TRUMBULL – A former patron of Trumbull Shopping Park in the 1960s recalls going to Woolworths as a kid to look at the pets downstairs and his grandmother treating him to a patty melt and ice cream at the lunch counter.
“I remember back-to-school shopping at D.M. Reads. And I remember Waldbaums (supermarket) out back,” @NYCJohnnyLES commented on a recent YouTube video posted by Fleabitten Adventures. Many long-time residents of Greater Bridgeport remember such store names as E.J. Korvette, Thom McAn Shoes, Lofts Candy, Bond Clothes, Marcelino’s Barber Shop, and Stuarts Ladies’ Ready-to-Wear, to name a few.
Gone are the days when the now Trumbull Mall, which opened in 1964, had a mix large retail stores, pharmacies, movie theaters, and food markets. Instead, today it is struggling with big box stores, trendy clothing and jewelry stores as it tries to stay alive under new management. The number of empty storefronts and going-out-of-business sale signs has reached 32 as of April 10. That leaves the mall with a vacancy rate of about 23%, including those that intend to close soon.
As far as mall vacancies in Connecticut go, the Stamford area (which includes the Trumbull Mall) has an average vacancy rate of 9.5% compared to New Haven with a 25.3% vacancy rate. Of the four major malls in Fairfield County, the Stamford and Trumbull malls are languishing, according to Co-Star data. Meanwhile, the much newer SoNo Collection in Norwalk and the older Danbury Fair Mall are doing well.
In addition to the one-time anchor Lord & Taylor, such stores and restaurants as Guacamole’s, Rainbox, ICING fashion and jewelry accessories, American Eagle Outfitters, 7-11, Lettiful, Sisters Irma’s have left since the beginning of 2025. While the Trumbul Mall has certainly suffered down periods before, this own looks a bit different as the rate of vacancies has started to pick up.
The fate of the mall and its surrounding neighborhood concerns many of the town residents who showed up to the three public meetings held by First Selectman Vicky Tesoro over the past year.
“I’ve been in the real estate business for 39 years,” Terry Sheehan, a real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties, said at the March 26 meeting. “Here’s why I can tell you why I’m here tonight. It’s to get a vision of what is to become of our Trumbull Mall. I’ve seen many things that I like and things I don’t like.
“But here’s one thing that there is no doubt in my mind that if we’re not proactive to do something with the Trumbull Mall, this mall will disappear and this town will go to hell.”
The mall’s downturn has not gone unnoticed by the Town of Trumbull, which has completed a feasibility and land use study for the mall area with the idea of creating a new mixed-use district that would encompass the mall and include senior housing, a hotel, a prepared fresh foods grocer, innovation and research employment space, as well as a recreation and wellness area.
One thing that is clear is that the new owner, Namdar, is not looking to sell so soon after purchasing the mall from Westfield two years ago.
“I have talked to people I know who would consider purchasing the mall,” said Rina Bakalar, town economic and community development director. “I can’t sell it to them; I don’t own it. It’s not for sale. Believe me, there are people we are talking to. We spoke to Steve Levin, owner of the CT Post Mall. He’s not interested in buying the Trumbull Mall. He has given us a lot of insight and a lot of ideas.”
Following months of public meetings through the collaboration of Bakalar’s office and Stantec –a sustainable engineering, architecture, and environmental consultant — First Selectman Tesoro has moved the mall study along. While there is no actual plan before the town planning and zoning commission to carry out the vision, Tesoro is hoping to bring the idea to market soon.
“It is essential for us to research and understand the complexities of the real estate infrastructure, property ownership, lease restrictions, community desires and market realities to formulate a collective vision and a path forward,” Tesoro said in describing some of the challenges. “A really important word you will hear tonight is ‘potential.’ What is the potential to this area and how do we unlock that potential?”
At the March 26 public meeting Bakalar described that the study area runs from the Merritt Parkway to the Trumbull-Bridgeport line, along Main Street and Madison Avenue. While the plan does not encompass the mall property, per se, it does include 1.1 million square feet of in-fill development that could add substantially to the town’s Grand List, number of jobs, and amenities, she said.
“We’re talking about a massive transformation and a tremendous opportunity,” Bakalar said. “When we started on this process, wherever we stand in this world we know there’s opportunity there. But what is the actual opportunity there and how do we get at that?”
She added that an important of the research includes “peeling back” such things as who owns this real estate and what lease restrictions exist.
“There’s not an active development proposal today for this property,” she said. “What we had to do was get our head around a vision that the market would support there, what the community supports there in general. We are looking at really transforming it from a parking lot and buildings to a neighborhood district with lots of things going on there.”
Maggie Connor, a principal with Stantec, described the mall transformation plan and feasibility study to those present at the March 26 meeting.
(Since) “the town does not physically own any of the properties we are talking about, it’s a question of the capacity of the town to regulate and to guide planning in pushing this in the right direction,” Connor said. “The next step for this are approvals and ultimately the (updated) POCD (Plan of Conservation and Development) getting adopted.”
Following that, town officials have to take the plan to market. She noted that the challenge there is packaging it in a way that advertises and shines light on the opportunity in Trumbull.
“The opportunity here is two-fold: creating real economic value, not only in terms of the value it can bring to the properties but in attracting quality jobs and attracting new kinds of employment and attracting community uses,” Connor said.
The opportunity for success is there for the taking, according to Connor. She cited the town’s demographics: 37,000 residents, 13,000 households, a median income of about $165,000 and “a ton of buying power to support businesses.”
The idea seems to have the attention of reside
