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Tri-State Mall
The Tri-State Mall was a shopping mall located on Delaware Route 92 (locally known as "Naamans Road") in Claymont, Delaware. The mall closed in 2015. At 535,000 square feet (49,700 m2), it was the state's fourth-largest mall, with a maximum capacity of approximately 50 shops. It was located just off Interstate 95, less than a mile from the Pennsylvania/Delaware border. The last remaining anchor store was Burlington, which closed in 2017. The mall building was completely demolished in 2023. The only remaining retail tenant on the site is Tri-State Liquors, which relocated to a stand-alone building in 2024.
The Tri-State Mall consisted of two distinct sections, an enclosed mall and a connected strip mall. The enclosed mall was a single-level building arranged in a cross shape. A movie theater was located on the northern end of the cross, while department stores anchored the eastern and western ends. A covered, exterior staircase on the building's eastern end led to an adjacent strip mall on a lower level of the property. An additional anchor tenant occupied a stand-alone building in the lower-level parking lot.
A mall was first proposed at this location in 1964 by Wilmington Dry Goods Co., a local department store. The property was chosen due to its location near a future I-95 interchange, with the intention of drawing residents of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The mall was developed by A.A.R. Realty, who remained the owners of the mall through its entire existence. By 1967, the mall had signed its most important tenants—Wilmington Dry Goods and W.T. Grant to anchor the enclosed portion of the mall, a Pantry Pride grocery store to anchor the lower-level strip mall, and a free-standing Levitz Furniture. Construction began in March 1968, with the cost estimated at $10 million.
Later in 1968, Sameric Theatres unveiled a proposal to build a 1,400-seat single-screen movie theater at the new mall. Before the mall opened, however, plans changed and the theater would instead open as a twin-screen cinema, making it Delaware's first multiplex.
The strip shopping center opened first, with Levitz Furniture and a Silo appliance store opening by the fall of 1969. Wilmington Dry Goods followed, opening on November 5, 1969. The Pantry Pride supermarket opened on March 10, 1970. W.T. Grant (known as Grants) opened on May 14, 1970, complete with an in-store restaurant called the Bradford Room.
The enclosed mall officially opened on August 19, 1970. Designed by Seymour Seiler and Associates of New York, the interior was described by a local newspaper: "Its center has carpeted rest areas with comfortable seating amid artificial plantings. Ceilings of the mall area and the adjacent stores are designed with almost imperceptible curves, so that they make play of light and shadow." An opening-week ad promised "a delightful experience in a year-round controlled climate, maintained at a constant 72° by electric heat and air conditioning. The largest enclosed shopping mall in Delaware, Tri-State is also the most modern ..."
The mall's first movie theater, called the Eric I, opened three months later on November 11, 1970. It included several high-end features for its era, including both 35- and 70-millimeter projectors, a 60-foot (18 m) screen, and "1,200 rocker-lounger seats, so spaced to eliminate having to get up to let other patrons into the row." A second and smaller theater, the Eric II, opened six weeks later with 650 seats. The theater would eventually expand to five screens.
Tri-State Mall
The Tri-State Mall was a shopping mall located on Delaware Route 92 (locally known as "Naamans Road") in Claymont, Delaware. The mall closed in 2015. At 535,000 square feet (49,700 m2), it was the state's fourth-largest mall, with a maximum capacity of approximately 50 shops. It was located just off Interstate 95, less than a mile from the Pennsylvania/Delaware border. The last remaining anchor store was Burlington, which closed in 2017. The mall building was completely demolished in 2023. The only remaining retail tenant on the site is Tri-State Liquors, which relocated to a stand-alone building in 2024.
The Tri-State Mall consisted of two distinct sections, an enclosed mall and a connected strip mall. The enclosed mall was a single-level building arranged in a cross shape. A movie theater was located on the northern end of the cross, while department stores anchored the eastern and western ends. A covered, exterior staircase on the building's eastern end led to an adjacent strip mall on a lower level of the property. An additional anchor tenant occupied a stand-alone building in the lower-level parking lot.
A mall was first proposed at this location in 1964 by Wilmington Dry Goods Co., a local department store. The property was chosen due to its location near a future I-95 interchange, with the intention of drawing residents of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The mall was developed by A.A.R. Realty, who remained the owners of the mall through its entire existence. By 1967, the mall had signed its most important tenants—Wilmington Dry Goods and W.T. Grant to anchor the enclosed portion of the mall, a Pantry Pride grocery store to anchor the lower-level strip mall, and a free-standing Levitz Furniture. Construction began in March 1968, with the cost estimated at $10 million.
Later in 1968, Sameric Theatres unveiled a proposal to build a 1,400-seat single-screen movie theater at the new mall. Before the mall opened, however, plans changed and the theater would instead open as a twin-screen cinema, making it Delaware's first multiplex.
The strip shopping center opened first, with Levitz Furniture and a Silo appliance store opening by the fall of 1969. Wilmington Dry Goods followed, opening on November 5, 1969. The Pantry Pride supermarket opened on March 10, 1970. W.T. Grant (known as Grants) opened on May 14, 1970, complete with an in-store restaurant called the Bradford Room.
The enclosed mall officially opened on August 19, 1970. Designed by Seymour Seiler and Associates of New York, the interior was described by a local newspaper: "Its center has carpeted rest areas with comfortable seating amid artificial plantings. Ceilings of the mall area and the adjacent stores are designed with almost imperceptible curves, so that they make play of light and shadow." An opening-week ad promised "a delightful experience in a year-round controlled climate, maintained at a constant 72° by electric heat and air conditioning. The largest enclosed shopping mall in Delaware, Tri-State is also the most modern ..."
The mall's first movie theater, called the Eric I, opened three months later on November 11, 1970. It included several high-end features for its era, including both 35- and 70-millimeter projectors, a 60-foot (18 m) screen, and "1,200 rocker-lounger seats, so spaced to eliminate having to get up to let other patrons into the row." A second and smaller theater, the Eric II, opened six weeks later with 650 seats. The theater would eventually expand to five screens.
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