The Mall at Rockingham Park

The Mall at Rockingham Park is the largest shopping mall in the state of New Hampshire,[1] with 1,024,171 square feet (95,148.6 m2) of floor space. The mall is located in the town of Salem, about 30 miles (48 km) north of Boston.[2] The mall is adjacent to Interstate 93 and the former Rockingham Park race track in Salem, and was the state's third shopping mall to be built. The mall now hosts 144 stores. The mall features the traditional retailers Macy's, JCPenney, and Dick's Sporting Goods. The mall is managed by Simon Property Group, which owns 28.2% of it. As of March 2015, the mall was Simon's highest grossing center, with annual sales of $2,105 per square foot.[3]

The Mall at Rockingham Park
The mall food court as seen on January 1, 2014. The carousel has since been removed as part of a renovation.
LocationSalem, New Hampshire, United States
Coordinates42°46′06″N 71°13′51″W
Opening dateAugust 1991
ManagementSimon Property Group
OwnerSimon Property Group (28.2%)
No. of stores and services144
No. of anchor tenants3
Total retail floor area1,024,171 sq ft (95,148.6 m2)
No. of floors2
WebsiteMall at Rockingham Park

Like the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, the Mall at Rockingham Park is located close to the Massachusetts state line and draws many customers from that state. New Hampshire has no sales tax on most goods. The success of the Mall at Rockingham Park, which opened in August 1991, caused the Methuen Mall across the line in Methuen, Massachusetts, to close in 1997; it was replaced with The Loop, a "big box"-style center. The Mall at Rockingham Park also caused the adjacent (and older) Rockingham Mall to convert into a "big box" center, as Salem could no longer support two shopping malls. In 2006, the mall's original Macy's store (formerly Jordan Marsh) was closed with all Filene's converting into Macy's.

In 2012, Lord & Taylor renovated and converted the former Macy's space, opening its only New Hampshire store in March 2012.[4] In 2015, Dick's Sporting Goods reconstructed Sears' second floor as part of a deal with the company while Sears consolidated to an updated store format.[5][6] Dick's opened October 2015.

On August 22, 2018, it was announced Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate its traditional brick-and-mortar store format.[7][8] A Cinemark Theatres complex opened in 2020 near the site of the original Sears Auto Center, which is separate from the rest of the mall.

On August 27, 2020, it was announced that upscale specialty department store retailer Lord & Taylor would shutter its traditional brick and mortar format as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

Design

Internal design

The center of the Mall at Rockingham Park is a circular walkway on both floors. In the center of this circle, there is a staircase to travel between floors. From this center, there are two major corridors at approximately a 140° angle. The longer corridor, which goes almost due north of the center, leads to Dick's Sporting Goods at the end, and the entrance to JCPenney partway along the corridor. The shorter corridor leads southeast, with Macy's at the end of this corridor. The central circle also connects to a food court.

Parking and surrounding roads

Route 38 surrounds most of the Mall at Rockingham Park. From Route 38, there are several entrances. Exit 1 northbound on Interstate 93 has a ramp that provides quick access to the mall; southbound, Exit 1 also provides access, but it is not as direct.

Between the mall and Route 38 to the east is a parking lot with two levels. The upper level provides access to all parts of the mall. A smaller parking lot on the southwest side of the mall leads to the southern half; there is another lot north of Dick's Sporting Goods and one east of Route 38 that was intended for the now-defunct racetrack.

References
  1. Rathbun, Robert Davis (September 1, 1992). "Shopping Centers and Malls". Retail Reporting Corporation. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  2. "Simon Announces Completion of Major Renovation at The Mall at Rockingham Park". Salem, NH Patch. 2015-10-16.
  3. "Simon's top-grossing malls revealed". Shopping Centers Today. May 1, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  4. Hogan, Cara. "Salem ready to welcome Lord & Taylor". Eagle-Tribune.
  5. "At Mall at Rockingham Park | Seritage". seritage.com.
  6. Ireland, Doug (February 21, 2015). "Salem Sears leases space to Dick's". The Eagle-Tribune. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  7. "Here's the list of 46 more Sears, Kmart stores to close in late 2018". WCVB. 2018-08-22.
  8. "Sears to close Salem, Manchester stores". NH Business Review. 2018-08-23.
  9. Thomas, Lauren; Rattner, Nate (2020-08-20). "Lord & Taylor is closing two dozen stores. Here's a map of where they are". CNBC.
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