Before University Mall in the 70's, on the same site was a free-standing Zayre store. A Shop'n Save was also nearby as well as a Wilson's Home Center. University mall was constructed around the existing Zayre and became the largest enclosed shopping mall in Vermont.  

It was then anchored by Zayre and Almy’s. At some point, a major renovation happened and 30 new stores were added. The Almy’s chain eventually closed and Steinbach opened a store at the Mall in its place.  Zayre became Ames around 1990 after the acquisition.  In 1992, JCPenney opened a store. In 1998, Sears moved to the mall after relocating from an existing old store in Burlington. A parking garage was built aside the new store for the added customers. Steinbach stores closed all their locations and the one at the mall became The Bon-Ton in 1999. The Shop’n save supermarket has been renamed Hannaford.  Ames finally closed in October 2002 following the chain's bankruptcy.  The Ames space is now occupied by Kohl's.

In October 2017, it was announced that The Bon-Ton would close its University Mall location. Quickly after this announcement Target confirmed it would open its first Vermont location in the former Bon-Ton. The store will be approximately 60,000 sq.ft., rather small compared to the usual free-standing Target stores that are around 130,000 sq.ft. On November 1st 2019, Olympia Sports announced the closing of 76 stores including the University Mall location and two more stores in Vermont. In November 2019, Sears announced more store closures including the South Burlington location - the last one in Vermont.