Square One Mall sits along Route 1 in Saugus, Massachusetts, on land that once held the town farm.
The site first opened in 1961 as the New England Shopping Center, anchored by a large Sears and other mid-century chain stores.
In the early ’90s, New England Development enclosed the place and made it a mall. Sears stayed where it was. The new anchors, Service Merchandise, Filene’s, Filene’s Basement, and Lechmere, filled in around it.
Ownership shifted to Simon Property Group in 1999. Over the next two decades, the anchor mix changed repeatedly, with Best Buy, TJ Maxx, B.D.’s Furniture, and Dick’s Sporting Goods joining the lineup as others closed. Sears ended its run here in 2020.
Today, the mall remains open under Simon management, with national and regional tenants, an active interior, and a structure showing its age along the busy highway frontage.
1955–1980: From town farm to New England Shopping Center
In 1955, Alan and Milton Green purchased a section of the former Saugus town farm for retail development.
The site sat directly on Route 1, where highway traffic had been increasing with postwar construction.
By 1961, the New England Shopping Center opened, laid out as an outdoor strip anchored by Sears.
The Sears here was promoted as the largest in New England at the time, with full departments for appliances, clothing, tools, and catalog sales.
The center also drew in regional names like Touraine’s, alongside national chains that occupied smaller storefronts.
Parking spread across a broad paved lot, designed to handle the steady flow from the highway.
Storefronts faced the lot, with glass windows set above brick knee walls, and signage mounted high enough to catch drivers’ attention.
In its early years, the property operated as a single-level shopping plaza, open to the elements.
The Sears building dominated the northern end of the strip, its scale and height visible from a distance.
The smaller tenants filled out the line, giving the center a mix of apparel, home goods, and dining that fit suburban shopping patterns of the early 1960s.
The layout remained largely unchanged through the decades, serving as one of the region’s largest retail stops outside Boston.
1980s–1994: Redevelopment plan and a new enclosed mall
By the 1980s, New England Development, headed by Stephen R. Karp, had bought the property with plans for an enclosed mall.
Financing problems slowed the project for years, so the strip center kept running while plans were revised.
The layout was designed to preserve the Sears building and incorporate it into the new construction, rather than demolishing it.
Construction began in 1993 after funding was secured. Crews enclosed the site, erecting a multi-level structure around the Sears building.
Differences in brick tone and exterior finish made the older anchor stand out against the new walls.
The plan created space for five anchors, new common areas, and a food court.
Square One Mall opened on August 17, 1994. The anchor lineup included Sears, Service Merchandise, Filene’s, Filene’s Basement, and Lechmere.
Each store opened onto the main concourse, a wide tiled walkway lit by long runs of skylights.
Escalators stood near the anchor stores to pull shoppers through. Outside, extra parking lots were paved to handle the larger retail footprint.
When it opened, the mall pulled in a mix of department stores, big-box chains, and smaller national brands under one roof.
1998–2004: Ownership shift and anchor reshuffle
Lechmere’s closure in 1997 left one of the mall’s large anchor spaces empty.
In 1998, TJ Maxx moved into the spot, filling it with a single-floor layout focused on apparel and home goods.
A year later, Simon Property Group announced it was acquiring Square One Mall as part of a fourteen-mall package purchased from New England Development for roughly $ 1.725 billion.
The sale placed the mall under management that oversaw properties across the country, standardizing leasing and marketing.
Service Merchandise, another of the original anchors, began liquidating in 2002.
Best Buy took over that location the same year, installing a full electronics sales floor and modifying the entry to match its branding.
The arrival of Best Buy added a technology-focused anchor to the mix, contrasting with the department store and apparel offerings.
By the early 2000s, mall operators moved forward with plans for an additional anchor.
Construction added space for Dick’s Sporting Goods, which opened in 2004.
The two-level format included dedicated areas for equipment, footwear, and apparel, connected directly to the mall concourse.
The shift in anchors over these years brought in national chains from different retail categories, keeping large sections of the property active while replacing long-standing names that had closed.
2009–2011: Off-price shakeup and closures
Filene’s Basement, one of the mall’s original anchors from 1994, filed for bankruptcy protection on May 4, 2009.
The chain was sold to Syms, which kept many locations open during the transition.
At Square One Mall, the store continued operating while Syms worked through the brand’s restructuring.
By October 2011, announcements confirmed that Filene’s Basement would close all stores.
An agreement allowed locations in Simon-owned properties to remain open until December that year, setting a clear end date for the Saugus space.
The closure followed the chain’s final holiday season, after which the doors were locked and the signage removed.
The loss left another large anchor spot vacant on the main concourse.
The departure marked the end of a discount apparel presence that had occupied the same multi-level footprint for nearly two decades.
Space once busy with racks and sale banners now stood empty, with mall directories updated to remove the name.
While smaller tenants changed frequently in this period, the absence of an anchor store on that side of the building was the most visible change to the property during these years.
2015–2020: Seritage transaction and the end of Sears at Square One
In July 2015, Sears Holdings spun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears space at Square One Mall, to Seritage Growth Properties and leased them back.
The deal split the real estate from the retail business, with Sears staying on as a tenant.
By 2017, Sears had reduced its footprint at the mall, keeping operations on the lower level while leaving the upper floor vacant.
The change altered access points within the store and left part of the anchor’s mall-facing frontage inactive.
Signage remained, but interior walkways to the unused space were closed.
On July 8, 2020, local coverage confirmed that the Sears location at Square One Mall would close as part of a nationwide series of shutdowns.
The store entered liquidation that summer, with the final day of operation in September.
Removal of merchandise and fixtures marked the end of its decades-long presence on the property.
The closure left the mall without its original anchor, and a prominent portion of the building stood empty, visible from both the concourse and the parking lot.
2024–2025: Operations, small openings, and current state
By mid-2025, the mall continued to operate under Simon Property Group management with anchors Macy’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Old Navy, B.D.’s Furniture, Ultra FlexGym, and TJ Maxx.
Simon’s official tenant listings announced the opening of Rio Med Spa, offering services such as laser treatments and skin care, along with a first-time customer discount.
It is the fourth business at the mall with “Spa” in its name.
Alongside a pediatric dental office, a massage parlor, opticians, and a gym, it adds to the cluster of health-related services on the property.
Online posts from recent visitors described an active sales floor inside the mall but noted visible wear on the exterior.
Comments frequently mentioned the vacant former Sears space, still empty years after closure, as well as operational shops elsewhere in the building.
The combination of long-term vacancies and steady tenant activity reflected the property’s mixed condition.
It was a great place to shop when it was originally the New England shopping center. Sears and Roebuck was the thriving anchor store back then. Sorry to know it is a shell of its former self. Abandoned by Simon corporation that owns or manages many malls such as the thriving North Shore mall in Peabody.
Thank you for sharing your perspective on Square One Mall. Changes can bring both challenges and opportunities. Square One Mall’s evolution may reflect efforts to revitalize and reposition the space to meet the needs of modern consumers and the local community.
The mall is a joke. Not one decent store or restaurant.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. It could inspire a reevaluation of the mall’s offerings to better cater to customer preferences.
I Appreciate the positivity
I couldn’t agree more! Positivity creates a great atmosphere.
I feel like these abandoned malls would make great housing. I’d live in a mall condo! Plenty of parking, parking garage, keep the food courts and pharmacy, add a grocery store and gym, urgent care.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Converting malls into residential areas complete with lifestyle amenities is a testament to innovative urban planning. It’s a way to breathe new life into spaces that once buzzed with activity.