When it opened, the nearly 1 million-square-foot Burlington Mall resembled a fanciful tropical city street – a far cry from the enormous gravel pit that preceded it. Photo courtesy of Burlington Retro

What: Burlington Mall Opens
When: July 29, 1968
Where: Burlington 

The Burlington Mall wasn’t the first of its revolutionary new breed of retail real estate in Massachusetts, but the mall marked a defining turning point for the genre. Unlike Framingham’s Shopper’s World, the first mall in Massachusetts, this property was fully indoors and kept at a constant 72 degrees. 

The mall, designed as a single-story structure by Symmes, Mani & McKee Inc. and Herbert H. Johnson Assoc., sat directly between two Route 128 exits connected by a new, four-lane road paid for by the developer, Meyerhoff Corp. 

July 29, 1968 saw the mall’s 6,000-car parking lot jam-packed with shoppers, but only two of the 52 stores to open their doors that day are still operating at the mall: Ann Taylor and Spencer’s Gifts. 

“In our 19 years in the development of shopping centers, we have learned a great deal wbout the planning and operation of centers this size and we have endowed Burlington Mall with the total benefit of our experience.” 

— J.J. Pearlstone Jr., executive vice president, Meyerhoff Corp., to the Boston Globe

To celebrate its 150th anniversary, Banker & Tradesman is highlighting significant moments in the history of Massachusetts’ real estate and banking industries. To suggest a topic, email editorial@thewarrengroup.com.