Assembly Square Marketplace, Somerville, MA

Assembly Square Mall in Somerville, Massachusetts was placed on the dead mall listing in 2001. In 2005 the original mall structure was demolished and it seemed the end for the Assembly Square Mall. However, it was able to rally, and as of 2006 it has been reopened as Assembly Square Marketplace.

Assembly Square Mall was demolished in 2005, but it actually took seven years from when the mall became mostly dead for it to be revamped. Up until 1997 the mall was fairly successful then a few new buildings seemed to kill it. After a long political debate it was decided new structures would be put in the old malls place. Eventually all the buildings were complete in 2006 and it was finally reopened.

To start off the Assembly Square Mall was originally built in 1981 at the former Ford Motors Assembly Plant, hence the "assembly'' in the mall name. The plant sat on the banks of the Mystic River. First National Supermarkets which became Stop and Shop moved into the mall, Jordan Mash was at the north end of the mall, and a Kmart Store anchored the south section. All told the mall was 340,000 square feet with a food court in the center. The food center did not open until the 90's. Also during the past decade Home Depot and Circuit City were added to the mall. They were satellite properties as an extension of the mall.

Macy's took over Jordan Marsh in 1996, helping to bring their chain to the mall. Macy's and Kmart were not great stores to have near each other, with Macy's being a more expensive store and Kmart the most inexpensive. Still, Macy's felt the store was worth keeping open after the acquisition. This did not last long. By 1999 much of the mall was closing and it was definitely not keeping up. Gap, CVS and other popular store chains left and in its place were 19 "junk'' stores.

Six months after most of the stores left, Kmart decided to remodel their store in the hopes that it would help. During 2004 the mall was mostly empty, and then in 2005 the buildings were torn down, except for Kmart. About February 2005 building began on new buildings.

The Assembly Square Marketplace that exists now is a stripe style mall rather than the larger one building mall with indoor retail places it used to be. The mall is set up with streets, outdoor store fronts, and blocks of buildings. The store area that was Macy's is now a Christmas Tree Shop and Staples. AC Moore, The Sports Authority, Bed Bath and Beyond, and TJ Maxx are all a part of the New Marketplace Mall. As with many strip malls the stores tend to open at 10 am daily and later on Sunday. The mall does have a few restaurant style places to eat, rather than a food court. There are also options for outdoor seating, and the mall may have more stores in the future now that it has been re-established.