Opening the Floor—Retail Footprint of a First
The first thing shoppers saw in 1964 was the shine off the terrazzo floors. There were no skylights back then—just fluorescent strips buzzing overhead and the smell of new carpet.
The Frouge Corporation had built the Trumbull Shopping Park as the state’s first enclosed mall.
It looked like the future, tucked off Main Street in a town that hadn’t asked for it but didn’t say no.
D.M. Read and E.J. Korvette were the anchors. People knew those names.
Read’s had the dresses with big buttons, and Korvette sold the TVs that appeared in family rooms all over Fairfield County.
On the edges, there was a Waldbaum’s and a Woolworth’s—cheap food, discount goods, cigarettes behind glass.
From the outside, the building was plain. Inside, it was a machine for selling.
The aisles were wide enough to push two carts side by side. On Sundays, families came in from Bridgeport and Stratford to walk the loop.
It didn’t matter if they bought anything—there wasn’t anywhere else to go where the air conditioning was free.
By the 1970s, the mall had become more than a shopping center. It was a gathering point, a place where teenagers tested curfews and kids rode the escalators up and down just to feel the motion.
In 1977, the Westfield Group stepped in. It was the first time an Australian company bought a U.S. mall.
Quietly, the property was absorbed into a portfolio with dozens of others. Trumbull Shopping Park became a line item—still local on paper, less so in practice.
If you’re looking for things to do in Trumbull, Connecticut, the mall still sits there—concrete and memory, trying to sell the idea that time hasn’t moved on.
Rebranded, Retooled—Corporate Control and Mall Real Estate
The anchor shuffle started in the late ’80s. D.M. Read became Jordan Marsh in 1987, then Abraham & Straus in 1992 after Allied merged with Federated.
By April 1995, it was a Macy’s. That name stuck, even when the building didn’t.
In 1998, the mall became Westfield Shoppingtown Trumbull, part of a naming convention used across Westfield’s U.S. sites.
In 2006, Macy’s relocated into the former Filene’s, leaving the original Read’s spot empty.
It was bulldozed in 2007. A two-floor Target opened in October 2008.
These weren’t cosmetic changes. They were pivots—big-box moves meant to hold up traffic. Every space had to justify itself in square footage and footfall.
In 2014, Westfield Group split. U.S. assets moved to the Westfield Corporation.
Four years later, Unibail-Rodamco took control. The mall passed hands again—new names on the lease, the same halls, the same tile.
f.y.e. picked Trumbull Mall for its first location in 1993. That chain peaked when CDs still filled glove compartments. Then came UNIQLO in 2013. It lasted four years. Ulta took the space in 2018.
Anchor Drift—Closures, Openings, and Square Footage Bets
Retail was always meant to cycle. But the 2000s hit hard.
Steve & Barry’s closed in September 2008—part of a national shutdown that hit over 100 stores.
The Circuit City next door was next, shutting down in early 2009 as the entire company went under.
Both spaces sat dark until Westfield spent $35 million in upgrades, announced in 2010.
That renovation brought a new Dining Terrace, a full-scale LA Fitness, and updated entrances. It wasn’t a revival. It was maintenance.
The Cheesecake Factory opened in August 2014. On paper, it was a win—chain restaurants still draw crowds.
Then, in October, an Apple Store opened near the old Lord & Taylor. That one mattered more. Apple moved products and, more importantly, people.
Ruby Tuesday closed in August 2016. By October 2017, Wahlburgers had replaced it. That lasted until 2020 when it closed mid-pandemic.
SeaQuest arrived in 2019. It filled a large interior unit and promised hands-on aquarium attractions.
But complaints piled up—PETA, online reviews, internal photos. By August 20, 2023, it was gone. The animals were sent to other locations. Nothing filled the void.
Lord & Taylor announced its closure in August 2020. The chain was ending its in-person model. Its Trumbull Mall anchor was 99,500 square feet.
Early plans suggested converting it into York Factory—a coworking space with bike rentals, lunch delivery, and wellness perks.
That concept stalled. The building still stands, but its purpose is floating.
Capital Repairs—Investments, Failures, and Forced Maintenance
By early 2022, things weren’t holding up. On February 14, a chunk of the parking garage near Target and JCPenney collapsed without warning.
The damage forced closures at two mall entrances—one by SeaQuest and the other near Michael Kors and Sunglass Hut.
No injuries were reported, but shoppers stopped using that wing, which had been fenced off for months.
It wasn’t the first part of the mall to age out, but this one was visible. Cracks in the pavement and exposed rebar are problems you could see while waiting at a red light.
Crews didn’t start reconstruction until October, and temporary scaffolding stayed up through the end of the year.
Around the same time, Westfield offloaded the property.
On January 3, 2023, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield sold the Trumbull Mall to Namdar Realty Group as part of a $196 million deal that included South Shore Mall in Bay Shore, New York.
The math broke down to about $100 million per property.
The sale wasn’t unexpected. URW had been looking to exit the U.S. market. Trumbull was one of the final divestments. It was renamed Trumbull Mall, which dropped the Westfield branding altogether.
That same year, Guacamole’s opened in the former Wahlburgers. Fun Spot Arcade, owned by the same company behind Chuck E. Cheese, arrived in September 2024.
Land Use Talks—Public Ideas, Private Stalls
Town officials started public meetings in 2023. Flyers went out, listing future-use sessions for Trumbull Mall.
The topics covered everything: security, zoning, and development incentives. Residents packed into council chambers to hear what might happen next.
Suggestions bounced around: indoor pickleball, a concert venue, a climbing wall, maybe a Dave & Buster’s.
Others wanted a supermarket—Stew Leonard’s came up more than once. On June 26, 2023, Stew Leonard Jr. told CT Insider he’d consider the location.
But only if traffic patterns worked. “It needs to be busy,” he said. That wasn’t guaranteed.
On September 28, another meeting was held. This one leaned heavier on commercial strategy.
Developers pitched two directions—double down on retail with new brands or shift toward a “commercial village” with medical offices, senior housing, and hotel space.
The second option would require more demolition and a phased buildout.
The mall’s role in local crime came up, too. Several storefronts had been broken into. Police reports from the summer of 2023 showed an uptick in theft, mostly inside national chains.
Fold-out displays lined the back wall of the town hall. Renderings of a hotel, senior housing, a café plaza—shaded trees drawn beside angled parking spots.
A consultant from consulting firm Stantec stood next to a digital screen, clicking through market feasibility slides.
It was February 2025. Another presentation. Another draft.
Namdar had owned Trumbull Mall for a year by then. At that time, no major anchors opened, and no major anchors left.
Storefronts turned over quietly. But behind the scenes, planners were building something—if not with concrete, then with concepts.
The redevelopment pitch looks like a hybrid: keep some retail, add residential, layer in wellness offices, and maybe a food market.
It’s a vision Trumbull hasn’t had before—mixed-use without the mall as the core.
Still, not everything is in place. In January, the Planning and Zoning Commission extended its ban on new multi-family housing for a sixth straight year.
That makes the residential units in the new plan harder to permit, let alone build.
Community engagement remains active. Discussions are ongoing, with town officials aiming to finalize plans that balance economic revitalization with community needs.
Enjoyed working at L&T for many years as well as shopping at Trumbull Shopping Park Glad they are trying to revamp. Interesting article.
Thanks for sharing your insights about Trumbull Mall. It’s heartening to hear from someone who has a long-standing relationship with the mall and is hopeful about its future.
Thank you for the update and retrospective on Trumbull Mall. It’s sad that the U.S. is littered with dead malls in so many cities. But it sounds like all involved there are making a real effort to evolve and remain a landmark for the greater Bridgeport area. Thanks again for your insightful article.
Thank you for your comment and for recognizing the efforts to keep Trumbull Mall relevant. The commitment to evolution is crucial in today’s retail landscape.