Berkshire Mall (Massachusetts)


Berkshire Mall was a shopping mall located in Lanesborough, Massachusetts outside Pittsfield. The mall was built in 1988 and closed in 2019. It can be reached from both Route 8 and U.S. Route 7. There have been many changes in the mall's anchors since its opening. The mall was last anchored by Target, and Berkshire Mall 10 with four vacant anchors last occupied by Best Buy, JCPenney, Macy's, and Sears.

History

The mall opened in September 1988. The original anchor stores at the mall were Hills, JCPenney, Sears, Service Merchandise, and local chain Steiger's. Steiger's sold its locations to Filene's in 1994. Service Merchandise closed in 1999. Two years after its closure, the mall acquired a permit to open a BJ's Wholesale Club in the space vacated by Service Merchandise. Instead, the building was torn down and replaced with Best Buy and Linens 'n Things in 2002. Ames, which closed in 2001, was replaced with a Target in 2002. An Old Navy store was added to the mall in 2000. It and a Steve & Barry's, both in the Sears wing, closed in 2009; the latter was replaced by Famous Labels the same year. On October 31, 2015, Best Buy closed their location in the mall. On January 6, 2016, Macy's announced that it would be closing the Berkshire Mall location in April 2016. On March 17, 2017, JCPenney announced that it was closing its store in the mall as well. The store closed on July 31, 2017. On November 2, 2017, Sears announced that they would be closing their location at the mall on January 28, 2018, leaving Target and the Berkshire Mall 10 as the only remaining anchors.
The Berkshire Mall was purchased in 2016 by Kohan Retail Investment Group of Great Neck, NY for $3.5 million. The mall's original owner, Pyramid Management Group of Syracuse, NY, was reportedly unable to keep up with payments on a $36.9 million mortgage on the property. Despite Kohan's plans for revival, the mall has experienced continued loss of tenants, maintenance issues, unpaid taxes and utility bills. The mall closed its doors to shoppers temporarily in July, 2018.
In March 2019, the mall was shuttered for a week due to lack of electric power and water.
Closures of the Berkshire Mall have not affected the site's two largest enterprises, Target and Regal Cinemas, which own their own buildings attached to the Kohan-owned mall.
On June 23, 2018, the Berkshire Mall Emporium opened in the former JCPenney space, however it closed on February 24, 2019.
On May 28, 2019, the mall closed permanently except for Target and Regal Cinemas.