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No more Macy's at CambridgeSide ex-Galleria
By Ron Newman on Tue, 01/05/2021 - 12:11am
Tim Logan reports the CambridgeSide Macy's closed on December 27, seemingly without any advance notice or public announcement. This leaves Best Buy as the mall's sole remaining anchor store. (Sears closed in December 2018 and remains vacant today.)
At Cambridgeside, one of the busier malls in Greater Boston, the Macy’s closed this week and there’s now a 12-room “selfie experience” occupying prime real estate, tho of course it’s not open b/c COVID rules. In case you were wondering how brick-and-mortar retail is holding up. pic.twitter.com/tpMNse5i4B
— Tim Logan (@bytimlogan) December 31, 2020
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Comments
This Macy's started out as a Filene's
when the mall opened in 1990.
But what about Lechmere's?
n/t
The former Lechmere space is now Best Buy
At least, the first two floors are. The third floor became
Borders, thenMacy's Home Store (separate from the main Macy's), and is now vacant.EDIT: my memory is faulty, see reply below
The former Macy's space is
The former Macy's space is shown as "future office" on the mall's official map.
https://www.cambridgeside.com/pdfs/directoryMap.pdf
Former Borders #439 employee
Former Borders #439 employee here. Borders was on the second floor and is now TJ Maxx. Macy's house wares was on the third floor.
My current office is pretty nearby the Galleria, so I stopped back at the old Borders/TJ Maxx space. Weird feeling.
Lechmere @ CambridgeSide
This was the first (only?) location of a 2-storey Lechmere. The Architects worked hard to convince the store owners that there was viability in this new to them layout (including site visits to other states to see proof of concept). And while it took some convincing, it ultimately worked and I believe everyone walked away pleased.
Fun fact, an old boss and mentor asked me my opinion of the food court there. Knowing where he was coming from, I asked if he wanted honesty and he said yes. So I told him I thought it was "kinda bright," a little much for my tastes, and why, did you do it? Of course he was grinning. I didn't get fired, ha ha ha.
Two stories or three?
My memory is that Lechmere took up all three floors here, but maybe I'm wrong?
not certain
but it appears Sears and Macy's were the 3-storey anchor stores.
Macy's (Filene's) had no first floor
It was on the second and third floors only.
1st Fl. on Filenes' side was always outside the mall space
The first floor side of Filenes' space was always a street facing only entrance. I believe maybe California Pizza Kitchen back then? I think Chesecake Factory came later and eventually expanded.
If the mall opened 30 years ago
Macy's might have had a chance to exit the lease (as retail leases tend to run for 5/10/20-year terms). A sudden closing might reflect hardball negotiations up until the last moment -- Macy's probably wanted steep concessions as an anchor tenant. No deal and they close right after Christmas.
30 years + 3 months
CambridgeSide then-Galleria opened on September 13, 1990, according to their press release. So Filene's / Macy's was there a little more than 30 years.
I recall the Lechmere store opening a year or so before the rest of the mall.
Yeah
I didnt live here but it makes sense.
The mall (as are most malls) built in a strange manner. Its so the anchors can get torn down, while leaving the rest of the mall in tact.
At the galleria, you can see it in the floors near BestBuy.. the long metal & rubber strip that goes wall to wall is the seam of the building. Same can be seen near ex-Sears.
I did some quick looking, and yeah, it makes sense. the New Lechmere store is just South of the old store. I sure they had to have Lechmere move first, then they could tear down their old store and finish the mall.
See a fancy comparison:
Graphic
after doing the above graphic.. this mall replaced a TON of parking lots.. look here for the full 1978 view.
https://www.historicaerials.com/location/42.367803137679445/-71.07198334...
I watched a lot of this happen while working at Lotus
across the street.
The new Lechmere store was built first, along with a temporary parking garage on the site of what is now a triangular park just south of the mall. The new Lechmere was connected indoors to the old Lechmere, and that connection was used to move merchandise from the old store to the new one (I think in just one weekend).
Once the new Lechmere opened, the old store was demolished and the rest of the mall finished.
Finally, after the mall and its garages opened, the temporary parking garage was demolished and the park built.
Mays own the property. Except
Mays own the property. Except the third floor used to be the Macy’s home goods
RIP BRUH
RIP BRUH
EVIL_BEZOS_LAUGH.GIF
Walking into Macy's a
Walking into Macy's a nightmare of overpriced clothing made with synthetic material.
lets not knock polyester
lets not knock polyester.. it doesnt wrinkle, and travels well.
But I agree.. its overpriced. I realized the only days to shop at Macys are Fridays and Saturdays when they are having a big sale. The rest of the time.. meh.
not going to the mall
my kids sit and stare into the electrical abyss while i used to ask girls for their phone numbers, eat slices, and look at naughty gifts in spencer's. i really think the kids are missing out here.
You realize they're doing basically the same stuff online right?
Squash courts
With that amount of space and ceiling height, it would be a good space for squash courts or some type of gym.
I think
I think we need to start a betting pool when this mall will be 100% converted to offices.
Since Sears has sat vacant for a while, I think Macys will too. The Macys space isn't big, nor does it have an exterior entrance like Sears and BestBuy do.
Making growth easier?
Not too-too surprising - there are plans to plow under all the anchor stores and build office (& Residential?) towers, as well as putting store fronts back onto first street. Macy's would have to for some time anyway and come back, if they were staying in the mall.
OK, internet helped me find one of the articles http://realestate.boston.com/new-developments/2019/12/19/cambridgeside-m...