This story has been updated to correct the tenure of GM Dan Stolzenbach and the number of tenants at Stamford Town Center.
STAMFORD – When Dan Stolzenbach took over leasing at the 761,000-square-foot Stamford Town Center in 2020 four years after he started working there, he was staring at a nearly empty food court, only three restaurants, the lack of big box retailers and a dearth of families walking around the mall.
Five years later, the general manager is seeing the fruit of a new strategy that has basically saved the aging mall from extinction with an innovative twist that now attracts retailers and customers alike.
“I got here 10 years ago,” said Stolzenbach, a Southport resident. “We had a lot of retail. We had some restaurants and some services. And that was basically our merchandising plan. Not much in the way of activities at all.
“You fast forward and SoNo Collection opens (in October 2019). SoNo Collection wants to be a very high-end mall. It wants to get the Louis Vuittons and Guccis of the world. They don’t come. So, they are like, ‘What should we do?’ They come to Stamford and grab all our retailers.
“Basically, they told all of our retailers, ‘Why don’t you come up to our mall? It’s anchored by Nordstrom and Bloomingdales. We’ll build you a brand new space and we’ll give you free rent for a couple of years.’”
Stolzenbach is aware of the trending figures for malls nationwide. He knew they were not good. But he is forging ahead with a plan that will at least transform Stamford Town Center. And that started when a new owner bought the mall in 2020. Yaraghi Realty, which owns Safavieh furniture store with a store in the mall, is that owner.
According to Capitol One Shopping report in the winter of 2025, while nationally mall foot traffic is up over the short-term (2.12% year-over-year), 25% of the nation’s 1,200 malls are expected to close by 2028. Nationwide, the busiest malls had 12% more foot traffic in 2022 than in 2019 (pre-pandemic) and a 95% occupancy rate. From 2016-2024, a net 18,730 mall stores closed, the report stated.
As for Connecticut, mall foot traffic has been better over the past three years, according to the report. Foot traffic in Connecticut malls has a 3-year CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 4.29% as of March 2025. In August 2024 Connecticut mall foot traffic was up 6.74% year over year. In 2023 mall traffic was up only 5.26% and in 2022 it was up 6%. Of course, those were soon after the Covid epidemic ended, and businesses reopened.
In early 2025, 1,540 shopping centers in Connecticut had an average 95.7% occupancy rate, according to Capitol One. Shopping center retail sales revenue represents 32.2% of Connecticut’s GDP.
Not only did Stolzenbach have to fight off a new ritzy mall only miles away in South Norwalk, but he needed another attraction to increase the foot traffic. One of the first things he did when he arrived in Stamford was to take potential customers’ temperature for shopping at a local mall.
“It’s funny because back then everyone I would talk to out in the community would say, ‘Oh, I shop online now,’ he said. “So, when I went out again to the community, the same people who said they shop online now said they won’t shop there (Stamford Town Center) because there are no more retailers.”
Within the past four years, the general manager realized he had change things up. That included bringing in activity-driven tenants that interest both youth and seniors. And just like that came such places as Pickleball America, Angel Land/Roller Land, a Haunted House for Halloween and Holiday Wish Express for Christmas. The mall also includes a New York Comedy Club.
In addition to the more recognizable national brands such as Macy’s (an anchor), T-Mobile, AT&T, Amazon locker, Barnes & Noble, Foot Locker that make up the roster of 95 tenants at Stamford Town Center, the mall has a lot of “mom and pop” shops. Those include DXXDLE/Lil’ Canvas Kids, Digital Habitat, NOWHERE/Vintage Museum, NOVOA NYC and Hey Stamford! and the Stamford Skate Shop.
“What we have done, somewhat out of necessity, we kind of lucked out with Pickleball America,” Stolzenbach said. “We were the first mall in America to sign a pickleball deal. Now, you see them all over the place. We had some local guys who wanted to do it.
That was the start of it all. We realized we were on to something.”
Pickleball America, which was soon joined by Padel America, took up what was once Saks on Fifth – one of the anchors that left for SoNo Collection.
“Simultaneously, what had been working with us was restaurants,” Stolzenbach added. “When new ownership bought the mall in 2020, and when I took over leasing, we only had three restaurants on the restaurant plaza.”
Since then, he has leased space to Terra Gaucha, Puerto Villarta and Nan Xiang Soup Dumplings, which moved in this year. “We just signed a deal with a sushi bar (Shinjuku Station) that looks like a Japanese subway station,” he said.
That restaurant is taking over what used to be Peter Chang’s.
Inside the mall, food has been successful as well. “We turned one of our seating areas into a restaurant, La Picante,” Stolzenbach added.
The fourth floor of the mall has been turned in the floor of lands, so to speak. There is Angel Land, which recently expanded and opened a roller rink. That same tenant wants to add a bowling alley. There is also Volta indoor soccer training.
Holiday Wish Express
During the Christmas holiday season for the past four years, Ilario Altamura and his team have brought to life a Disney-type North Pole experience designed for children and adults. It gives customers a brief respite from the shopping with a visual display of lights, sounds and scenery that evokes a traditional Christmas.
“We’re probably one of the biggest attractions in the Northeast right now,” Altamura said. “We have kept it up for four years. We put a tremendous amount of time, detail and work in this. That’s why it is one of the biggest attractions.”
On a tour of the 20,000-square-foot “experience” people are given a golden ticket for a train “ride” to the North Pole. That ride includes moving scenery behind the windows that gives the one illusion of traveling on a steam-powered train. Next stop is Santa’s workshop, a toy shop, glacier island complete with an ice sculpture, Mrs. Claus’ Gingerbread House Kitchen, Post Office, “Home Alone” and “Grinch” scenery, bakery and a nutcracker shop. There’s also a Holiday Wish Express store at the end of the ride.
“It’s created all around the world. We bring it in. A lot of the Christmas stuff is from Denmark and Europe,” Altamura said.
Tickets to Holiday Wish Express are available online at https://theholidaywish.com/ Prices range from $37.47 for children to $45.92 for adults.
