Like its counterpart down Rte. 1 in Dedham, the Walpole Mall used to be a bustling indoor mall. But unlike the Dedham Mall, whose owners just shut what was left of the inside mall quickly and turned it into a collection of big-box stores, the Walpole Mall has been slowly suffocating for years.
This weekend, the only thing left from the good old days is the eternal Dream Machine arcade and a Santa with not many kids to sit on his lap. One storefront is occupied by one of those rug places that seem to spring up every so often, but all the other stores are completely vacant.
The liquor store, which used to have a large entrance into the mall, has plastered it over, so the only way to do your booze binging is through the outside entrance. The Barnes & Noble, which has so far escaped the fate of all the other Barnes & Nobles in the area, still has its entrance to the mall open, but unless you're going to see Santa, without much point.
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Comments
This isn’t entirely true
By anon
Tue, 11/29/2022 - 6:47pm
The interior sure, completely agree. However they have expanded significantly. Kohl, Aldi, Old Navy, Texas Rd House and ect. Have all been either new construction or complete gut fit outs.
Yep, I was just referring to the interior mall
By adamg
Tue, 11/29/2022 - 10:50pm
Basically, the outside is becoming a sort of cross between a big-box mall and a strip mall.
Streetview
By cybah
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 3:28am
And from Streetview.. you gotta look really closely to know there's an actual indoor part. To me (who does not live or go down this way), from streetview, it looks like a strip mall.
Even if you are there, it's hard to notice the indoor section
By HenryAlan 2.0
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 9:39am
I had been going there for years to shop at both Kohl's, Barnes and Noble, and the greatly missed Old Country Buffet, before ever noticing there was an indoor component. And all three of those establishments have or had connections to the interior. Nevertheless, it wasn't obvious.
Streetview
By cybah
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 3:28am
And from Streetview.. you gotta look really closely to know there's an actual indoor part. To me (who does not live or go down this way), from streetview, it looks like a strip mall.
Being THAT person just a little bit
By eeka
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 4:27pm
Just so you know, "etc." is short for "et cetera" which translates roughly as "and shit."
You don't need "and" before it, and you want to make sure not to confuse it with "ect," which is the sound a puking cat makes.
Before I read
By cybah
Tue, 11/29/2022 - 7:17pm
Before I read the title or the copy, I looked at the pic first (admit it, we all do it)
And my first thought before reading was "wow what 1980s movie is being filmed here"
Oh no, its just a dying mall LOL
tbh most of the indoor malls are lookin pretty sad these days. Even the ones a few years ago that were still popping like Northshore Mall and the Burlington Mall have more and more vacancies..
Like its counterpart down Rte
By Rob
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 12:55am
???
Even Route 1 left that behind.
No way!
By Will LaTulippe
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 8:51am
If that's affiliated with the long-shuttered Dream Machine at the University Mall in South Burlington, VT, I have ticket coupons from the 90's that I never redeemed. I'm getting me some swag next Boston visit. They're still in my wallet!
hurricane machine?
By Pete Nice
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 10:02am
Do they still have that hurricane machine outside the rug store?
At least the Walpole Mall used to have an Orange Julius
By GoSoxGo
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 2:04pm
The Dedham Mall did not, but earned points from me for the Pewter Pot and Woolworth's diner counter, along with the York Steak House along Providence Highway (which was Route 1 back in the day).
Paging Ron Newman
By eeka
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 4:28pm
Ron, you have a thing for dead malls, right?
Yes
By Ron Newman
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 4:42pm
but I've never been to either this one or Dedham. My current favorite dead-ish mall is the CambridgeSide ex-Galleria, which is now minus all of its former anchors (Sears, Filene's/Macy's, and Lechmere/Best Buy), and has closed its entire third floor.
I should go check out the South Shore Plaza's Sears, as it's the last in New England, and one of only 13 remaining open anywhere in the US.
Ooh
By eeka
Wed, 11/30/2022 - 7:48pm
I knew Sears was declining, but didn't realize it was that extensive.
List of remaining Sears stores
By Ron Newman
Thu, 12/01/2022 - 4:38am
List of remaining Sears stores
This is a list of 20 stores, but two of them are liquidating, and five others are small-format stores selling only appliances, mattresses, and perhaps tools. Take those out, and you're left with just 13 full Sears department stores.