This was a great mall in the 80s and 90s! I am from Brockton and used to love going to this Mall to go to Child World, Woolworth with a restaurant in it, Bradlees and a few other stores! There used to be a Chuck E Cheese and movie theater nearby as well
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Lived in Brockton late 60's and 70's. Remember taking the bus to the mall at Christmas time to shop for presents in a snowstorm. Funny hearing the store names after all these years. This popped up for me I'm guessing because I looked up Brockton High School today. Hope things at the school improve soon. We moved out of state when I would have started my freshman year there.
Hi. I grew up in Brockton and worked a few places at Westgate in the early 80s. I left prior to the expansion of Marshall's and Child World. I worked at Jordan Marsh which became Macy's faced where Market Basket is now. Market Basket used to be Papa Gino's and Blanchards Liquors which moved across the parking lot. Lowe's was literally a field. Storey's (women's clothing) and Ganley's were just inside the mall near Jordan Marsh. I also worked at Fanny Farmer where Cinnabon is now and opposite Woolworth's (where Old Navy is now). Bradlees was at the complete opposite end of the mall from Jordan Marsh and the back end of Bradlees faced Oak St. A Thom McCann shoe store was just outside Bradlees, and a news stand/tobacco shop was in the aisle on the left on the way from Woolworth's to Bradlees. I remember a Cherry, Webb, and Touraine,Tello's clothing store, Spencer gifts and a shoe cobbler. I also worked a York Steak House which was across the parking lot, I think it's a Chick-fil-A now? Does anyone remember at Christmas time there would be lots of independent kiosks with locals selling their wares? Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
My wife worked at Westgate Mall at the Bradlees when she was a teenager. She and I lived in Brockton for 9 years in the 90's, so I spent a good amount of time in that mall and went there a lot growing up. Really loved Child World as a kid.
Omg. 💯💯💯we played hide & seek there in jr high. I eventually got a job there in my senior year but I always felt a little sick because I don’t believe the air quality was good ( looking back). But there were so many good times.
Back then, people talked about malls as a scourge of the modern world that had destroyed the old commercial downtowns and made commerce too dependent on cars. Now that they're dying, they're an object of nostalgia.
I was born and raised near Downtown Brockton, so I have many fond memories of Westgate Mall. At the start of the access road leading to the Mall was Kentucky Fried Chicken and immediately after that was Putt Putt miniature golf. I remember Child World, which was a New England based toy store chain, plus Bradlee's and Woolworth, and a Boston based record store chain named Krey's Disc Shop. There was a Friendly's Ice Cream there, plus a Radio Shack. Gilchrist was there but we didn't go there often. There was a men's clothing store named Mr. Slacks. I haven't been there since 1973 when we moved to Connecticut, but I still remember that mall. A great place to spend a Saturday afternoon as a kid. I live in Rhode Island now, so I wonder how long it will be before you do one of these videos about Warwick Mall, the model for the Quahog Mall on Family Guy...?
@@johnmacdonald5767 I forgot, there was also an Anderson-Little clothing store, right across from Putt Putt on that access road. And wasn't there also an IHOP there at one time too?
@@ernestcruz6316 You're right, and I think Sam Goody might have even started out as a store called Musicland. I'm not sure, though. I think that that same spot in the mall near Bradlees might have also been a Guys and Gals kids' clothing store at one point. Good memories :)
I was a 70's teen in Brockton, and the mall was a fun place you could reach by bus. Friendly's, Spencer Gifts with their lava lamps and black light posters, movie theater just across the parking lot where you could sneak into the R rated films. Teenage time-wasting mecca! It now looks better than I would have expected.
At 4:04 at the empty store on the left, it was a watch/clock repair store. The old Asian guy that ran the place was there for many years, he quit and retired after the pandemic in 2021. He never came back.
Yeah, it's sad. I've had my watches' batteries replaced by him several times. Now I go to the jewelry/antique shop near the Rt. 24 interchange at Belmont and Pearl St. for watch battery replacements.
Jeez. I used to go to this mall from 2005 - 2015. And man they removed so much. GameStop is gone. The tobacco shop is gone. Which is where the Brockton police safety place is. Radio shack used to be right next to GameStop from what I remember. Also used to be a fyi next to we’re old navy is. Goodness it’s been years since I’ve been there. Makes me want to take a look.
The mall lost a lot of its anchor stores. Macys, Sears, Best Buy, etc. The only thing that really keeps people coming around is there's a Market Basket right across from it. Used to be a cool place to hang out in the because I would take the bus with my friends just to hang out in the early 00s.
That was a smart move to put the MARKET BASKET there as it opened the door for all these other stores and restaurants to build there...A big part of the downfall at WESTGATE was the kids hanging out and lots of undesirable hoods committing crimes on the shoppers at all times of the day.......I've lived here 53 years and I've seen it all......
Looks like kay an lids have stood the test of time finish line too .damn i havent been there in at lease seven years.i grew up in broke town😂.weekends were Westgate lanes the mall pizza joint strawberries record store then hit the westgate theater lol.
Everything you said is spot on , even back in the early 90s the mall have a lot of empty stores not much has changed with the footprint of the mall but everything around the mall has changed many times now Brockton is getting over built just like Quincy
Marshals used to be to the right of Sears that new wing opened in 86 i was there for it lol. Old navy was Woolworths and to the right of it was their coffee shop. spent a lot of time there growing up in Brockton.
This mail has the most random stores now. I remember when it had Bradlee’s, the Marshall’s was inside, Gap, Filenes, Macys etc… it used to be a really great mall.
Haven’t been there in almost 30 years used to go there a lot in the 80s remember that expansion where Child World moved and Marshall’s moved in and the old Child World became CVS near Bradlees I remember Woolworth, Friendly’s, Music Land, Spencer gifts it was the only one around long before Spencer’s opened in South Shore Plaza I remember the expansion in the mid 80s added a Brighams, Orange Julius. Montilios bakery one of my last times there was in 1994 when the RMV had a place there to renew licenses I went to renew my license I used to go to the General Cinema nearby and to York Steakhouse, Matt Garrets and Bertuccis which was new in 1987 I don’t think I went there much after that
Yeah, it's sad that Westgate Mall is no longer the way it was when I was a kid in the 1990s and a teenager in the 2000s. As soon as I got old enough as a teen, I could take the crosstown bus to the mall to shop and browse around. The first big blow to me was the closure of FYE, where I bought quite a few DVDs and records. Then there was when Payless Shoe Source went out of business (but now I buy shoes at the Marshall's near the mall). Then there was when the JoAnn Fabrics store closed (now I have to go to the one in Raynham, which is usually after my day job in Berkley's shift ends). I think the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be what hurt the mall the most.
As somebody who currently works at the mall, the place is consistently a ghost town with the exception of the Market Basket across from it, as well as the Burlington store. Kinda makes me sad, only a decade ago was this mall one of my favorite places to go to. Now it's a rather quiet building, I mostly use it as a throughway between each end. 😒
I work at market basket and yeah you're right lol I can almost guarantee you we're keeping that mall alive. If MB goes out of business for whatever reason, that mall will close............ don't know why it hasn't yet, but I also don't know why they're building a hotel access the street so..... We all go to South shore plaza anyways, Westgate is so bad when you compare them.
I used to go to Bradlees there, then ended up working, at Bradlees, when they opened the Taunton Mall, I worked in setting up that Bradlees, it’s all gone now, that was 1972.
They went crazy building all these malls all over the place, now they are all out of business. Wait it’s gonna get worse. Eye Candy, where people over spent.
I’ve honestly been debating “dead mall or not?” throughout the video, and I’m going to say it’s on the verge. I commend management for mostly filling in the anchor vacancies, but it takes a Dicks or Burlington closing and the spiral starts.
Howdy, I have lived in Brockton the past 23 years. This mall is honestly in the upswing. It was really struggling from 2014ish untill ironically covid. Somehow covid really got this mall back in gear and it's been getting more traffic and better stores ever since. I remember as a 15 year old when the hot topic moved out I stopped going. Which is when a lot of other stores shut down aswell. I think the chick filla on the outskirts of the mall has helped alot
The fact that I go to Brockton daily and have been coming to this mall since I was a kid makes me surprised to see such a video. It feels weird seeing a video on it.
Jordan Marsh was originally down one end then as a Macys. As Macys it moved to the other end and it took up the whole section which is now two stores. That corner store has been a Kay jewelers for a long time. Compared to a lot of malls, it’s not doing too bad.
this was "my" mall growing up! that entire mall was full to the brim one day in 1969 - me & everyone else waited forever to get a glimpse at Brandon Cruz AND jonathan Whitaker! we biked or bussed over here every weekend to see a movie or lunch in Woolworths!
There was a time, in the 60s where this was the place to shop, I was in Taunton, we always went there. What a shame. Many of the malls are going down, they ran Sears and Pennys into the ground.
Yeah, this mall is slowly reaching its endpoint. It use to be the spot back in the day now it’s just dead air. I remember there use to be a movie theater here too waaay back. I came here on an ocassional basis after school or on my days off n the vibe there is mid asf now.
I remember seeing movies here in the early 80s (E.T., Return of the Jedi, and Ghostbusters) and shopping at Child World. SkyView Drive-In was close to here... it's where we saw Grease and Bambi.
In the 1985 wing at the very end, Toys “R” Us opened at the very end of that. Child world was not down there. Child world was down at the entrance to Bradley’s just to the left.
I remember back in 72,going there with my mother to see brandon cruz from the Courtship of Eddies Father ,tv show,Johnny Whittaker from Family Affair. We use to go to Bradlees, Woolworth's.Many years ago
Yup, it had the old style lunch counter there. I used to go there almost every Saturday afternoon in the late '60s-early '70s. My dad used to work at the old Brockton Savings Bank at North Main and Court Streets.
Have to hand it to them this mall was FAR closer to being dead about 15 years ago. Convinced a few things that saved this mall were the stores outside of it/around it and the Popeyes inside it. Literally haven't been there since the early-mid 2000s or so. Wow. I remember that there was a Toys R' Us jus outside the mall up the road & a few chain restaurants (Uno's, Buffalo Wild Wings and even an Old Country Buffet). Fun fact - around the corner from there and up the road was a Service Merchandise.
I'm an old Brockton Bantha, but I remember the closed storefront over by the Red Store being a watch repair place. Going unnecessarily further back, it also had a shoe repair place, and near the entrance there on the right, a pizza place called Lazzarino's. I ate there once, before it closed before 2009. That same corridor, next to the Watch repair place had a Subway restaurant. Radio Shack was in the place next to Flora's, which was once a GameStop. Where Best Buy was, it used to be where the Chuck E. Cheese's used to be. I'm surprised the mall wasn't torn down and replaced with a Plaza with a big parking lot, like what's on Crescent Street.
I am working cellaxs and perfume store this mall alive only for Haitian and Cape Verde Ecuador community other wise Mall would shut down early I have been here since 2013 still here
The portion where the Xfinity store is located used to be an interior portion of the mall. There was a Macy's (or Jordan Marsh?) section that extended beyond further into the parking lot, but at some maybe the late 2000's the Macy's portion was demolished presumably to make room for the standalone Market Basket. Around the early 2000's, I think the Sear's portion (formerly Marshall's) was expanded with a second floor to accommodate Sears, which was relocating from an old 1-story building elsewhere in Brockton over by Belmont & Torrey Streets. Marshall's relocated around the corner behind the Sears. The standalone Aldi's (next to Market Basket) used to be a Purity Supreme. The Blanchard's formerly was a Pier 1 Imports. Before that I recall there being a Putt Putt Golf.
I grew up a few towns away from here, before Hanover Mall was built this was the closest mall to us, shopped there a lot. There was a General Cinema across the parking lot behind the mall, I think about where the Harbor Freight store is now, saw dozens of movies there, first as a kid with my parents and then on dates in high school. Hanover Mall opened in the mid-70's I think and also had a General Cinema and was only one town away so we pretty much abandoned Westgate Mall. Ironically Hanover Mall was just leveled in the past couple of years (other than the Macy's) and is now an open air mall/plaza. It seems to be doing ok but there are still a lot of empty store fronts even though it's been open for almost a year. It's got a very nice movie theatre and a couple of good restaurants that always seem pretty busy though. I have a lot of memories of shopping at Westgate Mall with my mom and later with my gf. I had no idea it was even still open. It seems to be doing better than a lot of other malls in eastern MA.
I've visited this mall a few times. Macy's at one time was where a parking lot for a Market Basket food store resides now. Originally, a movie theater connected to the mall was supposed to go there, but I guess it was decided that a supermarket was a better choice.
I was born in Brockton but moved about about 20-30 minutes north. I worked at a local bookstore chain Lauriat's (went bust in 1999) when they expanded the mall in 1985. Did'nt Best Buy close ? I shop at the Market Basket there that's seperate from the mall.
Lol not sure if that stink glass or dirty glass. That was funny. Yeah the Brockton mall I was a place I went growing up in the Westgate lanes. Last time I was there was maybe three years ago but the Brockton police and Brockton box is definitely new.
I’m surprised this is even still referred to as a “mall” crazy! I remember when Macys & VS’s was there. I’ve never seen a Joanne fabrics as an anchor store before.
Hey remember the Chinese food restaurant where buffalo wild wings use to be now I think it's a bank but it was called Pacific Hut it had a waterfall and it was a wishing well also it had the best Chinese food ever I think it left in the early 80"s or mid 80's.
Interesting thing about Dick's Sporting Goods in Brockton it was always in the area but it was just across the street on the Harbor Freight side before and the vacant building is still there and you can tell what it was. Originally the Best Buy Outlet was just a regular Best Buy and it didn't turn Outlet until I think sometime in 2020 or 2021 after the pandemic hit. My friend and I went to that Best Buy during the time it was closed and we were unaware because Google still had it listed as open. I don't know what the hours of the mall was when you took this video but these days the hours are terrible at the beginning of the week they close at 7:00 p.m.
old video I know but the owners of the Westgate Mall are keeping alive by allowing people to open local stores which is why most of the known stores are by the let's call it the "Market Basket Entrance" because that's where most people enter the mall from
I'm not sure if Woolworth's was where old Navy was, or was near where Sears was. Woolworths might have moved into where Bradley's was at some point because I remember Bradley's being in that location but then it being Woolworth's. (On the side opposite to were they food hallway is.) That stuff was gone when I was real young and how it was all situatied was weird. I think the facade changed after Child World but before Sears got built. The Red Store is where Saturday Matinee and FYE used to be. I also remember the Fuller Museum using the old location of the Funcoland (After they moved where they were in the mall/change to game stop) for a time. This mall started to decline more when places more younger people would go closed, like Hot Topic. I'm honestly surprised the Claires is still in business. I also think the two closed stores after the red stores hall was 2. One was a subway and the other was something else I can't recall. On the right whree the bathrooms are now the smoke shop that's moved to where the Brockton Safety Center was, which I guess is gone now. I can verify that hall is where the Macy's was. The Radio Shack was there the Cricket was. I think that glass was always frosted like that, but it is also dirty I think. I remember it looking nicer before. The best buy wasn't always also that big eirther. They build it up and knocked took out some store space inside, one of which used to be a Chuck E Cheese that closed about 2000.
Hey Guy Good video If you want to do another slowly going out business mall. I think you should film Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro. It is becoming a shell of it self. Not much left inside the mall. Sears is gone. Just JCPENNY and Macy's. Other than that the smaller businesses are moving out. Not much there anymore. Well hope you get this message. Michael
Yup.. Woolworth was where old navy is..a lot of great stores and the movie theaters..used to be a putt putt course at the entrance...this is how the entire city is now because instead of keeping the jobs and the studio apts they turned Brockton into a shelter for people who do drugs instead of chase a dream. No money to spend because rent for us workers is thru the roof..the people living in housing don't have money but they have state of the art modern condos that us working people can't have .. democratic city with democratic results. 😢
I grew up walking in indoor malls I always love going to the mall❤!!! I use to go to Cambridge Side Mall, Burlington Mall, Meadow Glenn which sadly is no longer a indoor mall they tore it down to make walk in stores, Arsenal mall & Watertown Mall in Watertown, MA but sadly now malls are dying because of online shopping & malls are being destroyed and being turn into walk in stores which I don’t like. I miss going to Toy R US, KB Toys store, Macys, Funko Land which is now GameStop, Strawberries music store, Ann & Hope, Sears, Circuit City, Radio Shack, Borders, BlockBuster, Sharper Image, Sports Authority, Software Etc, RAVE, GadZooks, Bradley’s, Pay Less, it was good times growing up in the 90s. Sadly today generation just sucks if I could go back to the 90s or 80s I would do it all over again. Miss the old days❤ I really enjoy watching you walk around the malls and talk about it’s history Thanks for sharing the videos 😊
the macy's was at the pcx and the radio shack was at the cricket was. the red store was a music store, i'm pretty sure newbury comics or something similar and next to it on the left was a victoria secret. the best buy outlet used to be a regular best buy. where the super dollar is used to be more stores before. like i remember there being a uniform store as one of them. next to the golden nails used to be a dunkin and the other side was a game stop? i think, where the police ppl are now. there used to be a play area in the middle and then the sears, obviously. on the right was joanns, the left was marshalls. OH ! where the super dollar is, there used to be ice cream too ! the side where all the shoe stores are was always kinda dead, i can't remember what stores where on that side other than the dunkin lol anyways, i got tires from that sears auto center, they were very nice inside. someone said it was more dead before and i agree, there's more uptick in the mall now than a few years ago but this malls always been quiet, probably cuz its brockton xD
You didn’t show the Outland stores like harbor freight or market basket they count as mall stores as the adress is watergate lane also dick sports was there across the way and Joblot doesn’t count?? Or Lowe’s ps Sears hold on to the lease and that why it empty they want a kohl’s
Well, the side where Old Navy is located has plenty of people all the time. However, the side where Sears used to be is the very definition of a dead mall.
This was a great mall in the 80s and 90s! I am from Brockton and used to love going to this Mall to go to Child World, Woolworth with a restaurant in it, Bradlees and a few other stores! There used to be a Chuck E Cheese and movie theater nearby as well
They added booze to Chuck E Cheese. Sad. It was in the mall.
Yes! Woolworths was awesome
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Lived in Brockton late 60's and 70's. Remember taking the bus to the mall at Christmas time to shop for presents in a snowstorm. Funny hearing the store names after all these years. This popped up for me I'm guessing because I looked up Brockton High School today. Hope things at the school improve soon. We moved out of state when I would have started my freshman year there.
Hi. I grew up in Brockton and worked a few places at Westgate in the early 80s. I left prior to the expansion of Marshall's and Child World. I worked at Jordan Marsh which became Macy's faced where Market Basket is now. Market Basket used to be Papa Gino's and Blanchards Liquors which moved across the parking lot. Lowe's was literally a field. Storey's (women's clothing) and Ganley's were just inside the mall near Jordan Marsh. I also worked at Fanny Farmer where Cinnabon is now and opposite Woolworth's (where Old Navy is now). Bradlees was at the complete opposite end of the mall from Jordan Marsh and the back end of Bradlees faced Oak St. A Thom McCann shoe store was just outside Bradlees, and a news stand/tobacco shop was in the aisle on the left on the way from Woolworth's to Bradlees. I remember a Cherry, Webb, and Touraine,Tello's clothing store, Spencer gifts and a shoe cobbler. I also worked a York Steak House which was across the parking lot, I think it's a Chick-fil-A now?
Does anyone remember at Christmas time there would be lots of independent kiosks with locals selling their wares?
Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
The news stand was called the tobbaconist and yes Woolworth and they had a lunch counter
Who cares? Westgate mall and Brockton are scumb
Did you ever have Mike Damone over for some iced tea and a dip in the pool?
We use to go to York Steakhouse all the time. Debbie's Petland,too.
This is actually a nice looking little mall. And that rotating Gray Alien is the bomb!
They did a good job adding stores on the outside and restaurants
My wife worked at Westgate Mall at the Bradlees when she was a teenager. She and I lived in Brockton for 9 years in the 90's, so I spent a good amount of time in that mall and went there a lot growing up. Really loved Child World as a kid.
I am glad i got to experience malls in the 80s, what a fun time.
Omg. 💯💯💯we played hide & seek there in jr high. I eventually got a job there in my senior year but I always felt a little sick because I don’t believe the air quality was good ( looking back). But there were so many good times.
Friday nights at the mall then a movie the get picked up by mom at Jordan marsh 😂such a fun time to be around
Back then, people talked about malls as a scourge of the modern world that had destroyed the old commercial downtowns and made commerce too dependent on cars. Now that they're dying, they're an object of nostalgia.
I was born and raised near Downtown Brockton, so I have many fond memories of Westgate Mall. At the start of the access road leading to the Mall was Kentucky Fried Chicken and immediately after that was Putt Putt miniature golf. I remember Child World, which was a New England based toy store chain, plus Bradlee's and Woolworth, and a Boston based record store chain named Krey's Disc Shop. There was a Friendly's Ice Cream there, plus a Radio Shack. Gilchrist was there but we didn't go there often. There was a men's clothing store named Mr. Slacks. I haven't been there since 1973 when we moved to Connecticut, but I still remember that mall. A great place to spend a Saturday afternoon as a kid. I live in Rhode Island now, so I wonder how long it will be before you do one of these videos about Warwick Mall, the model for the Quahog Mall on Family Guy...?
You have a great memory! 👍👍
Dude, same. I liked the Orange Julius right in the middle of the mall across from the Bradlees and the Sam Goody store ;)
@@catherinecroteau-pinney4085 That was after I left the area. There wasn't a Sam Goody there back in '73. Wish there had been though.
@@johnmacdonald5767 I forgot, there was also an Anderson-Little clothing store, right across from Putt Putt on that access road. And wasn't there also an IHOP there at one time too?
@@ernestcruz6316 You're right, and I think Sam Goody might have even started out as a store called Musicland. I'm not sure, though. I think that that same spot in the mall near Bradlees might have also been a Guys and Gals kids' clothing store at one point. Good memories :)
3:40 is my aunt and lil cousin. Great videos, learned a lot. Thanks 💪🏽
I was a 70's teen in Brockton, and the mall was a fun place you could reach by bus. Friendly's, Spencer Gifts with their lava lamps and black light posters, movie theater just across the parking lot where you could sneak into the R rated films. Teenage time-wasting mecca! It now looks better than I would have expected.
Wrangler ranch also.
Don't forget about candlepin bowling.
At 4:04 at the empty store on the left, it was a watch/clock repair store. The old Asian guy that ran the place was there for many years, he quit and retired after the pandemic in 2021. He never came back.
Yeah, it's sad. I've had my watches' batteries replaced by him several times. Now I go to the jewelry/antique shop near the Rt. 24 interchange at Belmont and Pearl St. for watch battery replacements.
Jeez. I used to go to this mall from 2005 - 2015. And man they removed so much. GameStop is gone. The tobacco shop is gone. Which is where the Brockton police safety place is. Radio shack used to be right next to GameStop from what I remember. Also used to be a fyi next to we’re old navy is. Goodness it’s been years since I’ve been there. Makes me want to take a look.
I'm a Brockton man living in Ottawa. Canada. I miss it.
I went to BHS with you lol
The mall lost a lot of its anchor stores. Macys, Sears, Best Buy, etc. The only thing that really keeps people coming around is there's a Market Basket right across from it. Used to be a cool place to hang out in the because I would take the bus with my friends just to hang out in the early 00s.
I live nearby I legit only go there to occasionally buy fitted mlb caps at lids or white air forces 1 nikes lmao
That was a smart move to put the MARKET BASKET there as it opened the door for all these other stores and restaurants to build there...A big part of the downfall at WESTGATE was the kids hanging out and lots of undesirable hoods committing crimes on the shoppers at all times of the day.......I've lived here 53 years and I've seen it all......
Looks like kay an lids have stood the test of time finish line too .damn i havent been there in at lease seven years.i grew up in broke town😂.weekends were Westgate lanes the mall pizza joint strawberries record store then hit the westgate theater lol.
I am heading back to Brockton next week after leaving back in 2018, Thanks for the look inside again.
I used to eat with my mother in the front window at Woolworths. I got my first bike at Child World!
I'm surprised this mall is still open.
me too it's just a leech on brockton at this point😭 someone was straight up murdered today at westgate
I live in Brockton and you're one big liar! @@dfm-fn1qg
You lie that never happened. @@dfm-fn1qg
You're not telling the truth. @@dfm-fn1qg
Surprised it’s still called a “mall”.
Once Sears and Gamestop left and they got rid of the play area in the other end, that end died.
Everything you said is spot on , even back in the early 90s the mall have a lot of empty stores not much has changed with the footprint of the mall but everything around the mall has changed many times now Brockton is getting over built just like Quincy
Marshals used to be to the right of Sears that new wing opened in 86 i was there for it lol. Old navy was Woolworths and to the right of it was their coffee shop. spent a lot of time there growing up in Brockton.
This mail has the most random stores now. I remember when it had Bradlee’s, the Marshall’s was inside, Gap, Filenes, Macys etc… it used to be a really great mall.
Macy’s entrance used to take up the entire space of PCX and Burlington.
I think there was a Cherry & Webb in that mall too if my memory serves me correct in my "old" age of 45 lol
Haven’t been there in almost 30 years used to go there a lot in the 80s remember that expansion where Child World moved and Marshall’s moved in and the old Child World became CVS near Bradlees
I remember Woolworth, Friendly’s, Music Land, Spencer gifts it was the only one around long before Spencer’s opened in South Shore Plaza
I remember the expansion in the mid 80s added a Brighams, Orange Julius. Montilios bakery
one of my last times there was in 1994 when the RMV had a place there to renew licenses I went to renew my license
I used to go to the General Cinema nearby and to York Steakhouse, Matt Garrets and Bertuccis which was new in 1987
I don’t think I went there much after that
The Burlington Mall has been busy due the hot weather.
Yes the PCX was where Macys was. In fact before Macys was in that location it was on the opposite side, in the corner facing Market Basket.
Wow it has changed so much!! The Braintree mall is we're I hung out more though as a kid.
Yeah, it's sad that Westgate Mall is no longer the way it was when I was a kid in the 1990s and a teenager in the 2000s. As soon as I got old enough as a teen, I could take the crosstown bus to the mall to shop and browse around. The first big blow to me was the closure of FYE, where I bought quite a few DVDs and records. Then there was when Payless Shoe Source went out of business (but now I buy shoes at the Marshall's near the mall). Then there was when the JoAnn Fabrics store closed (now I have to go to the one in Raynham, which is usually after my day job in Berkley's shift ends). I think the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be what hurt the mall the most.
Used to be a Funco Land in there too... the good old days
As somebody who currently works at the mall, the place is consistently a ghost town with the exception of the Market Basket across from it, as well as the Burlington store. Kinda makes me sad, only a decade ago was this mall one of my favorite places to go to. Now it's a rather quiet building, I mostly use it as a throughway between each end. 😒
I work at market basket and yeah you're right lol I can almost guarantee you we're keeping that mall alive. If MB goes out of business for whatever reason, that mall will close............ don't know why it hasn't yet, but I also don't know why they're building a hotel access the street so.....
We all go to South shore plaza anyways, Westgate is so bad when you compare them.
You are spot on that Bradlees used to be where Burlington is now.
I used to go to Bradlees there, then ended up working, at Bradlees, when they opened the Taunton Mall, I worked in setting up that Bradlees, it’s all gone now, that was 1972.
They went crazy building all these malls all over the place, now they are all out of business. Wait it’s gonna get worse. Eye Candy, where people over spent.
The corruption was running high, they all had their day. That guy that owned Bed and Bath, Victoria Secrets, was attached to Jeffery Epstein.
I’ve honestly been debating “dead mall or not?” throughout the video, and I’m going to say it’s on the verge. I commend management for mostly filling in the anchor vacancies, but it takes a Dicks or Burlington closing and the spiral starts.
Howdy, I have lived in Brockton the past 23 years. This mall is honestly in the upswing. It was really struggling from 2014ish untill ironically covid. Somehow covid really got this mall back in gear and it's been getting more traffic and better stores ever since. I remember as a 15 year old when the hot topic moved out I stopped going. Which is when a lot of other stores shut down aswell. I think the chick filla on the outskirts of the mall has helped alot
@@ArizonaTooth You are right on the money with your perception of the Mall.......It's 95 percent better than it was.....
The fact that I go to Brockton daily and have been coming to this mall since I was a kid makes me surprised to see such a video. It feels weird seeing a video on it.
I went here recently and it was soooo dead and they don’t really have many good stores. Was very disappointed.
It looks pretty good. The Walpole mall near me is still doing well. They have a video game arcade since I was a teen. Pretty old school.
Went to this mall recently and was actually creeped out with the energy it carried
Felt like i stepped into a different relm lol
Try Emerald Square in Attleboro or Silver City in Taunton. Those are hanging on by a thread.
@@jdunlap850 Silver City was torn down a long time ago. It no longer exists.
@jdunlap850 silver city isn't there and hasn't been for a year or more
@@SpecialKel66 not surprising. Used to work near there and went there often. When was it torn down?
Jordan Marsh was originally down one end then as a Macys. As Macys it moved to the other end and it took up the whole section which is now two stores. That corner store has been a Kay jewelers for a long time. Compared to a lot of malls, it’s not doing too bad.
this was "my" mall growing up! that entire mall was full to the brim one day in 1969 - me & everyone else waited forever to get a glimpse at Brandon Cruz AND jonathan Whitaker! we biked or bussed over here every weekend to see a movie or lunch in Woolworths!
Dead mall no more! I will be their best patron of Cinnabon
There was a time, in the 60s where this was the place to shop, I was in Taunton, we always went there. What a shame. Many of the malls are going down, they ran Sears and Pennys into the ground.
Yeah, this mall is slowly reaching its endpoint. It use to be the spot back in the day now it’s just dead air. I remember there use to be a movie theater here too waaay back. I came here on an ocassional basis after school or on my days off n the vibe there is mid asf now.
I remember seeing movies here in the early 80s (E.T., Return of the Jedi, and Ghostbusters) and shopping at Child World. SkyView Drive-In was close to here... it's where we saw Grease and Bambi.
Sky view drive in is on the south side of Brockton next to west Bridgewater on route 28 it’s now an old people community housing place
@@glass1258 It was near K-Mart
They used to have a whole playground near the Sears area.
In the 1985 wing at the very end, Toys “R” Us opened at the very end of that. Child world was not down there. Child world was down at the entrance to Bradley’s just to the left.
Hello from Plymouth, MA!
I remember back in 72,going there with my mother to see brandon cruz from the Courtship of Eddies Father ,tv show,Johnny Whittaker from Family Affair. We use to go to Bradlees, Woolworth's.Many years ago
It closes at 7pm on weekdays. That's never a good sign, in particular because it makes after-work shopping impractical.
Closes at 7 due to Brockton being a high crime area.
Woolworth was definitely where Old Navy is, it also had a restaurant attached
Yup, it had the old style lunch counter there. I used to go there almost every Saturday afternoon in the late '60s-early '70s. My dad used to work at the old Brockton Savings Bank at North Main and Court Streets.
@@ernestcruz6316 yes! I went there in the 80s and early 90s. I loved to spin on the stools at the counter
Have to hand it to them this mall was FAR closer to being dead about 15 years ago. Convinced a few things that saved this mall were the stores outside of it/around it and the Popeyes inside it. Literally haven't been there since the early-mid 2000s or so. Wow. I remember that there was a Toys R' Us jus outside the mall up the road & a few chain restaurants (Uno's, Buffalo Wild Wings and even an Old Country Buffet). Fun fact - around the corner from there and up the road was a Service Merchandise.
I used to love that store . Getting your stuff on the conveyor belt 😊
Im really surprised how active/alive it is. I remember it being crazy dead then too.
THE GHETTO
I'm an old Brockton Bantha, but I remember the closed storefront over by the Red Store being a watch repair place. Going unnecessarily further back, it also had a shoe repair place, and near the entrance there on the right, a pizza place called Lazzarino's. I ate there once, before it closed before 2009. That same corridor, next to the Watch repair place had a Subway restaurant. Radio Shack was in the place next to Flora's, which was once a GameStop. Where Best Buy was, it used to be where the Chuck E. Cheese's used to be.
I'm surprised the mall wasn't torn down and replaced with a Plaza with a big parking lot, like what's on Crescent Street.
I've been waiting to go to this mall. Not a fan of empty stores, though.
Used to go here all the time as a kid
there used to be a dunkin donuts down the hallway near marshalls/sears
Never been but look great mall
I am working cellaxs and perfume store this mall alive only for Haitian and Cape Verde Ecuador community other wise Mall would shut down early I have been here since 2013 still here
I'VE BEEN HERE SINCE 1970.......
The portion where the Xfinity store is located used to be an interior portion of the mall. There was a Macy's (or Jordan Marsh?) section that extended beyond further into the parking lot, but at some maybe the late 2000's the Macy's portion was demolished presumably to make room for the standalone Market Basket. Around the early 2000's, I think the Sear's portion (formerly Marshall's) was expanded with a second floor to accommodate Sears, which was relocating from an old 1-story building elsewhere in Brockton over by Belmont & Torrey Streets. Marshall's relocated around the corner behind the Sears. The standalone Aldi's (next to Market Basket) used to be a Purity Supreme. The Blanchard's formerly was a Pier 1 Imports. Before that I recall there being a Putt Putt Golf.
Do you remember the AJ Wright
At 8:04 on your right that used to be a Payless Shoe Store like 6 years ago.
I grew up a few towns away from here, before Hanover Mall was built this was the closest mall to us, shopped there a lot. There was a General Cinema across the parking lot behind the mall, I think about where the Harbor Freight store is now, saw dozens of movies there, first as a kid with my parents and then on dates in high school. Hanover Mall opened in the mid-70's I think and also had a General Cinema and was only one town away so we pretty much abandoned Westgate Mall. Ironically Hanover Mall was just leveled in the past couple of years (other than the Macy's) and is now an open air mall/plaza. It seems to be doing ok but there are still a lot of empty store fronts even though it's been open for almost a year. It's got a very nice movie theatre and a couple of good restaurants that always seem pretty busy though.
I have a lot of memories of shopping at Westgate Mall with my mom and later with my gf. I had no idea it was even still open. It seems to be doing better than a lot of other malls in eastern MA.
Also, there was an Orange Julius too! Never see those anymore
I've visited this mall a few times. Macy's at one time was where a parking lot for a Market Basket food store resides now. Originally, a movie theater connected to the mall was supposed to go there, but I guess it was decided that a supermarket was a better choice.
I used to play in front of the old Seres in the play section was bummed when they removed it from Covid
4:03
I live only about 10 minutes from this mall! From what I remember a few years ago when I was much younger, it was a Subway!
I was born in Brockton but moved about about 20-30 minutes north. I worked at a local bookstore chain Lauriat's (went bust in 1999) when they expanded the mall in 1985. Did'nt Best Buy close ? I shop at the Market Basket there that's seperate from the mall.
A guy went running through the parking lot naked last week, lol
Lol not sure if that stink glass or dirty glass. That was funny. Yeah the Brockton mall I was a place I went growing up in the Westgate lanes. Last time I was there was maybe three years ago but the Brockton police and Brockton box is definitely new.
I’m surprised this is even still referred to as a “mall” crazy! I remember when Macys & VS’s was there. I’ve never seen a Joanne fabrics as an anchor store before.
Hey remember the Chinese food restaurant where buffalo wild wings use to be now I think it's a bank but it was called Pacific Hut it had a waterfall and it was a wishing well also it had the best Chinese food ever I think it left in the early 80"s or mid 80's.
I think they took land from the park for Shields and other places. As I understand it was given to Brockton if it were to stay a park.
Interesting thing about Dick's Sporting Goods in Brockton it was always in the area but it was just across the street on the Harbor Freight side before and the vacant building is still there and you can tell what it was. Originally the Best Buy Outlet was just a regular Best Buy and it didn't turn Outlet until I think sometime in 2020 or 2021 after the pandemic hit. My friend and I went to that Best Buy during the time it was closed and we were unaware because Google still had it listed as open. I don't know what the hours of the mall was when you took this video but these days the hours are terrible at the beginning of the week they close at 7:00 p.m.
Haven’t been there since the 60’s dating a girl who worked at Fanny farmers ! Time does fly!
Seems like a nice mall!
It's awesome
@@teejaylecapois9741yeah world class shopping experience.
It was the place in the early '70s. Safe to go there back then too.
I used to go to that mall all the time when I was a kid but then the mall in Taunton opened and that was closer to my house
old video I know but the owners of the Westgate Mall are keeping alive by allowing people to open local stores which is why most of the known stores are by the let's call it the "Market Basket Entrance" because that's where most people enter the mall from
I dearly miss Montilio's Bakery and Child World. Once Montilio's left we stopped going there completely.
I live in Brockton
It's still the same now after a year later
I'm not sure if Woolworth's was where old Navy was, or was near where Sears was. Woolworths might have moved into where Bradley's was at some point because I remember Bradley's being in that location but then it being Woolworth's. (On the side opposite to were they food hallway is.) That stuff was gone when I was real young and how it was all situatied was weird. I think the facade changed after Child World but before Sears got built. The Red Store is where Saturday Matinee and FYE used to be. I also remember the Fuller Museum using the old location of the Funcoland (After they moved where they were in the mall/change to game stop) for a time.
This mall started to decline more when places more younger people would go closed, like Hot Topic. I'm honestly surprised the Claires is still in business.
I also think the two closed stores after the red stores hall was 2. One was a subway and the other was something else I can't recall. On the right whree the bathrooms are now the smoke shop that's moved to where the Brockton Safety Center was, which I guess is gone now.
I can verify that hall is where the Macy's was. The Radio Shack was there the Cricket was. I think that glass was always frosted like that, but it is also dirty I think. I remember it looking nicer before.
The best buy wasn't always also that big eirther. They build it up and knocked took out some store space inside, one of which used to be a Chuck E Cheese that closed about 2000.
My mom used to work at childworld I had the best toys . And I got my first pet at woolworths it was a parakeet haha
I only ever go to this mall now for the Flora Beauty Supply store to buy hair products. A shame
I was born a few miles from there just a few years before it opened.
Lol i was just there like a month ago , lol thats the best mall in the W0rld lol .
Hey Guy
Good video
If you want to do another slowly going out business mall.
I think you should film Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro.
It is becoming a shell of it self. Not much left inside the mall. Sears is gone. Just JCPENNY and Macy's. Other than that the smaller businesses are moving out.
Not much there anymore.
Well hope you get this message.
Michael
Yup.. Woolworth was where old navy is..a lot of great stores and the movie theaters..used to be a putt putt course at the entrance...this is how the entire city is now because instead of keeping the jobs and the studio apts they turned Brockton into a shelter for people who do drugs instead of chase a dream. No money to spend because rent for us workers is thru the roof..the people living in housing don't have money but they have state of the art modern condos that us working people can't have .. democratic city with democratic results. 😢
I go there. Not very often though.
Correct on Woolworth location
Kay Jewelers has been there since the 70’s In that spot
Bradlees went under in 2001
My favorite store was Spencer’s
I grew up walking in indoor malls I always love going to the mall❤!!! I use to go to Cambridge Side Mall, Burlington Mall, Meadow Glenn which sadly is no longer a indoor mall they tore it down to make walk in stores, Arsenal mall & Watertown Mall in Watertown, MA but sadly now malls are dying because of online shopping & malls are being destroyed and being turn into walk in stores which I don’t like. I miss going to Toy R US, KB Toys store, Macys, Funko Land which is now GameStop, Strawberries music store, Ann & Hope, Sears, Circuit City, Radio Shack, Borders, BlockBuster, Sharper Image, Sports Authority, Software Etc, RAVE, GadZooks, Bradley’s, Pay Less, it was good times growing up in the 90s. Sadly today generation just sucks if I could go back to the 90s or 80s I would do it all over again. Miss the old days❤ I really enjoy watching you walk around the malls and talk about it’s history Thanks for sharing the videos 😊
the macy's was at the pcx and the radio shack was at the cricket was. the red store was a music store, i'm pretty sure newbury comics or something similar and next to it on the left was a victoria secret. the best buy outlet used to be a regular best buy. where the super dollar is used to be more stores before. like i remember there being a uniform store as one of them. next to the golden nails used to be a dunkin and the other side was a game stop? i think, where the police ppl are now. there used to be a play area in the middle and then the sears, obviously. on the right was joanns, the left was marshalls. OH ! where the super dollar is, there used to be ice cream too ! the side where all the shoe stores are was always kinda dead, i can't remember what stores where on that side other than the dunkin lol anyways, i got tires from that sears auto center, they were very nice inside. someone said it was more dead before and i agree, there's more uptick in the mall now than a few years ago but this malls always been quiet, probably cuz its brockton xD
You didn’t show the Outland stores like harbor freight or market basket they count as mall stores as the adress is watergate lane also dick sports was there across the way and Joblot doesn’t count?? Or Lowe’s ps Sears hold on to the lease and that why it empty they want a kohl’s
Well, the side where Old Navy is located has plenty of people all the time. However, the side where Sears used to be is the very definition of a dead mall.
This is where I would go if I wanted Popeye's or B-dubs when living in the south shore
How did you deal with security? Did you film without them knowing or do you need permission? Doesn’t make sense to get permission.
I worked at Child World in the early 80s. Place was a zoo during Christmas.
I did not see Jordan Marsh mentioned.
Macy's was at the other end.
if i had to presume that alien is an advertisment for the red store near laced rally cool store