Northshore Mall, before it sold anything
In December 1954, the land that would become Northshore Mall was still just a part of Peabody that had already changed a lot: first a country estate, then St. Joseph's Juniorate, and later a dairy farm with gardens.
That winter, plans were shared for a $10 million shopping center on about one hundred acres, eighteen miles northeast of Boston.
At first, the mall was supposed to be built in Beverly, which would have made for a very different drive.
The plans were made by John Graham Jr. of John Graham and Company, who helped create the modern mall.
He used the same idea as at Northgate in Seattle: one-story buildings set around a narrow walkway that felt like a street, open to the air and with plants, with big glass windows for people to walk by and look in.
The weather made designing it harder, but that was not the main focus.
John Volpe Construction was the main builder, and National Planning and Research of Boston took care of getting the land ready.
The goal was to make a town center without an actual town, designed so that everything people saw was above ground and all the work was hidden.
Open-air debut, 1957-1958 in Peabody
Northshore Mall, then called the Northshore Shopping Center, opened in stages. On September 23, 1957, a three-story, 112,000-square-foot store was the first to open.
In June 1958, Stop & Shop opened a supermarket. In July, a three-story J.J. Newberry five-and-dime opened.
On August 1, Jordan Marsh welcomed shoppers into a four-story, 250,000-square-foot store that made the project seem certain to succeed.
The official opening was on September 12, 1958, with the center outdoors. Governor Foster Furcolo cut the ribbon.
More than fifty thousand people came, and the celebration was big: the Massed Pipers of the Scots Guards played, and there was a flower show, as if the shopping center needed some extra ceremony to feel real.
Dedication day also included smaller store openings like Kennedy's of New England, Lerner Shops, Howard Clothes, Lauriat's Books, and National Shirt Shops.
In November, Paine Furniture opened in a two-story, 36,000-square-foot store.
When all the spaces were rented, the complex had sixty-two stores and services and more than 1 million square feet available to rent, making it the largest shopping center in Massachusetts for several years.
The tunnel below and the fun above it
The early main stores were a classic group: Jordan Marsh, Filene's, Sears, Kresge, J.J. Newberry, R.H. Stearns, and Stop & Shop.
But Northshore Mall also had a hidden area. The stores were on the main floor above a basement with an underground hallway and a truck tunnel that ran the whole length of the property.
Deliveries and trash were handled below, so the area where people walked looked easy and clean.
Fun was part of the plan. The center had a bowling alley and a movie theater, and it even had Kiddietown, a small amusement park next to S.S. Kresge, in the area that later became Office Depot.
The message was clear: this was not just for shopping, it was a place to enjoy yourself.
In 1960, the St. Therese Society of Mt. Carmel Chapel opened inside the shopping center, one of the few chapels ever placed in a mall.
It quietly expanded what the mall was for. People could come to shop, to watch, to have fun, and, if they wanted, to sit and think while the shopping went on above them.
Expansion fever and the roofed seventies
Northshore Mall grew three times in the 1960s, almost as if the first plan was just a starting point.
On May 29, 1963, a two-screen movie theater opened with a special event hosted by Jerry Lewis, showing that entertainment was meant to be part of the shopping center.
Retail bulk followed. Sears added a two-level, 86,200-square-foot store with an attached Auto Center on the southwest corner, opening September 23, 1964.
That same year, Jordan Marsh expanded to 325,000 square feet.
A new northeast store block was completed four years later, adding three stores, and on February 19, 1968, R.H.Stearns dedicated a 40,000-square-foot location, deepening the mall's Boston department-store DNA.
Then a rival arrived nearby: Liberty Tree Mall opened in Danvers in 1972. Northshore Mall responded by turning the weather off.
Putting a roof over the mall started in 1977 and was finished by 1978, turning the outdoor walkway into an indoor place.
The new roof made the mall comfortable and showed it wanted to be the main place people went, no matter the weather.
New owner, new anchors, new food court
In June 1992, New England Development bought Northshore Mall and expanded it to almost 1.4 million square feet.
The name changed from Northshore Shopping Center to Northshore Mall, and a $50 million renovation followed, including a twelve-restaurant food court that made lunch a main attraction instead of just a quick stop.
The northwest end was rebuilt with a nod to the past. Filene's opened a new store where Kiddietown used to be, and Lord & Taylor built a new store next to it; both opened in 1993.
A new food court was added near where Filene's used to be, which was completely redone to make space for JCPenney, changing the main stores without changing the overall layout.
By the early 1990s, Northshore Mall had a freestanding Toys 'R' Us / Kids 'R' Us building (about 60,500 sq ft), associated with the former Sears & Roebuck site.
On March 31, 1996, Jordan Marsh closed and reopened as Macy's, a local change that reflected what was happening across the country.
When the renovations were finished, Northshore Mall covered 1.37 million square feet that could be rented out and once again became the largest shopping center in Massachusetts.
Simon takes over; Apple makes a statement
In February 1999, Simon Property Group entered a definitive agreement to acquire and assume management of New England Development's portfolio of up to fourteen regional malls for about $1.7 billion.
The initial closing became effective August 27, 1999; Northshore Mall was acquired through the Mayflower joint venture (in which Simon held a 49.1% interest).
The mall, once a regional bet, now had the backing - and expectations - of a national portfolio.
On September 1, 2001, it gained a different kind of prestige: Apple opened its first store in the Northeastern United States, and the location was only the sixth Apple Store in the world at the time.
For more than fifteen years, the black facade and twin logos offered a sleek counterpoint to the mall's brighter habits.
The department-store landscape was shifting, too. Federated acquired May Department Stores in 2005, and in March 2006, the mall's Filene's was briefly closed.
The space was used to relocate Macy's in May, and the remaining Filene's nameplates disappeared in September 2006.
Northshore Mall had been built on stable anchors, and now it was learning to stay stable while everything around it merged.
Nordstrom, Zara, and the glossy new wing
Simon did not leave the anchor question unanswered. In June 2006, it announced an agreement with Nordstrom, planning an expansion anchored by the new store and clearing space by demolishing the former Jordan Marsh.
The expansion wing opened on November 4, 2008, bringing a new retail vocabulary: Zara, LUSH, Sephora, Metropark, White House Black Market, and H&M.
Nordstrom opened on April 17, 2009, a 138,000-square-foot, two-level store with Cafe Bistro, an Ebar, and enough shoe departments to feel like a city block.
It offered alterations, fitters, consultations, package delivery, and a shoeshine stand, turning shopping into a suite of services.
Dining helped sell the new mood. The Cheesecake Factory opened on October 11, 2007.
P.F. Chang's China Bistro arrived in late 2008 as the chain's first and only North Shore location, later closing in 2017; the space is now occupied by The Double Bull.
A two-level Forever 21 added 40,000 square feet of fast fashion. The mall began to feel less like a list of stores and more like a curated circuit.
Promenade: dining outside, brands inside
The 2010s were a decade of editing rather than rebuilding. Newbury Comics arrived in 2012. Uniqlo and LoveSac followed in 2014. Michael Kors joined in 2016.
Flying Tiger Copenhagen opened in 2018 as its first New England store, then closed in November 2020 along with the chain's other U.S. locations.
In 2017, Northshore Mall began pushing outward with renovations that added Bancroft & Co. and Tony C's Sports Bar and Grill, plus an outdoor stage for community events.
The work included patios, landscaping, and renovations to the food court and restrooms, and the new zone became known as The Promenade, extending the mall into something closer to a streetscape.
Older sit-down fixtures like Legal Sea Foods and Not Your Average Joe's stayed put, joined by newer arrivals like Tony C's and Amigo's Mexican.
Then came closures that re-drew the map. Toys "R" Us shut on June 29, 2018, vacating about 45,000 square feet of a 63,000-square-foot building built in 1994 and shared with Ulta Beauty.
Sears announced on May 31, 2018, that it would close; the store went dark on September 2, 2018, and the 1978 building was demolished in January 2019.
In that same month, the former toy space became a PGA Tour Superstore.
Life Time, Tesla trouble, and the 2026 plan
In 2025, Simon completed a transformation that turned Northshore Mall outward, adding a glass storefront and exterior-facing retail and dining.
Life Time, a 120,000-square-foot athletic resort that opened in 2021, became a centerpiece, with pools, spa, recovery, childcare, and a Kids' Academy.
Gametime Lanes & Entertainment arrived with bowling, axe-throwing, and arcades.
Golf Lounge 18 added indoor simulators, Immersive Gamebox brought play, and Sandmagination arrived as a hands-on sand-art and play space designed for families.
The tenant mix kept shifting: Arhaus, L.L. Bean, Lululemon, Hollister, It'Sugar, and a Tesla showroom.
Sweetgreen, Honeygrow, and The Skinny Pancake updated the food lineup, with Van Leeuwen slated to follow.
Big Chicken shut down September 24, 2025; in September, Kim's Hallmark opened, with Sally Beauty and Pizzerino on deck.
Nordstrom closed January 31, 2025, with a Dick's House of Sport planned for 2026, and police used the empty store for training.
On April 8, 2025, paint vandalism at the Tesla store led to an arrest and about $500,000 in vehicle damage.
A 142-room Residence Inn by Marriott broke ground in February 2025 on 2.7 acres near the Prospect Street entrance, aiming for fall 2026.
A mall that keeps changing
As of December 2025, Northshore Mall is still located at 210 Andover Street, a 1,667,000-square-foot property for gathering, owned and run by Simon (56.4% of it, to be precise).
Macy's holds two corners, JCPenney another, and roughly 160 other tenants fill in the rest.
It started as an outdoor walkway that tried to beat New England winters, then got a roof, then found new ways to attract people by making shopping a full day of food, exercise, games, patios, and now even the idea of hotel rooms nearby.
After all these years, the mall's real offer is not a sweater or a phone case. It is the chance to spend time with others in a place that keeps changing, even when the building itself is not the main draw anymore.
