit, "It is doing just fine and then some!"
I remember the Macy’s was originally in the Jordon Marsh after they closed. Then after the federated merger, Filene’s became Macy’s! Naturally, the old location was closed and became JCPenney after. I think the mall still is pretty important as it’s in a great location and it’s one of the better Boston area malls. I think that the empty Neiman Marcus building is being eyed for a research and lab facility. The lower level of the former Sears is still vacant but that is probably going to hopefully change soon. Dave and Buster’s occupies the upper level! Lord and Taylor was shoppers find but I don’t think that’s permanent…
The original Natick Mall was only one level. Filene's was an anchor store & had 2 levels (I worked there in highschool). When the original mall was demolished in '94 & new mall built Macy's became the anchor store in its place. Jordan Marsh was only at Shoppers World in Framingham.
Wegmans closed the Natick store, but their other 2 story store is 30 minutes away in Burlington, Mass and is a fantastic store in a great area ( very close to the Burlington, Mall.
I haven't been there since it opened. I took my four-year-old nephew there only a few days after opening. I used to be a regular at the old Natick Mall.
I actually thought that mall closed a long time ago. I went to get tires for my car at the Sears behind the mall around 20 years ago or so and had to kill some time so I walked though the mall. It was at that time I realized why I don't frequent malls. lol Had a good lunch but was happy to leave when my tires were done. I believe that was the last time I traveled that far east in MA.
Macy’s was where Wegmans was, and JCP before that. When Macy’s bought Filene’s they eventually converted all the Filene’s into Macy’s, so Macy’s moved into their current location, which was Filene’s. I worked at Filene’s when the old mall was torn down and the new one was built. I helped open the Design’s For Levi’s store(long gone), where I believe Pottery Barn For Kids is now? In that general area. Haven’t been to that mall in years so it was interesting to see all the stores that are gone from when I worked there.
The two short wings on the northern wing: one used to be the Burger Bar, while the other wing near what used to be Neamon Marcus is now a pickle ball club named Bosse complete with a cafe, while the other wing used to be Meatball Kitchen where you can get all sorts of types of meatballs there. As far as the health of the mall, it’s in a transforming state becoming more of a lifestyle or entertainment center and adopting with the times. It’s somewhat dead in the northern wing, but hopefully with Bosse open, the northern wing will heal. Some shops and restaurants I would love to open is York’s Steak House (maybe where the burger bar used to be), along with maybe a go-kart track and maybe a second food court like where Wagmans were. There is like two makeshift food courts at the Macy’s wing (Auntie Anne’s and Milkshake Lovers) and where Starbucks and Lolli and Pops is. Like always, Natick Mall is slowly becoming a lifestyle center.
...Actually it was the Met Bar and Grill on the wing below the PF Changs that had the burger bar, and the other empty mini wing was the meatball kitchen.
Update, the wing where the Met Bar and Grill underneath PF Chang's (Yes, I remember that burger bar) right now, a new restaurant is coming in called the chop house. On the other note, Cajun Cafe in the food court has closed and is being replaced with Bourbon Street Grill, which I found out was a Chinese vendor, which I'm not too excited because we already a Chinese vendor called Master Wok. It would be great if Kong Dog or Wayback Burgers moved in.
Last time in Natick mall before covid not much stores before it expanded look great and food court not not there that time and the glass ceiling look good football and baseball stadiums like domes should do that at fenway park ❤
Depends on how you measure the mall I guess. Some sites measure based on square footage, others on number of stores, etc. But I have found sites that say this is the biggest mall and others say South Shore, so I'm not sure.
Neiman Marcus never was _that_ busy at the Natick Mall. It had some people, of course, and the spaces around were perhaps a little less dead, but it was not so busy. At least, that was how I remember it. Nobody should have been surprised that this Neiman Marcus closed.
Yes strange to have a grocery store in a mall in the US, but a great way of attracting shoppers to the mall. Not only supermarkets, but butchers, greengrocers, liquor stores, barbers, bakeries, delicatessens, travel.agents, banks, shoe repairs, phone repairs along with general retail and awesome food court offerings and cafes, that is the standard offering in Australian malls. People with grocery carts mixing it with all the other shoppers and the numbers speak for themselves. Weekends difficult to get a car park in many centres. Why oh why is not how a mall in the US is set-up?????
While the grocery store did open into the mall, I'm fairly certain they would not let you bring the cart into the mall itself. From what I could see, they had a special exit to the parking garage for the grocery store customers. I think they don't have this in many US malls is that most Americans would just find it unusual. We're just not used to it.
Not really the same thing but the South Shore mall in Braintree has a Target attached to the mall and I think that gives the mall a ton of foot traffic.
I know the Valley View Mall in La Crosse WI does have a Hy Vee but it's only one story. Grocery stores in malls in the US are very very rare. Now Australia on the other hand is another story.
@@fleabittenadventures You should have filmed inside the grocery store I wonder if there is some kind of moving ramp that gets carts from the upper and lower level and vice vera. Kind of like what my local Menards has. If you don't know what a Menards is it's a midwest home improvement store like Home Depot.
I know, kinda sad, but at least the other anchors should be ok. And knowing the Natick Mall they'll probably find someone to go into the old Wegmans space.
You may have found this out by now but it looks like SoNo Collection is owned by the same company, so not shocking that they may have tried the Collection branding in Natick.
In 1994, this was the last Jordan Marsh store ever built. In 1996 Macy's parent company merged with Jordan Marsh's parent company, I believe was Federated Department Stores. All Jordan Marsh stores became Macy's. Macy's was in that location from 1996 to 2007, when Macy's parent company took over the May Co. the owner of Filene's. All of the Filene's Stores became Macy's. If a mall already had a Macy's when the May Co. merger took place, the current Macy's moved into the Filene's location and left the old Macy's vacant. Filene's ceased to exist, hence the Macy's at the Natick Mall is now in the old Filene's location.
As to the Jordan Marsh store. Opened in 1993. Became Macy's in 1996. Closed in 2006 when May (owner of Filene's) merged with Macy's. Converted to JC Penney in 2007. Penney's closed in 2015. Sat vacant 2 years. Became Wegman's.
Too bad there are no videos of Shopper's World next door in Framingham. It was one of the first malls in the country. It had outdoor walkways that overlooked a beautifully maintained courtyard. It was torn down in the nineties and replaced with a random collection of big box stores. Place has no curb appeal at all.
Lord & Taylor was also a May Co. department store. It was the only store that Macy's didn't acquire when the merger took place. I don't know the reason for this. Lord & Taylor survived for several more years as an independent department store until it fell into bankruptcy due to mismanagement I believe.
My mall videos and flea market videos are usually shot with my GoPro Hero 8 strapped to my chest. I find it is a lot less conspicuous than walking around with a DSLR. The video quality is great in bright areas, but it is #$#% in low light, and it overheats and shuts down in the summer heat. Other than that it's great.
I love this mall but even here it is starting to suffer from too much commercial space. Wegmans left and there is only one anchor store. I think that the new wing needs to be converted to all housing.
What do you mean? Hobby shops? If so, I rarely see hobby shops. The only one I can think of is the one at Galleria Mall in White Plains, but now that's gone too. Thanks for watching!
I was pretty sure that the older 1994 section of the entire place would've had a Toys 'R' Us store, pretty sure that the current Macy's there has a Toys R Us portion in it like the Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids, Michigan does, but I could be wrong.
Losing the L&T and the Neiman Marcus obviously was a tough blow, but the mall seems to be doing well nonetheless. Louis Vuitton is expensive but also sort of ghetto.
Yes, it seems to be doing pretty well. I'm not a fan of those high-end stores though. That's just not my thing, but it's cool to have those types of stores.
It’s especially on the Bosse Nordstrom wing on the second level where there are a fair amount of vacant storefronts. Speaking of which there used to be a store that sold pianos to the left of the former Neamon Marcus.
The Natick Mall , long time ago had a family and community feeling, not any longer. I live five minutes from it, and I stay away from it. I drive to New Hampshire to shop when needed. 🙏🏼✝️🙏🏼✝️
I live in NH. We usually go to the Holyoke Mall (once in awhile we might go to Mall of New Hampshire). We did go to Natick several times when they had an American Girl Boutique and Bistro. I got a few of my dolls from there.
Thats what they need to do to save the Fox Run Mall in Portsmouth NH, refurbish it into a higher end shopping center to reflect demographic of the area.
I think u need to stop with the escalators being down. I was the director of security at Natick in the mid 90s and they always had problems with the escalators. I don't think it is sign of a mall dying (at least in this case) it is more of sign they are heavily used and wear & tear brings them down
Actually, the last time I was there they apparently fixed the escalators. Yes you may find an escalator or two that’s out of order which was the case, but doesn’t mean the mall is dead, in fact as of late the mall is doing fine despite some vacant spots at the north wing (now the Bosse wing). The mall is being transformed into more of an entertainment/lifestyle place.
This has always been my go-to childhood mall. It's a nice mall, but I'm finding it increasingly pointless to go to malls in general, despite my nostalgia for them. I only really have free time on the weekends, which are (obviously) the days this mall is the most busy and also the days where you're going to have to dodge 13 year olds with Broccoli hair at every corner, that will try to bully you as you walk by for the sake of their TikTok.
Maybe if/when I start making more money on this channel. I can't afford the trip to Texas at this time. I'm currently stuck in the northeast for now. Thanks.
They just lost Wegmans and now have only 2 Anchor spaces. They have a 10% to 15% rolling vacancy rate up from 5% in 2008. That space was a met bar. High end is moving slowly to Chestnut Hill. That mall once had 5 Anchors. Still doing ok. You have to understand that Metro West Boston is one of the highest income areas in the US. However that mall is dying and will eventually go the way of all brick and mortar retail.
Actually, the South Shore Plaza in Braintree is the largest mall in New England. South Shore Plaza - 2,165,000 sq feet Natick Mall - 1,860,000 sq feet The parking lot at SSP is also bigger
I look at the food court as an indicator of how healthy a mall is. I personally don’t like malls with skylights that have the sun directly beating down on people. I see it as unpleasant.
I guess it's good that something is moving in, but a biotech lab space doesn't really seem to fit into a mall. If too many businesses like that move in, it goes from being a mall to an office building.
I live in Massachusetts and go to this mall very frequently. They actually have escalators specifically designed for shopping carts. It’s actually convenient having a grocery store in a mall so we can get our shopping trip over with while we are at the mall. I forget if you said this or not but they have 5 parking garages which is convenient as supposed to some other malls where there’s just one parking lot.
Oh. OK. I've never seen an escalator designed for a shopping cart. I'll have to check it out sometime. I was impressed with the parking garages too. They were free and plentiful, unlike many other malls.
That escalator for shopping carts is just in the Wegmans super market within the mall, which is closing soon, unfortunately.
@@Pheer777 Albany NY has the largest Walmart, 2 floors, has those cart escalators.
@ms.herrera681 Same! Wegmans was amazing!
Anne and Hope had carriage carrier back in the 70s
Good to know at least some malls are still thriving.
I remember when the mall used to be just one floor and we'd either go here or to the old shoppers world.
Wish I could find old video of the mall before it's first remodeling.
I think that the malls that are thriving are in upscale neighborhoods,generally........My opinion of course.....
High End
I remember the old natick mall too! Remember that circular fountain? I thought that as pretty cool ;)
I love this mall. It’s probably my favorite
That two story Wegman's is already closed.
So glad Natick Mall is still busy, I’ve been going there since I was a young kid and still do!
The new section of the mall was the infamous hostess bakery featured on family guy. There was an Aladdin’s castle arcade in the food court
Why was the bakery "infamous"?? I used to go the Hostess bakery in Natick as a kid and young adult. It was great. The aroma just being in the vicinity of it was fantastic.
I live down the street from this mall. The empty store you asked about was a burger restaurant that closed during COVID. Shame that the Wegmans closed too :(.
Wow this brings back memories. Used to go here as a kid in the 90s. My siblings and I would go to Aladdin's Castle (arcade) to play Mortal Kombat 3. It was located in the corner of the food court. Good ol' days...
I used to love going there as a teen and going to the movies there. It was a lot different back then. There was a Jordan Marsh that was always nice for Christmas. There were cool stores to buy records, posters and a crystal shop. I go there now too.
Jordan Marsh & the movie theater were at the original Shoppers World in Framingham.
Thanks for the video. I will have to visit on my next trip to Boston.
I used to live in PA and there is a Tesla store in the King of Prussia mall and a Wegman’s in the Montgomery mall.
Great video! I'm always amazed that many of the malls you've covered have a parking deck attached. Out here in Ohio we don't see parking decks attached to malls all that often. Our malls are usually surrounded by acres of parking lots. Thanks for the video!
Interesting. I'm guessing there are more parking garages in New England because generally the malls are in more urban locations, so there is less room for expansive parking lots. That's not always the cause of course, but it often is.
Crazy nice mall!
Yeah, the new section is probably one of the nicest malls I have seen, other than the SoNo Collection.
Good video. Thanks.
Natick Mall had a beautiful glass elevator before the new wing was added, right at the junction where the new wing now joins the main path.
This is one mall that I never visited. Good to see it here. ty
I used to work at certain stores in the Natick Mall 22 years ago. I worked at Suncoast, The Warner Brothers Store and Auntie Anne's. I kept going as a consumer until 2012. When FYE left, there was nothing for me, but I remember the condos being built and the price was $1,000,000 . I occassionally went to Newbury Comics to buy a Blu Ray, but their selection was lousy and I doubt that they carry Blu Rays anymore.
Back in the 70s Anne and Hope had a cart carrier. It was so cool to watch. I work in Sherborn Ma , never been to the Mall. I’m going to have to check it out.
In case you are wondering, on that mini wing where there is a holister and the Brazilia place, there used to be a Johnny Rockets there, and that wing opened up to another garage.
I'm actually surprised you didn't bring up the condos earlier. They are a big reason for the 2007 renovation, and why there are so many upscale stores. And why there is a grocery store. And a very fancy underground parking lot. There's actually access from the interior of the mall to the condos on the second level.
Unfortunately, the new section of the mall opened right as the Great Recession hit. Those empty store fronts had high-end, designer stores in them such as Michael Kors, Betsey Johnson, Dior, etc. Most of these stores let their leases run out and there are still several vacant store fronts. There were some great restaurants and even an American Girl store--all gone now. I don't know if it will ever reach it's full potential as a hig-end mall.
Also, there is very little parking. Sears is gone, Filene's closed and Macy took over that space. Wegman's moved into the old Macy's spot. Wegman's had a nice Mexican restaurant, Blue Agave, which closed. Maybe now that the housing prices in and around Natick have been soaring, it will bring in the money necessary to revitalize the mall.
Betsey Johnson is so NOT a high end label! & there’s never been an actual Betsy Johnson store front location anywhere in Massachusetts.
@@HarrisonHanson-hy7or She had a storefront near Nordstrom's in the Natick Collection. Google it.
@@HarrisonHanson-hy7or yes there was 3 actually: There was a Betsey Johnson boutique on Newbury St. in Boston, one in Burlington, and a small one at this Natick mall for a few years. They all closed in the early 2010s. I used to shop at the Boston one all the time. Also, it wasn’t exactly the peak of luxury but I used to shell out $200+ for a corset top in 2008. It wasn’t Givenchy but it was by no means a cheap brand back then.
Miss having Wegmans. Publix is very good for subs, but the amount of good prepared foods at Wegmans is awesome. We tell people about Wegmans and they don’t believe it…
I've never been to a Wegmans, other than walking past this one. What makes it so good?
They're supposed to open a Wegmans soon here on LI NY, but, it was announce a year aqo already, and no info. yet on when it will open, and it's going to be out east
in Lake Grove, which doesn't help me at all since it's a 90 min. drive from home. We need at least two Wegmans, one out east, one here in Nassau. it's rather dumb.
They have one in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn at the Navy Yard, which I hear is great. I used to live around the corner in the late 90s and our nabe had zero food shopping, a
total food desert. I'm hoping Wegmans gets on the stick and opens a few on LI.
The Wegmans grocery store is great!
Yup... moved from Watertown to Boca Raton and Wegmans was better than anything here.
Was. 😢
I’m an adult American Girl doll collector along with my mom (I got her into collecting) and we miss the American Girl Boutique and Bistro that used to be here. It closed down in 2019.
Came here in 2018 on a Saturday. Was quite impressed. Neiman-Marcus was incredible. Above my tax bracket.
Level 99 is unbelievably fun, it's not really an escape room but it's in the same vein of being a fun game-oriented place for both kids and adults. I likened it to a friend as a collection of video game minigames, but in real life. They recently opened a second location in Providence Place in Providence RI, highly highly highly recommend it to anyone close enough to either Natick or Providence :) I first discovered it as a surprise date idea from my ex-boyfriend in 2022 and I have since then brought numerous friends to it and none of them have been disappointed
Finally had a chance to visit this mall and walk through my first Macy's. However, we arrived just as the mall was closing 😢
I would say from my short visit, "It is doing just fine and then some!"
I had to do fire extinguisher replacement in the stores there. You can get lost in that place very easily 😅😅😅
Reminds me of Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, but without the criminal element.
Hello ! I'll be back to watch. ty
I remember the Macy’s was originally in the Jordon Marsh after they closed. Then after the federated merger, Filene’s became Macy’s! Naturally, the old location was closed and became JCPenney after.
I think the mall still is pretty important as it’s in a great location and it’s one of the better Boston area malls. I think that the empty Neiman Marcus building is being eyed for a research and lab facility. The lower level of the former Sears is still vacant but that is probably going to hopefully change soon. Dave and Buster’s occupies the upper level! Lord and Taylor was shoppers find but I don’t think that’s permanent…
Thanks for the info and thanks for watching!
I look at the food court as an indicator of whether a mall is healthy or not.
The original Natick Mall was only one level. Filene's was an anchor store & had 2 levels (I worked there in highschool). When the original mall was demolished in '94 & new mall built Macy's became the anchor store in its place. Jordan Marsh was only at Shoppers World in Framingham.
Wegmans closed the Natick store, but their other 2 story store is 30 minutes away in Burlington, Mass and is a fantastic store in a great area ( very close to the Burlington, Mall.
I haven't been there since it opened. I took my four-year-old nephew there only a few days after opening. I used to be a regular at the old Natick Mall.
I actually thought that mall closed a long time ago. I went to get tires for my car at the Sears behind the mall around 20 years ago or so and had to kill some time so I walked though the mall. It was at that time I realized why I don't frequent malls. lol Had a good lunch but was happy to leave when my tires were done. I believe that was the last time I traveled that far east in MA.
Lmao
Macy’s was where Wegmans was, and JCP before that. When Macy’s bought Filene’s they eventually converted all the Filene’s into Macy’s, so Macy’s moved into their current location, which was Filene’s. I worked at Filene’s when the old mall was torn down and the new one was built. I helped open the Design’s For Levi’s store(long gone), where I believe Pottery Barn For Kids is now? In that general area. Haven’t been to that mall in years so it was interesting to see all the stores that are gone from when I worked there.
There are signs of trouble near the closed anchors with the reduced foot traffic but the mall still looks somewhat healthy.
I agree. Overall, it seems to be doing fine. But, as they say, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the lot.
Fun fact: The cute dogs at 10:30 are named Walter and Goober!
This mall used to have a Gucci store in it. I walked in there once and it felt so high end and rich it was almost intimidating
The two short wings on the northern wing: one used to be the Burger Bar, while the other wing near what used to be Neamon Marcus is now a pickle ball club named Bosse complete with a cafe, while the other wing used to be Meatball Kitchen where you can get all sorts of types of meatballs there.
As far as the health of the mall, it’s in a transforming state becoming more of a lifestyle or entertainment center and adopting with the times. It’s somewhat dead in the northern wing, but hopefully with Bosse open, the northern wing will heal.
Some shops and restaurants I would love to open is York’s Steak House (maybe where the burger bar used to be), along with maybe a go-kart track and maybe a second food court like where Wagmans were.
There is like two makeshift food courts at the Macy’s wing (Auntie Anne’s and Milkshake Lovers) and where Starbucks and Lolli and Pops is.
Like always, Natick Mall is slowly becoming a lifestyle center.
...Actually it was the Met Bar and Grill on the wing below the PF Changs that had the burger bar, and the other empty mini wing was the meatball kitchen.
Update, the wing where the Met Bar and Grill underneath PF Chang's (Yes, I remember that burger bar) right now, a new restaurant is coming in called the chop house.
On the other note, Cajun Cafe in the food court has closed and is being replaced with Bourbon Street Grill, which I found out was a Chinese vendor, which I'm not too excited because we already a Chinese vendor called Master Wok. It would be great if Kong Dog or Wayback Burgers moved in.
2:37 there was an au bon pain and some sort of store that sold purses there
Last time in Natick mall before covid not much stores before it expanded look great and food court not not there that time and the glass ceiling look good football and baseball stadiums like domes should do that at fenway park ❤
Grow up going to the going to natck mall. Birch trees were in the orginal Natick mall too . I was there the 1st day the new mall opened in 94 too 🎉
Im pretty sure that space across Nordstrom was a french restaurant called Sel De La Terre. They started closing a lot of locations years ago.
The Wegman’s just closed down July 2023
Having a food store and several dead anchor stores, and one anchor as a supermarket is a sign the mall might be on it's way out.
South Shore Plaza in Braintree is listed at 2.16 million sq feet of retail space, making it bigger.
Depends on how you measure the mall I guess. Some sites measure based on square footage, others on number of stores, etc. But I have found sites that say this is the biggest mall and others say South Shore, so I'm not sure.
I wish you would tell us how many stores are in the mall….
Neiman Marcus never was _that_ busy at the Natick Mall. It had some people, of course, and the spaces around were perhaps a little less dead, but it was not so busy. At least, that was how I remember it. Nobody should have been surprised that this Neiman Marcus closed.
At 10:50 was it just me or was that escalator missing some steps?😮
Oh, yeah. This is the best mall in MA. Sometimes I'd see some of my high school friends here.
The storefront by Nordstrom was a restaurant called Sel De La Terre, I believe. It closed probably in 2014.
Yes strange to have a grocery store in a mall in the US, but a great way of attracting shoppers to the mall. Not only supermarkets, but butchers, greengrocers, liquor stores, barbers, bakeries, delicatessens, travel.agents, banks, shoe repairs, phone repairs along with general retail and awesome food court offerings and cafes, that is the standard offering in Australian malls. People with grocery carts mixing it with all the other shoppers and the numbers speak for themselves. Weekends difficult to get a car park in many centres. Why oh why is not how a mall in the US is set-up?????
While the grocery store did open into the mall, I'm fairly certain they would not let you bring the cart into the mall itself. From what I could see, they had a special exit to the parking garage for the grocery store customers. I think they don't have this in many US malls is that most Americans would just find it unusual. We're just not used to it.
@@fleabittenadventures this is my local, shopping trolleys coming out of Woolworths supermarket.
th-cam.com/video/pv1cpm3J-3g/w-d-xo.html
@@fleabittenadventures we actually have 3 supermarkets at the mall. 2 Woolworths and an Aldi.
Not really the same thing but the South Shore mall in Braintree has a Target attached to the mall and I think that gives the mall a ton of foot traffic.
I used to work at Ford across the road and miss being there after over 40 years.
The Nieman Marcus is now an indoor Pickleball facility with a cafe and pretty awesome food called "Bosse"
I know the Valley View Mall in La Crosse WI does have a Hy Vee but it's only one story. Grocery stores in malls in the US are very very rare. Now Australia on the other hand is another story.
Yeah, this was the first one I have seen in a mall. It just feels weird.... Thanks for watching!
@@fleabittenadventures You should have filmed inside the grocery store I wonder if there is some kind of moving ramp that gets carts from the upper and lower level and vice vera. Kind of like what my local Menards has. If you don't know what a Menards is it's a midwest home improvement store like Home Depot.
@@dvferyance
Yes, Wegmans has that set up.
They have a Louis Vuitton as well!
The wegmans just announced its closing 😢
I know, kinda sad, but at least the other anchors should be ok. And knowing the Natick Mall they'll probably find someone to go into the old Wegmans space.
You may have found this out by now but it looks like SoNo Collection is owned by the same company, so not shocking that they may have tried the Collection branding in Natick.
In 1994, this was the last Jordan Marsh store ever built. In 1996 Macy's parent company merged with Jordan Marsh's parent company, I believe was Federated Department Stores. All Jordan Marsh stores became Macy's. Macy's was in that location from 1996 to 2007, when Macy's parent company took over the May Co. the owner of Filene's. All of the Filene's Stores became Macy's. If a mall already had a Macy's when the May Co. merger took place, the current Macy's moved into the Filene's location and left the old Macy's vacant. Filene's ceased to exist, hence the Macy's at the Natick Mall is now in the old Filene's location.
Great info! Thanks for sharing and for watching!
I work at one of the businesses here and it and Solomon pond are my childhood malls
As to the Jordan Marsh store. Opened in 1993. Became Macy's in 1996. Closed in 2006 when May (owner of Filene's) merged with Macy's. Converted to JC Penney in 2007. Penney's closed in 2015. Sat vacant 2 years. Became Wegman's.
Too bad there are no videos of Shopper's World next door in Framingham. It was one of the first malls in the country. It had outdoor walkways that overlooked a beautifully maintained courtyard. It was torn down in the nineties and replaced with a random collection of big box stores. Place has no curb appeal at all.
Lord & Taylor was also a May Co. department store. It was the only store that Macy's didn't acquire when the merger took place. I don't know the reason for this. Lord & Taylor survived for several more years as an independent department store until it fell into bankruptcy due to mismanagement I believe.
Thanks for the info and thanks for watching!
COVID hit L & T hard
Sorry if I asked already, but what are you filming with? Thanks.
My mall videos and flea market videos are usually shot with my GoPro Hero 8 strapped to my chest. I find it is a lot less conspicuous than walking around with a DSLR. The video quality is great in bright areas, but it is #$#% in low light, and it overheats and shuts down in the summer heat. Other than that it's great.
There used to be a cool restaurant on the lower level floor where the food would go around on a conveyor belt but now it's gone.
Really? Was it a sushi restaurant? That's the only type of restaurant where I have seen a conveyor belt system. Thanks for watching!
@Fleabitten Adventures it was a conveyor belt sushi restaurant called Wasabi. I used to go there on my birthday sometimes.
I love this mall but even here it is starting to suffer from too much commercial space. Wegmans left and there is only one anchor store. I think that the new wing needs to be converted to all housing.
Can you make a video on just endangered hobbies in the mall
What do you mean? Hobby shops? If so, I rarely see hobby shops. The only one I can think of is the one at Galleria Mall in White Plains, but now that's gone too. Thanks for watching!
they're not in Natick anymore but a google search shows they have a place in Westboro now
An update, apparently Tiffany and co, which is currently open near Bosse (Formerly Neamon Marcus) is moving to the corner intersection near Nordstrom.
I was pretty sure that the older 1994 section of the entire place would've had a Toys 'R' Us store, pretty sure that the current Macy's there has a Toys R Us portion in it like the Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids, Michigan does, but I could be wrong.
Toys R Us was in Shoppers World, not the old Natick Mall. Unfortunately, it closed and was replaced by a Hobby Lobby.
I remember when there used to be A johnney rockets in that mall i havnt been to that mall since 2017 its to expensive
Please show the restaurants at the food courts you visit.
I've seen a two floor Wegman's in Boston.
Losing the L&T and the Neiman Marcus obviously was a tough blow, but the mall seems to be doing well nonetheless. Louis Vuitton is expensive but also sort of ghetto.
Yes, it seems to be doing pretty well. I'm not a fan of those high-end stores though. That's just not my thing, but it's cool to have those types of stores.
I go to the Natick Mall all the time!
This mall is still in decent shape I do see some stores vacant thought recently when i was there
It’s especially on the Bosse Nordstrom wing on the second level where there are a fair amount of vacant storefronts. Speaking of which there used to be a store that sold pianos to the left of the former Neamon Marcus.
This one’s bigger than Holyoke??
I loved to go with Wegmans and also Dave and busters too it long ride there and no 🚗
The Natick Mall , long time ago had a family and community feeling, not any longer. I live five minutes from it, and I stay away from it. I drive to New Hampshire to shop when needed. 🙏🏼✝️🙏🏼✝️
Just say its too expensive for u
I live in NH. We usually go to the Holyoke Mall (once in awhile we might go to Mall of New Hampshire). We did go to Natick several times when they had an American Girl Boutique and Bistro. I got a few of my dolls from there.
Thats what they need to do to save the Fox Run Mall in Portsmouth NH, refurbish it into a higher end shopping center to reflect demographic of the area.
I think u need to stop with the escalators being down. I was the director of security at Natick in the mid 90s and they always had problems with the escalators. I don't think it is sign of a mall dying (at least in this case) it is more of sign they are heavily used and wear & tear brings them down
I'll take your word for it. Thanks for watching.
I also view escalators being out of service as a bad sign, especially more than one at a time. This seems to be a recurring issue with the mall.
@@fleabittenadventuresand let's face it, their maintenance guys aren't like Scotty from Star Trek. Not a miracle worker.
Actually, the last time I was there they apparently fixed the escalators. Yes you may find an escalator or two that’s out of order which was the case, but doesn’t mean the mall is dead, in fact as of late the mall is doing fine despite some vacant spots at the north wing (now the Bosse wing). The mall is being transformed into more of an entertainment/lifestyle place.
This has always been my go-to childhood mall. It's a nice mall, but I'm finding it increasingly pointless to go to malls in general, despite my nostalgia for them. I only really have free time on the weekends, which are (obviously) the days this mall is the most busy and also the days where you're going to have to dodge 13 year olds with Broccoli hair at every corner, that will try to bully you as you walk by for the sake of their TikTok.
Before the original mall was torn down I remember meeting macho man randy savage in maybe 91 there
I worked in the old Natick mall in 85 - 86.
Please Can Do Some Mall vids in texas Thank you
Maybe if/when I start making more money on this channel. I can't afford the trip to Texas at this time. I'm currently stuck in the northeast for now. Thanks.
They just lost Wegmans and now have only 2 Anchor spaces. They have a 10% to 15% rolling vacancy rate up from 5% in 2008. That space was a met bar. High end is moving slowly to Chestnut Hill. That mall once had 5 Anchors. Still doing ok. You have to understand that Metro West Boston is one of the highest income areas in the US. However that mall is dying and will eventually go the way of all brick and mortar retail.
Laced still there ?
This mall seems difficult to find stores if you aren't from the area
Was surprised how big it was...
😟I miss the Paul French Bakery Café.
People seem to prefer burlington. Natick is pretty high end and sucks to drive to..
Looks more like a parking garage entrance to a nice casino.
Yes, by far the nicest parking garage entrance I've ever seen.
Actually, the South Shore Plaza in Braintree is the largest mall in New England.
South Shore Plaza - 2,165,000 sq feet
Natick Mall - 1,860,000 sq feet
The parking lot at SSP is also bigger
NOPE - total retail space of SSP is only 1,586,446 sq ft. Natick has 1,695,884 square feet.
Wegmans just announced they are closing.
I look at the food court as an indicator of how healthy a mall is. I personally don’t like malls with skylights that have the sun directly beating down on people. I see it as unpleasant.
Natick Mall had five anchor stores close permanently: Sears, Lord & Taylor, JC Penney, Neiman Marcus and now Wegmans. Not a good look.
Those companies went out of business nationally...do ur research...lmao
Yes, many retailers have been going out of business, and even the better malls are hurting. The outlook is not great.
@@jimmyjay689
Wegmans didn't go out of business.
There's always room in a mall for a Lovesac.
The Lord & Taylor is being converted into biotech lab space. There are 3 Lord & Taylor stores in this area being turned into lab space.
I guess it's good that something is moving in, but a biotech lab space doesn't really seem to fit into a mall. If too many businesses like that move in, it goes from being a mall to an office building.
You must get a lot of exercise!!! lol I am tried from watching. This is the only mall other than Providence Place that we go to anymore.
We are going tomorrow has anything changed since the video
I’m actually going soon, how was ur visit?
Wegmans is closing
Westfarms, Buckland Hills and Ingleside Malls combined...
Wegmans is a gonner.