Westfarms Mall: Not a Dead Mall (Yet). Full Walkthrough. October 2022. West Hartford, CT.
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- čas přidán 1. 11. 2022
- Join me as I take a full walkthrough of Connecticut's third largest mall, and my favorite mall back in the 1980's, Westfarms Mall in West Hartford, Connecticut.
If you have been to this mall before or remember what it was like back in the 70's, 80's and 90's, let me know in the comments!
This video was filmed in October 2022, on a Sunday around 3:00pm.
If you liked this video, please don't forget to give me a thumbs up, leave a comment and subscribe to my channel. I plan to have more live and dead mall videos in the future. Thanks for watching!
Source of information:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westfarms
#mall #connecticut #westhartford #shoppingmall #shoppingmalls #retail
I remember when the mall had rainforest cafe😀
Yes, I used to love the Rainforest Cafe! I went to the one at Westfarms twice, and then it closed. It always felt like going to Disney World. Thanks for watching!
I worked inside one of the restaurants inside Westfarms and this mall is 100% not dying anytime soon. Westfarms basically caters to a higher end customer base, and it shows with the stores they got. Tiffany's and a Louis Vuitton being prime examples. Plus, the mall is literally in between 2 towns that are pretty well-to-do. Since this video aired, 2 high end furniture stores were added, one being where Lord and Taylor used to be. The fact that there is no food court is on purpose, since mall management believes that a food court would bring down the overall high end vibes of Westfarms.
I remember Westfarms from the 1970s. I was a high school junior in 1974 when Westfarms opened. Although my family and I lived east of Hartford, Westfarms was a 'destination' place because of its large size and its original anchor stores, notably G. Fox and Sage-Allen. The shift from shopping and hanging out at department stores such as Fox's downtown store to shopping at malls began in earnest during that decade. Westfarms was convenient to I-84 and had a vast array of shops that appealed to me. In those days, there was no Amazon and no social media. One actually had to go to a shop to get a desired LP record or favorite clothes! Lord & Taylor did open a West Hartford branch, located at Bishops Corner in that town. But L&T transferred its store from West Hartford to Westfarms when that mall opened. My mother liked to shop at L&T during my boyhood years and it remains sad that L&T no longer operates.
Westfarms, Danbury Fair, Westfield Trumbull, and Norwalk (Because it's new) are probably the only four that are doing okay. Crystal, Brass Mills, Meriden, Enfield are all dying on the vine. Buckland Hills is somewhere in between.
Yes, I pretty much agree with that assessment. The only mall I haven't been to yet is the Danbury Fair mall. I hope to get out there next week. Thanks for watching!
wdym "okay" they seem to be doing very well for their area population
I know for a fact that the giant sculptures were there in the 1970's. I remember the alphabet and the giant silver ball. It seemed MASSIVE as a young child and I was terrified that somehow I'd find myself stuck on top of it. It's great to see it's doing well. This was still my favorite mall and it was a treat when we got to go to this one over The Meriden Square, although that was cool too. Thanks for showing it for us.
The only remaining semi successful mall. Clean and secure with a much better element of people.
It doesn't look nowhere near dying, it looks like it's doing pretty well
Thriving, much like Holyoke Mall at Ingleside.
Ok, I think I remember correctly where the Theater was...at 4:50, where California Pizza is, that whole area was the movies. We used to part in that back, where Foxes was to your left facing those glass doors.
OK. Thanks for the info! I only have very vague memories of the theater. Thanks for watching!
I'm doing my part to keep Westfarms alive, but many stores close at 8:00 now, which means if you want to stop by after work and get dinner and shop, it's very tight. I wish they would go back to closing at 9.
That is early for a mall to close. It will be a sad day if/when the mall goes out of business. That place was an important part of my childhood in the 70's and 80's. Thanks for watching!
They are open till 9 now. Although on more than one occasion I went to Johnston & Murphy during daytime hours and it was closed. No sign indicating why. I can only assume due to a lack of personnel.
9pm is way to late to be open. Even 8 is pushing it. Maybe on a Friday/Saturday. But other then that.
Under the stairs at the central court (near where the new elevators are) there used to be this fountain that was just a huge "drain" it was a 6'-8' diameter vortex. In the early 2000's it was ripped out with the rest of the fountains. I think of that fountain vortex constantly. It was unique. This mall really does still capture so much of what has been lost. Amazing. Thanks for the views and memories
This mall and Danbury are still going strong. The interesting aspect of this mall is they have segmented it a bit. There is a wing where all of the “High End” stores are clustered together. Clearly intentional, but I also not know if it is the stores that mandated this or if the mall itself made the decision.
If you do Stamford Town Center or Trumbull I will have lots of comments for you. I practically lived in those malls back in the day.
Yes, I definitely get a "high end" vibe from most of this mall. From what I can remember, it wasn't this "high end" back in the 80's and 90's, or maybe I'm just misremembering. Thanks for watching!
I actually already did the Trumbull Mall a couple of months ago. Check it out. I do plan to do Stamford Town Center before the end of the year. Is there anything special or unusual at Stamford Town Center I should be looking for? Thanks for watching!
@@fleabittenadventures I'll go check out the Trumbull Mall video and leave a comment with my memories.
@@fleabittenadventures Stamford Town Center isn't super unusual. When you do your walk through I will comment with some of the stores I remember. The coolest thing at that mall was the central fountain. When it first opened the bubblers in the fountain used to reach to about the 7th floor. It would happen every 15 minutes or so. At some point they were removed so it is just a normal water fountain. While you are in Stamford there is an interesting outdoor shopping center call Ridgeway Plaza. This was pretty interesting back in the day. There was a Gimbels and Sears as the main anchors. A movie theater. There was also a cool indoor shopping area there called "Forty Boutiques" which was super interesting, but long gone. I think it closed in the early 90s.
This mall’s probably my favorite out of all the ones in CT. I miss some stores like GameStop and Microsoft, but overall I’d say they’re doing pretty well (and the new game store they have is a more than welcome substitute).
The UA Movies at West farms 3 closed at the end of January 1985. Was across from the Perfect Pretzel and adjacent to a family restaurant and a pet shop both which closed in 1984. The corridor there stores were in were in a section of the mall that was in Farmington and not West Hartford! The mall's management office sub-corridor and entry were located adjacent to the mall entry common to the cinema corridor's entry. The cinemas space was quickly converted to make way for a Brooks brothers clothing store however the space was repositioned so that the entry to the new store would have its entry near the mall's center.
@CTBrian thanks for the info, I’ve heard years ago that there was a movie theater there. I wasn’t 100 percent sure though.
My aunt used to live in East Hartford. She loved going to Westfarms. I remember going there with her and my mom around the same time you did (early 80's). Glad to see it's still hanging on.
Yeah, this was pretty much "the mall" in that area back in the 70's and 80's. I really miss all the water fountains they used to have... Thanks for watching!
The theater was on the lower level south side with the entrance being the one next to G Fox/Macy’s; It closed in ‘85. (It was owned by UA, and all the original tenants signed 10-year leases and they decided not to renew.)
I saw all the Star Wars movies there.
Hmmm, a pretty active mall, and an excellent docu-mall video 😎🖖🤟🤜🤛👍
Thanks! I'm glad you liked it and thanks for watching!
I have a copy of the Cerificate of Occupancy somewhere from that JC Penney - a souvenir of the day they closed. Just gave away a Rainforest Cafe mug, picked up at an Ill Will, to a kid who really loved the place. The RC was not in one of those exit corridors; it was smack in front of one of the anchors. The mall never had kiddie rids, never had a food court, never had the vending machines. The shoe place has been there for 40 years that I know of. I used to go there a lot, but haven't in years. I used to park by the upper part of that "new" parking garage. Nordies and Penny's were right together on the spot and it usually had good parking and covered, so your car didn't cook in hot weather and you didn't get wet in bad weather. There was parking right by the Penny's beauty salon too, but you had to know it was there.
Thanks for all that info! And thanks for watching!
Westfarms has something different... Food corridors.
Not even close to being a dead mall. Looks like the busiest mall in New England. Connecticut malls seem to be doing much better than Massachusetts.
As always great video 👍
I grew up less than 2 miles from Westfarms and my first job was at JC Penney in 1986. It’s great to see “home” but having left CT 20 years ago it also makes me kind of sad. So many memories!
Luckily it looks like Westfarms should be around for a good while longer, so hopefully you will get a chance to visit it again. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the upload. Live in West Hartford but haven't been to the mall in years.
Thanks for this video, is great to see
I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!
GFox and Sage Allen? This guy must be as old as I am! I’m not a mall goer but the last time I was there was the Apple Store. At over 50 years of age it has been well maintained without the trashy features like food courts and entertainment facilities.
Let's just say we could have been in high school at the same time....
I worked at Kay Bee Toys there in the early 90s, also I miss the Rainforest Cafe. They did have a small arcade for a short while in the past year or so.
Another word for ombre is gradient its line purple fades to rose fades to yellow it's like Louis Vuitton fashion shows
Interesting. Thanks for watching.
Looks like a nice mall.
I would say it's probably the nicest and busiest mall in northern/central CT. Thanks for watching!
Love this mall! I remember eating at Nordstrom with grandma and trying my first cobb salad and also going to rain forest
Thanks for the excellent video. I still live a few miles from West Farms Mall and I remember when they were building it. Back in the late 1970's they had a York's Steak house there (similar to Ponderosa or Bonanza) where there is now a Subways.
I grew up in New Britain as a kid and this was the spot! It was new then. I remember when it started getting fancy right before we left CT. Was shopping there about 10 years ago. Good to see it’s still doing good in these times but it’s still too fancy for me( stores)
Used to love this place, the art was inspiring, back in the 70s
Remember the water fountains? Personally, that was my favorite part when I was a young kid.
Lived in East Hartford in the 80's...this was our go to mall, good to see it isn't dead.
Grew up in Glastonbury. Westfarms was the place to go in the 80’s / Buckland in the 90’s. It was Skate Fantasy on Friday nights in Manchester, the mall on Saturday. The social status back then.
Lord & Taylor at Westfarms is now Jordan’s Furniture. It opened in late 2023.
Yes, I did a video there that pretty much no one watched....
The movie theater was right where California Pizza is at 4:50 , basically on the opposite side of where you entered. I watched Star Wars there in the late 70's 10 or so times. There was an Electronics Boutique across the aisle where I bought all my PC games in the 80's. I worked the Christmas / Santa setup in the center one year when there was a fountain there. Burger King was around where you entered.
It's nice that it's still a thriving mall, although as you say they've removed the fun stuff so as to focus on high-income folks. I still stop by occasionally just to pop into the LEGO store.
The facade was decent lookin also. Not too old lookin , well kept
11:10 The cranked alphabet sculpture. Memorable, indeed.
Yes, that sculpture is one of my strongest memories from this mall when I was a kid in the 70's and 80's. That and the aluminum sculpture in my thumbnail. Thanks for watching!
That’s my mall😊 The movies were located near the current rear entrance next to what’s now CA Pizza Kitchen. Thanks for doing these videos,very enjoyable. So many memories here.
I'm glad you like the videos! And thanks for the info on the movie theater. My memories of it are very spotty.
Watching from Ventura CA....oh the good ol' mall days! I'm surprised there are still so many malls open with Amazon and online shopping.
I think the only thing keeping them open is clothing stores because people want to be able to see the clothes in person and try them on. I think probably 80% of the stores at Westfarms are clothing stores. Thanks for watching!
The "Movies at Westfarms" was located in the northwest entrance off South Road next to Macy's across from current day Sbarro between Taco Bell and Dunkin' Donuts...or thereabouts. Used to be such a treat to go see a movie there. My oldest brother took me to see Star Wars (Ep IV) for my 11th birthday Labor Day weekend in 1977. I remember there used to be a news stand across from the theater and there was also a pet store in that same hallway. I saw Led Zeppelin Song Remains the Same and Pink Floyd The Wall midnight movies there in Spring 1984, so the theater closed sometime after that.
There was a restaurant called Brown Derby Deli next to the theater. I loved going there for a sandwich after an afternoon movie.
Worked at the Met Museum of Art store back in the 1990's. Loved driving from Bristol to go shopping at this mall.
Yeah, this used to be THE MALL back in the day. Good times!
I saw Snow white and the 7 dwarfs in the late 70s at the movie theater. Used to go every Saturday night after Church.
The first time I went to West Farms Mall was the late 70's while I was still in high school. I believe it opened in the mid 70's, Cheers.
Last time I was there it was 1978, went to see Animal House at the theater that was there.
I remember it had 2 great stores Fao Schwarz and the rain forest cafe , went to colledge in west hartford.
Late 90's I commuted to CCSU and I spent a lot of time at this mall in between classes. Been many years since I've been here.
Loved going to York Steakhouse, only one left in the country in Columbus Ohio
Thats my Mall.🥰
Still one of my favorite malls
Yes the cinema is where CPK is now. I seem to remember a restaurant called Kathy John's that was nearby
I like the roof in this mall, nice modern look, lots of interesting curves. Definetly has soem decent foot traffic. I like the elevator design also, shinny and shaped like a diamond. Some malls are too white, Like there is no contrast, but the tile floor being beige gives the mall a warm feeling and some contrast. Love that ceiling tho. Nice mall.
The Marketplace at Steamtown has a glass elevator like the one at Westfarms, plus I originally live in the Scranton area of PA. Just attending technical school in CT.
I think that style of elevator was probably fairly popular back in the 1970's. There probably are/were a lot of malls with very similar elevators. Thanks for watching!
Taubman's malls always had distinctive architectural character.
This reminds me of Fair Oaks Mall in Northern Virginia.
Wondering if you’ve been to Providence Place Mall in Rhode Island. It’s a beautiful mall downtown. I understand this thread is about a mall in CT but if you live in Eastern CT you’re likely to choose that one, too. Love your videos!
Yes, it's on my list of malls to see in 2023!
The ad on the wall by l'occitaine shows the product Immortelle Reset in an ombre bottle that is high fashion trend cool
Interesting. Thanks for watching.
One the few malls that still dose very well..compared to many..
The double elevator in the center court was double escalator back in the day, right ?
I live near this mall. Let me tell you around Christmas time, parking is terrible at this mall. Good good luck getting a parking space near the entrance
I lived nearby at Farmington Woods from 1999 to 2004. The less said about that experience the better.
I've never been to Farmington Woods, but the area looks nice.
Have you done the one in west nyack ny? It’s the pallides mall it’s really busy there from the times I been
Is that the one with the comedy club inside?
An excellent video documenting this mall... However, perhaps, I am old school mall goer that I need Collector's.shops, video game shops, and something related to arcades... Geees, anyway, nice mall, man but too upscale and expensive brand collection mall...
Did it not have a waterfall/fountain? Or am I remembering somewhere else? We lived in west Hartford '88 -'91
You walking in the mall with this video angle brought back many childhood memories. In the 80's and 90's, that was the place to go, I am not old enough to remember the 70's. It gave kids something to do or a place to work in high school or college, now that is not an option for young kids so they stir up trouble in other bad ways.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video! The mall was definitely the place to go back in the 80's. Back then, it seemed like a major event when we would go to the mall. Good times. Thanks for watching!
This place used to have a US General tool store!
A sign of the health of this mall, there is probably more new construction going on here right now then any mall in CT.. A large Jordan's Furniture filling the space of the old Lord & Taylor and another high end furniture store Arhaus is under construction as well. Construction includes a new exterior facade on the front of the mall. There are also some smaller high end stores coming very soon. I dont know the occupancy percentage here but it has to be pretty high.
Yes, I would probably say this is one of the healthiest malls in CT.
Eyy my home town mall. The stores used to be more varied but its mostly upscale crap. Buckland mall is a little better but not by much it had a really cool arcade near the food court
I remember that theater…I don’t recall where it was…I recall a number of stores that used to be there
Like I said in the video, I have a very distinct memory of watching The Empire Strikes back in that theatre in 1980. That's probably my earliest clear memory of Westfarms. I miss those days. Thanks for watching!
@@fleabittenadventures I don’t think I ever saw a movie there, which is unfortunate, but I do recall the smell of popcorn everytime I walked by it.
@@scottb430 It's funny how smells are often our strongest memories. Sometimes I will smell a random smell and suddenly I'm remembering something from 30 years ago.
The cinema was on the same side of the mall as Lord & Taylor, but at the mall entrance, not store entrance, closest to 84.
I remember those. I think they were UA theatres.
Thanks for the info. I think it's been closed for almost 40 years at this point, so my memory of it is very vague. Thanks for watching!
Interesting. I don't think I have seen a UA theater since probably the 1980's. Thanks for the info!
The Movie theater was in the location were California Pizza is located
Missing Connecticut, trying to move back
I don't think I could ever move out of Connecticut, at least not permanently. It's too much a part of me.
@@fleabittenadventuresTom, that is so sweet to say about your home state, the Nutmeg State. It greatly reminds me of a line from the movie version of gone with the wind, the one where Rhett said to Scarlett:You seem to draw your strength from this red Earth of Tara. You're part of it , and it's part of you. I may visit other places, but my home state of Massachusetts is my favorite place in the world.
I tried it twice, as much as everyone complains about it, there's no place like home. Hope u make it back
@fleabittenadventures Yeah, I agree with you. This mall is trying to be more upscale.
Looks a lot like Short Hills mall in NJ
Its the same onwer
I think a lot of these malls have cookie cutter designs. For example, the Holyoke Mall and Meriden Mall seem to have almost the same exact layout from the outside, or at least large portions of the outside. Thanks for watching!
That makes sense.
i went here after christmas and au bon pain was closed so it must of closed in nov or dec at some point plus its no long listed on their website or the malls
I used to love Au Bon Pan. Too bad it's gone....
Surprised I didnt see any security in your video. I know you try to avoid them but usually you still see them. I know they are definitely there.
They were there, but I think I only saw maybe one or two from a distance. Security was definitely light here.
I miss the giant whirlpool fountain in the center of the mall from back in the day
This guy's voice sounds familiar but I doubt when we were kids he was getting prank calls at the radio station
Are you saying my voice sounds familiar? If so, I wasn't getting prank calls at a radio station, but I was getting them at home. Thanks for watching.
Lord and Taylor soon to be Jordan's Furniture...
My fearless prediction is that Boscov's will leave the slumping Meriden Mall as soon as it can and move into the Lord & Taylor space.
We'll see. I'll be taking a look at the Meriden Mall sometime soon, I think. Thanks for watching!
@@fleabittenadventures Poor Meriden Mall is really dying fast. So sad, it was such a fun part of my kids' childhoods. They still have the best Pretzeltime!
It's supposed to become Jordan's Furniture
We have or had a Zales Jewellery shop in the UK
I wonder if they are/were owned by the same company. Zales is a pretty big jewelry store on the east coast of the US. Thanks for watching!
Just found out that Signet,a British company I worked for.Owns Zales and Kay jewellery and others in the US!
@@davidknowles3459 Not too surprising I guess. I think one of the biggest mall owners in the US, Westfield Corporation, is actually an Australian company.
It was near burger King 👑 it was at near the exit buckland mall arcade
OK. Got it. Thanks for watching!
Do not manifest this energy for this mall. This mall is always packed!
Styx thanks for telling people how to start forest fires
There’s no arcades, no gum ball or vending machines and no food court….and the mall is thriving. Hmmm.
They may be short of a food "court",but they have something new , food "corridors"
Or should I say different instead of new?
My prom date had to dump me to go to college but he was going to work for the campus radio station which is cool so its justified I was sad he dumped me
Sorry to hear that. Thanks for watching.
The alphabet was always there
I thought so. I remember it from the late 70's, but I wasn't around when the mall opened to be sure. Thanks for watching!
✔️ ᎮᏒᎧᎷᎧᏕᎷ
OK.
Another word for ombre is gradient its line purple fades to rose fades to yellow it's like Louis Vuitton fashion shows
Interesting. Thanks for watching.
This guy's voice sounds familiar but I doubt when we were kids he was getting prank calls at the radio station
Are you saying my voice sounds familiar? If so, I wasn't getting prank calls at a radio station, but I was getting them at home. Thanks for watching.
My prom date had to dump me to go to college but he was going to work for the campus radio station which is cool so its justified I was sad he dumped me
Sorry to hear that. Thanks for watching.
This guy's voice sounds familiar but I doubt when we were kids he was getting prank calls at the radio station
Are you saying my voice sounds familiar? If so, I wasn't getting prank calls at a radio station, but I was getting them at home. Thanks for watching.