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…