 | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1874 |
| Defunct | 1976 |
| Fate | Liquidation |
| Headquarters | Springfield, Massachusetts |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. |
| Website | None |
Forbes and Wallace was an American department store chain based in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Forbes and Wallace Store was constructed by partners Alexander B. Forbes and Andrew Brabner Wallace in 1873 at the corner of Main and Vernon (now Boland) Streets, Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1896 Forbes retired and Wallace became sole proprietor.
In 1905 the Store consisted of eight floors and had grown into a complex of six buildings, taking up the entire city block. Forbes & Wallace was considered Springfield's leading retail establishment.
In the 1940s through the early 1970s, Forbes & Wallace also ran several other department stores in Massachusetts and New York State under their original nameplates. In Massachusetts, stores were operated in nearby Holyoke as McCauslan Waklen, and in Northampton as McCallum's. McCallum's former location is now the site of the successful indoor Thornes Marketplace, which took over the vacant space in the late 1970s. The Boston Store in downtown North Adams, MA was also part of the Forbes & Wallace chain. In New York State, Wallace's department store in downtown Schenectady, NY, with branches in Kingston and Poughkeepsie, NY was also operated by Forbes & Wallace until it closed in 1975.
Forbes & Wallace also operated 60,000-square-foot (5,600 m2) store at Fairfield Mall, now the site of Home Depot, in Chicopee, MA. Forbes & Wallace and the now-defunct Two Guys were the low-rent mall's two anchor stores. The Forbes & Wallace at Fairfield Mall was closed in the mid-seventies, replaced by now-defunct Caldor. Two Guys, at the opposite end of the mall, also closed and it was replaced by now-defunct Bradlees.
The mall, then faced with competition from the new and massive Holyoke Mall at Ingleside, went into a long period of decline. It closed in 2001 and was eventually torn down. The site is now a successful plaza featuring Home Depot, Staples, Sleepy's, a party shop and some other stores, anchored on the Bradlees side of the old mall with a Wal-Mart Super Center and ringed by Friendly's, Applebee's and a 99.
Forbes & Wallace also had branch stores at the Eastfield Mall in Springfield, MA and opened a small store at the Manchester Parkade in Manchester, CT. The Eastfield Mall location served Springfield's affluent eastern and southeastern suburban areas and was a very popular shopping destination. The Manchester, CT location was not as successful, as it was located in a small shopping center some distance from Forbes & Wallace's normal trading area, and it competed unsuccessfully with the established Hartford, CT department stores G. Fox & Co. and Sage-Allen Co.
After the demise of Worcester, MA-based Denholm & McKay Company in 1973, Forbes & Wallace briefly operated a store at the Auburn Mall in Auburn, MA in the former Denholm's location.
In 1970, it had a skywalk connecting it to the new 30 story Bay State West. Bay State West had a retail court which was also connected to Springfield's other leading private department store, Steiger's. In 1976 the store was closed and the buildings remained vacant until demolition in 1982.
In 1987, Monarch Place was constructed on the store's former site.
Filene's was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts, was supplemented by the foundation of its off-price sister store Filene's Basement in 1908. Filene's, in partnership with Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, and Shillito's, was an original member of the holding company Federated Department Stores upon its establishment in 1929.
Big Y Foods, Inc. is an American, family-owned supermarket chain located in Massachusetts and Connecticut. It operates under the trade names "Big Y World Class Market" or "Big Y Supermarket".
The Holyoke Mall at Ingleside is a shopping center located in Holyoke, Massachusetts, in the city's Ingleside neighborhood. It is owned by The Pyramid Companies. The mall features 135 stores, a large food court, and several restaurants and is 1.6 million square feet, the third-largest in New England by retail space. The mall currently features Macy's, JCPenney, Target, Best Buy, Burlington, Hobby Lobby, and Christmas Tree Shops, as well as a post office.
Edgar Department Stores was the name of a U.S. based department store that operated in New England. Originally called "The Boston Store," it was founded in Brockton, Massachusetts in 1890. After a second devastating fire in less than 20 years, James Edgar, an immigrant from Edinburgh, Scotland, bought out his partner and in a purpose-built, fire-proof building, re-opened the business as Edgar's in Brockton, Massachusetts.
The Loop, formerly Methuen Mall, is a shopping mall in Methuen, Massachusetts, United States. It was built in 1973 as an enclosed shopping mall on a 60-acre (240,000 m2) site and initially included Howlands and Sears as its anchor stores, as well as 70 other retailers. In 1977, Howlands was replaced by Jordan Marsh, while Filene's Basement was added in the 1980s. Methuen Mall suffered a significant loss in tenancy after both Sears and Filene's Basement moved to The Mall at Rockingham Park across the state line in Salem, New Hampshire. It remained in operation until 1997 and was demolished in early 1999, undergoing redevelopment soon afterward into a strip mall known as The Loop. Major tenants of The Loop are The Home Depot, Marshalls, and AMC Theatres.
Read's Department Stores was a Bridgeport, Connecticut-based retail chain founded in 1857 by D. M. Read. Known for its classy, upscale merchandise, the flagship store was once hailed as New England's largest department store. It expanded to several other locations in the 1950s and 1960s, but these closed progressively through the 1980s and 1990s.
The Eastfield Mall is a shopping mall in Springfield, Massachusetts, which is owned by Mountain Development Corporation, and was built in late 1967 by the Rouse Company. The three anchors, JCPenney, Macy's, and Sears closed in 2011, 2016, and 2018, respectively. The movie theater, Cinemark closed in 2020. The mall is managed by Mountain Development.
The Auburn Mall, managed by Simon Property Group, which owns 56.1% of it, is an enclosed shopping mall located on Route 12 in Auburn, Massachusetts, United States, near the intersection of the Massachusetts Turnpike and I-290/I-395.
Berkshire Mall was a shopping mall located in Lanesborough, Massachusetts outside Pittsfield. The mall was built in 1988 and closed in 2019. It could be reached from both Route 8 and U.S. Route 7. Currently the mall's one tenant is Target.
Westgate Mall is a shopping mall in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts. It is the oldest enclosed shopping mall in the state. Westgate Mall features Best Buy Outlet, Burlington, Dick's Sporting Goods, Liam's Home Furniture, Old Navy, and Planet Fitness. Although Westgate Mall's GLA is small by regional standards, it is also surrounded by numerous adjacent big-box stores including: Walmart, Lowe's, Aldi, Market Basket, Marshalls, and Ocean State Job Lot. These standalone retailers complement the main building, driving increased traffic to the location as a shopping destination.
The Mall at Whitney Field is a shopping mall located off of Route 2 near the junction with Interstate 190 in Leominster, Massachusetts. The mall opened in 1967 and was renovated and renamed in 2004. The mall's anchor stores are Burlington, Gardner Outlet Furniture, and JCPenney with one vacant anchor last occupied by Sears. The mall was previously owned by Walton Street Capital LLC of Chicago until May 2013 when Vintage Real Estate acquired the mall with plans to renovate and turnaround the struggling mall. As of January 8, 2020, the mall is now owned by Hull Property Group.
The Shoppes at Buckland Hills, formerly and commonly known as Buckland Hills Mall is a shopping mall located in Manchester, Connecticut and is currently owned by Spinoso Real Estate Group. The mall is currently anchored by the traditional chains Macy's, JCPenney, Bob's Stores, and Barnes & Noble while featuring the prominent traditional brands Aeropostale, Charlotte Russe, Express, Forever 21, H&M, Build-A-Bear, Newbury Comics, and Windsor.
Porteous, Mitchell & Braun Co., or simply Porteous, was a mid-market department store based in Portland, Maine.
Denholm & McKay Co. was a department store located in Worcester, Massachusetts. The store was a dominant retailer in Central Massachusetts. The store was popularly known as Denholm's or the Boston Store. The company was founded by William Alexander Denholm in 1870. Denholm purchased the dry-goods business of Finley, Lawson, & Kennedy located on the corner of Main and Mechanic street in Worcester. He partnered with Bostonian William C. McKay, which proved to be very successful. In twelve years Denholm and McKay had grown into a retailing giant. That year, the company moved into a new huge quarters specially built for them. Denholm's held a reputation as the biggest store of its kind in New England outside Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. In 1954 with Harry F. Wolf of Shrewsbury, Mass. as president from 1946-1966 the old victorian style facade from 1882 was replaced with a new ultra-modern one, which remains mostly the same today. In 1963 Harry Wolf also has the first escalator installed in the city of Worcester to make shopping easier for customers.. Wolf was a perfectionist and one of the main reasons the store was so successful and profitable all those years. Sadly in 1966 with Wolf's passing the great store went into decline.(Ref. The Story of Worcester's Premier Department Store). In 1971, Denholm's opened its first and only branch at the Auburn Mall, just south of Worcester in Auburn, Massachusetts. In 1969, Gladdings Department Store of Providence merged with Denholm & Mckay. Both stores closed in 1973 due to bankruptcy. The store in downtown Worcester was converted into an office complex, but still bears the Denholm name. The store in the Auburn Mall was converted into a Forbes & Wallace of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Bernie's was a chain of American retail stores based in Enfield, Connecticut, operating locations throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island in the United States. At one time the company was owned by the now defunct Newmark and Lewis.
Steiger's was a department store company of New England in the 19th and 20th centuries. Founded in Holyoke, Massachusetts in 1896, its flagship store for much of the company's history was in Springfield, Massachusetts. At the time of its purchase by May Department Stores, Steiger's was described as the last family-owned chain of department stores in New England.
Ingleside is a neighborhood in Holyoke, Massachusetts located to the south of the city center, approximately 2 miles from downtown. The neighborhood features access to the Connecticut River through the Sue Ellen Panitch River Center and the Land of Providence reservation. Ingleside is also home to the Holyoke Mall, the Nuestras Raices farm, the Sisters of Providence of Holyoke, the Providence Behavioral Health Hospital, and several recreational and historical venues.
This is a timeline of the history of the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA.