Comments on: The Opening of the Chelmsford Mall, 1973 – Remembering Child World and Bradlees

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 17:46:30 +0000

Does anyone remember a juniors clothing store in that mall? It was a small long narrow store in the middle of the mall. Not Hit or miss… I bought bongo jeans there! Lol.. Mid to late 80s…

By: Forgotten New England

Forgotten New England — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:35:00 +0000

Hi Scott – thanks for stopping by. I remember Channel and F&M. I had forgotten about The Food Outlet. As great as the Pheasant Lane seemed when it opened in 1986, it just never had a store quite like Child World.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 20:59:55 +0000

Stop and Shop was in there to the extreme left maybe two years at most. Replaced by ‘The Food Outlet’ (great homemade peanut butter!), then Channel, then F&M. I worked at Child World there from ’85-’92. A great mall for it’s time. The opening of Pheasant Lane Mall in 1986 spelled the beginning of the end for this unique ‘Neighborhood Mall’.

By: Jo

Jo — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 19:46:52 +0000

I loved Smokers Corner

By: Forgotten New England

Forgotten New England — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 22:34:36 +0000

Thanks Brett – great idea about Whalom Park. I’ll look into that. Benson’s would be an interesting post too.

By: Brett

Brett — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:17:57 +0000

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, we used to visit that mall a lot when I was a kid, now I work just down the street from there. I miss Child World and Bradlees. However, I do not remember the Stop & Shop being there at all.

For a while there a was an old Bradlees cargo container (from the back of a semi) parked near the Target in Leominster, but sadly it disappeared a couple years ago as well.

I’d love to see you write up a piece on Whalom Park.

By: Eileen Loucraft

Eileen Loucraft — Fri, 04 May 2012 13:34:25 +0000

I remember riding my bike inside the mall when it was under construction. There was also a GAP, smoke shop, Garden of Eden and a tiki hut that made the best blender drinks.

By: Pat Armstrong Burns

Pat Armstrong Burns — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:39:11 +0000

So-Fro fabric store was there. That was when there were at least 3 fabric stores in town. The Silver Thimble was in Parlmont Plaza. There was one at Drum Hill, but I can’t remember its name.

By: Forgotten New England

Forgotten New England — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:03:19 +0000

Hi Karen – it’s good to hear that someone remembers the Stop & Shop at the Chelmsford Mall. I couldn’t picture where it was or could have been. I’m thinking it must have been in Channel’s spot, where the Staples is now.

By: Karen Spence

Karen Spence — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:00:07 +0000

I loved Hit or Miss. I bought suits there and put them on layaway, paying a little every week until they were paid off. They had great in-between season sales, too. I forgot all about Fayva shoes! There was a music store in there too that sold all kinds of instruments including large pianos. That was a common thing in those days, so much so that a stand-up comedian included the absurdity of it in one of his bits where he says he told his wife while walking in the mall to “wait, before we leave I’m going to pick up a piano.” Back then, malls were considered places where you would buy things you could take away with you on the spot.

I remember Channel, bought some superglue and some picture hangers one time, but I only vaguely remember Stop and Shop being there, probably because I was too young to shop for food at the time when it was there.

Later in the early 90′s there was a store in that space called F&M that sold everything from housewares, to beauty supplies, to baby stuff and so much more, all for cheap. It was a fun store. My grand aunt used to call it “that F& store,” which came out really funny. I still use a big boar’s hair bristle hair brush that I bought there.