Natick Mall

Natick amped for electric-car dealership

adamg — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:36:38 +0000

The MetroWest Daily News reports Natick selectmen approved a plan by Tesla Motors to open its first Massachusetts showroom for its battery-powered cars at the Natick Mall. Company officials said they chose Natick because its residents are particularly discerning - and have lots of disposable cash.

If somebody calls you and says they've got a great deal on TVs, but you have to drive to another state, think twice

adamg — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 17:19:25 +0000

Natick Police report somebody from Connecticut was separated from $3,400 in a scam at the Natick Mall.

According to police, the victim got a phone call and was offered a great deal on four TVs - but only at the Natick Sears:

Person drove to Natick and met in parking lot with female shown in grey shirt claiming she was a Sears employee. She gave him a fake Sears bill of lading for four TV's in exchange for $3400 cash. She then walked into the store and told him to wait for the TV's to be delivered to his vehicle. TV's never came.

Nothing Nouvelle in Natick: Globe doubles-down on puffery

Cynic — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:14:34 +0000

Three years after the Globe first brought us the story of "the suburban pioneers snatching up units" at the, um, Natick Mall, we get the latest update. Despite listing and auctioning off units for as little as a third of their original prices, the developer still can't find buyers for almost 30% of the units in this white elephant of a project.

Somehow, the Globe finds in all this a Schweitzerian tale of triumph in the face of adversity:

It opened amid the worst recession in generations, with some critics scoffing at the idea of a Boston-style condo tower in the heart of the Route 9 shopping district. But after some tough early struggles and a big markdown in prices — penthouses were originally on the market for well over $1 million — the Nouvelle at last count had sold 152, or roughly 70 percent, of its 215 units.

I can almost hear the corks popping at General Growth's headquarters.

Great news if you missed the chance to live at the Natick Mall

adamg — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:02:47 +0000

Erica Farthing reports that for the next 30 days, all units not sold at that recent pin-in-balloon auction will be for sale at auction prices.

So it turns out people with lots of money don't want to live at the mall

adamg — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:00:32 +0000

The Globe reports units at the Natick Mall condo complex will be going to auction soon - with starting prices as much as 70% off - as its bankrupt owner tries to raise cash.

Builder to Natick Mall: Lien on me

adamg — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:23:49 +0000

The Herald reports the company that built the fancy-shmancy condos at the mall wants the $12.6 million it says the now bankrupt mall owner still owes it.

General Shrinkage in Boston and Natick

Ron Newman — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:11:05 +0000

General Growth Properties, which operates Faneuil Hall Marketplace and owns the Natick ~~Mall~~ Collection, filed for bankruptcy today.

Natick Mall cracks down on pushy Israeli cart clerks

adamg — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:26:55 +0000

The Wall Street Journal reports on the Israelis who seem to staff almost all the mall carts selling Dead Sea salt treatments, head massagers and remote-control helicopters and briefly discusses our own little mall:

After fielding complaints about overly aggressive vendors, some mall operators have taken measures. The Natick Collection, a mall in Natick, Mass., forbids cart salespeople from calling out to customers as they pass.

A collection of emptiness

adamg — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:42:19 +0000

Yvonne Abraham nailed it in her column today about the emptiness that the Uptown Wing of the Natick Mall has become.

The kidlet and I roamed its sparsely populated walkways today and man, was it empty (don't worry, we weren't there to either smirk or check up on Abraham; we happened to be out that way anyway so we stopped in at Sears to get something truly boring and then decided to walk around). Clerks stared out at us bored as can be, when they weren't too busy chatting with each other or, as in the case above, abandoning all pretense that any customers would come in and so just surfing the Web. Even Neiman-Marcus was pretty much empty, which is probably just as well, since the kidlet spent most of our short stay there loudly complaining about how expensive everything was (I admit I snorted out loud when I saw a Juicy infant romper, although I couldn't decide which was worse: The sexualization of infants or the fact that the thing was going for $73).

However, I'm betting Abraham stayed on the second floor, because we did find one retail bright spot on the first floor: The Apple Store, which, while not packed wall to wall, seemed reasonably busy.

Meanwhile, the Ghetto Wing, i.e., the original mall, seemed to have a decent number of people walking around. We actually had to spend 30 seconds scouting out a table at the food court (I recommend the Indian food). I have no doubt people are buying less there, as well, but it still felt like a functioning place of commerce rather than a Potemkin Mall.

The Natick Maybe They Could Take Up a Collection

adamg — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:14:57 +0000

Operator of Faneuil Hall Marketplace, owner of Natick Mall on verge of bankruptcy.

Ass and ye shall receive at the Natick Mall

adamg — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:54:26 +0000

Oh, come on, you didn't think I was going to break down and use that new name, did you? In any case: naked butt at the mall tomorrow, according to the MetroWest Daily News, which thoughtfully brackets its press release for the store in question with this sobering warning:

Under the state's open and gross lewdness law, the exposure of the buttocks can be a felony. Much hinges on whether the bottom-baring produces alarm, according to Natick Police Lt. Brian Grassey.

So I guess booty shaking is straight out, because you know how alarming that can be. Still, Lt. Grassey might wish to bone up on Commonwealth vs. Ora, in which the Supreme Judicial Court ruled earlier this year that you can dance naked in the middle of even Harvard Square at noon - as long as you provide adequate advance warning to the easily alarmed.

When the Natick Collection of Overpriced Stuff goes under, suburbanites will have only themselves to blame

adamg — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:58:41 +0000

Things aren't going quite as planned at the uptown section of the Natick Mall (as opposed to the original ghetto wing, the one where you can still buy black-light art), the Globe reports, quoting analysts who blame New Englanders:

... While there is ample wealth in this region - the average household income is about $110,000, nearly double the state average - there is still a culture of buttoned-up Yankees who aren't accustomed to indulgent spending on luxury goods, according to Madison Riley, a retail analyst at Kurt Salmon Associates in Boston. ... "There has been a culture in the Boston area of that Yankee thriftiness, even when one had money," Riley said. "That's changed in the city of Boston but the mentality still resides in the suburbs, and that is impacting Natick." ...

There's something to be said for Old Money

adamg — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:48:31 +0000

Pahkcah02 reads yesterday's Globe story about the Nouvelle rich holing up in their condo fortress at the Natick Mall so they don't have to worry about mixing with ghastly poor people and she yearns for the days of Old Money, because at least the Brahmins just shut up about their money and actually deigned to acknowledge that their lessers existed:

... I'm pretty proud of the fact that I live in one of the few area of the country that wasn't bombarded with exclusive gated communities during the recent housing boom. While I'm certainly in no position to tell other people how to spend their cash, opting out of a society that in your mind doesn't measure up shouldn't even be on the table. The Nouvelle at Natick is obviously hitting a specific demographic and for a diverse, inclusive community like Natick that should be a very alarming thing. A lot of these folks would be better off in a place where money truly does buy happiness (such as Miami) than holing up in over-priced condo bunkers that this area certainly doesn't need.

Earlier:
It's refreshing to see the Globe finally tackling the issues of everyday people.

Coup at boston.com: Ad department seizes control

adamg — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 20:23:55 +0000

How else to explain the live frickin' updates from the opening of the new Natick Mall? Jesus.

... A stone's throw from the state's first Nordstrom department store is Stil, the only local business to be awarded a spot in the new Natick Collection expansion. ...

Oh, and how lucky they must feel!

Ed. nauseous note: Yes, of course, it's no longer the Natick Mall but the Natick Collection of Stuff for the Ruling Class.

Suburban beatdown

adamg — Wed, 23 May 2007 12:49:37 +0000

The MetroWest Daily News reports that a Framingham woman and three girls are charged with beating a fourth girl into unconsciousness at the Natick Mall:

... Several stores emptied and dozens of people watched as the group beat and stomped the girl near the Dunkin' Donuts and Piercing Pagoda, police said.

"This was an absolute group beat down," said Grassey. "It's an extremely unsettling event. The level of violence in this defies logic." ...