Lincoln Mall

Ahh...the Lincoln Mall.

It was once the biggest retail outlet in Northern Rhode Island. Now, it’s an embarrassment! The mall was built in the mid-1970’s and was designed to carry two large anchors, two smaller anchors, a 4-screen movie theater and could hold up to 75 stores in its interior. The large plot of land was also had room for a fast-food restaurant (McDonald’s – still there today) and a supermarket with a small strip mall attached that could accomodate five storefronts. The mall itself was one-level and split in two with even number of stores on both sides. For many years, the only ‘competition’ was the Warwick and Rhode Island Malls down in Warwick, which is 25 mins. south of Lincoln. Because Rhode Islanders typically do not drive 15 minutes out of their way for any reason, the existence of these malls was not a huge economic threat. The Lincoln Mall was built in a great location at the junction of Interstate 295, State Highway 146 and local state road Route 116. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, the Lincoln Mall boasted several well-known stores but specialized in “Mom and Pop” establishments. My earliest recollection of early anchors at the mall were the two middle-of-the-road department stores of Caldor and Zayre’s. While having two anchors of the same type was not the smartest idea, it seemed to work… until Zayre’s declared Chapter 11. In Zayre’s place came Ames (which took over most Zayre locations) in the mid-1980’s. Ames did not last long at the Lincoln Mall (only about 4 years) and when the company needed to make some cuts, Lincoln Mall was first on its list. When Ames went bust, the smaller Rhode Island clothing chain, Peerless, also closed its doors in the Lincoln Mall. Sadly, this was a sign of things to come.

The big death knell for the Lincoln Mall was the opening of the 3-story powerhouse Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro, MA in 1989. Emerald Square is also right off Interstate 295 and is only 15 MINUTES from Lincoln Mall. Uh-oh! 15 minutes… you saw many Lincoln residents FLEEING to the superior mall because it is in that 15 minute tolerance! And so, the Lincoln Mall immediately felt the blow of its clientele wanting to go to chain stores instead of the Mom and Pop’s. The Mom and Pop’s soon buckled under the pressure and one by one left the mall. Hope arrived in 1992 when K-Mart opened in the Ames vacant spot and a fabrics store took over the vacant Peerless location. While K-Mart did revive the small (slightly), it was still on the same level as Caldor and did not offer the consumer much of a difference in terms of product.

The Chapter 11 wheels just kept on turning, though! The on-site supermarket, Almacs, closed in 1992. That fabrics store was HISTORY in a short amount of time and nothing replaced it except for a horrid kiddie carnival center. Smaller clothier Cherry and Webb closed in the late 1990’s, as did the 4-screen theater and the Dream Machine arcade across from it. Caldor declared bankruptcy at the turn of the millenium and vacated. The mall was sinking FAST with its 1/2 anchor of K-Mart and only a few notable stores (CVS, The Gap, Waldenbooks, Radio Shack, Famous Footwear, Champs, Foot Locker). Desperate Mom and Pop’s hung on for dear life with little clientele. Lincoln institutions like the pet store and the mens’ accessory shop finally called it quits. Empty storefronts outnumbered occupied ones and the mall was barely breathing. The fact that you could get a parking space by the door at the peak of Christmas season spoke volumes all in itself.

The early 2000’s saw an attempt to revitalize the mall. Caldor was demolished and a Super Stop and Shop was installed (with a gas station in the parking lot). The Stop and Shop would have no interior mall access. HomeGoods entered the vacant Peerless location, Pay/Half entered the vacant Cherry and Webb location, and a very small Marshall’s was squeezed inbetween the HomeGoods and Stop and Shop (where the pet store used to be.) The 4-screen theater comically turned into the Visiting Nurses of Rhode Island (why, no one knows). Most of these stores had interior mall access and exterior access, however, most just used the outside access and avoided the interior like the plague. It also didn't help that the magnificent 4-level high-end Providence Place Mall (which is only TEN MINUTES away) opened in late 2002 and gave Lincoln residents yet another reason to avoid Lincoln Mall.

The new stores didn’t assist the mall’s interior. The stores inside the mall just didn’t have a chance and the few familiar retail outlets mentioned earlier finally flew the coop. A decision was made in late 2004 to demolish the inside of the mall in favor of more space for the big-ticket anchors.

The mall still has kept its same shell but has almost nothing inside it. It looks awful and nothing looks consistent. K-Mart was part of the demolition and a Target Department store is soon to open in that spot. The low-budget retailer Ocean State Job Lot now occupies the former Almacs Supermarket location. A new 14 screen theater is set for construction on the land in the back of the former mall, as is a larger chain restaurant. What once was a terrific place to shop and hang out in the 1970's-1980's is now a disorganized, ugly strip mall with little to offer.

Anecdotes

Kristen C As a former frequenter of the Lincoln Mall, I have nothing but fond memories. Begging my Mom and Gram for more quarters to play skee-ball at Dream Machine, buying Ceasar (my little Maltese – now in puppy heaven) at Rumford Pet Center, looking for new Atari games at KB Toys and going to work at Spencer Gifts next door to the Roast House. Those days were much more simple. Going to the mall now, although it’s still fun to look around, will never match running through the Dream Machine with so many quarters in my pockets that my pants could barely stay up.

Bob E Midland Mall (RI Mall) is most likely headed the same way. It’s basically a shell/retail wasteland between three large stores, two of which want no physical connection to the mall as I am sure they’ve seen the handwriting. Back in The Day, Lincoln and Midland Malls, on a Saturday were da bomb. Every kid and his family loved just hanging around and walking by the gauntlets of suited salesmen in the Sears TV Dept which is now (what’s left of Sears which is K-Mart, essentually) all basically self service. Those guys all had CAREERS at places like Sears when it was more than a job to them. I even suspect Warwick Mall is on the decline – one end (what used to be Jordan Marsh/Macys) of it is almost deserted. The saddest fate I ever saw of what was the granddaddy of ALL malls was in Rochester NY, a downtown mall that was the model for such malls as Midland, was now a shell filled with what amounted to flea markets inside of what were always polished and shining shoe stores (Florsheim) or candy shops (Fanny Farmer). There was a used/new CD/DVD store and, a joke shop, and… oddly, a quite active food court.
A hotel employee where I stayed said this place was BIG in the 60’s through the mid-80’s and fell into decline fast as the 90’s wore on and the sprawl of Target, Walmart, continued. He said it was like dominoes how they all left or went under.

Joe R. I still have alot of good memories of the Lincoln Mall. I can still remember sitting in the car, stuck on the highway because there was a ton of people who wanted to see it on its opening day. I was a little kid back then and can still remember the flood of people getting a glipse of all the stores. I can remember Almacs, Caldor, Zayre, K-Mart, and most of all Woolworths When I was a teen, I would head up there with my friends and catch a movie (when they were like $4), spend all my money at the Dream Machine (always wanted to work there) and grab a bite to eat at Papa Ginos or a shake from the Magic Menu. I still didn’t understand why they had a Lowery organ store there but can still remember that guy playing all day long just to get customers to come into the store.
Looking at it now, it is just a joke. It is now the 8-track player or beta max machine of Rhode Island and should be torn down. I will always have my memories of when it was the “in place” but Lincoln Mall is just sad now

Domenic you forgot to mention when mall was built the Outlet was an anchor.

Chris Like with the Rhode Island (formerly Midland) Mall, it is sad to watch the slow demise of Lincoln Mall, though the new movie theatre is 100 times better than the old one.

Pete Falina I recall the construction of the Lincoln Mall, particularly the unusual exterior wall panels that were cast on site. I believe the mall opened with a Woolco in the space that became Caldor later.

jh Hanging at the Lincolm Mall… what else was a teenager in nearby North Smithfield to do? A birthday party at the Papa Gino’s one year and friends’ birthdays at the Dream Machine the next (I always wanted one of my own). I remember the cars that would be parked in the mall (why?). I remember my high school band playing in the central atrium, and looking at the pets in the window at the pet store after a movie with a high school girlfriend. Interesting how the mall has sort of imploded. Makes me wonder what will happen to the Emerald Mall in ten years, or Providence Place in fifeteen.

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Ahh...the Lincoln Mall.

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