ROYAL RIDGE MALL: NASHUA, NH
Matt Cosgro's Commentary:
Posted November 20, 2006 (user submitted)
The Royal Ridge Mall is probably best comparable to the old Nashua Mall. It was a
single story mall just a little smaller, I think, than the Nashua Mall, and it felt smaller
as it had a low ceiling. It was a tough location for the mall as it had the
larger 2-story Pheasant Lane Mall just down the street, and it was located in
Nashua's South End retailing district. I can remember as a little
kid going into that mall and it was never all that busy, but there weren't many empty spaces in the place.
Things went quickly as many of the little stores closed up shop in the mid-1990s. The mall had three anchors, one which was a supermarket that is still on site today (changed hands since then), though never part of the indoor mall. Marshalls was the southern anchor, which is still there. Ames was the northern anchor. That section was divided when the Sports Authority and PetsMart moved in there, they had no mall access. The mall was gutted and rebuilt as a shopping center, becoming the Royal Ridge Center.
The design of the plaza still hints at its days of a mall. There are two towers in the fascade, the northern one marks the spot of the entrance at that end of the building. It can be seen in the photos. Also, looking at local.live.com bird's eye view of the building, it appears the roof-line still retains its mall characteristic. I also think that when the building was rebuilt, Marshalls gained a little more space by expanding into what was once the mall area. Their entrance also moved.
Links:
Photos and Information from the owner's website