East Side Plaza

The plaza started off as a smaller plaza called Victor Plaza. It was made up of a Ferretti's Supermarket which opened on December 16th 1959, and a Lords Department Store which was built next to the supermarket in the early 60s. there was also a Bonanza steakhouse next to Lords. In mid-late 1985 Ferrettis and Lords would close and would be demolished. The construction of East Side Plaza started in early 1985 the first part of the plaza that was built was the west side of the plaza which included an Alexander's supermarket and some small stores that opened later that year. The plaza didn't continue construction until the old plaza was demolished. Construction of the rest of the plaza continued after the demolishing and in late 1985. In early 1986 Rich's department store opened. The rest of the plaza opened around the same time, Fashion Bug opened around this time. There was also a stand-alone bank in the parking lot along with a health clinic. The Alexanders got replaced by Shop 'n Save (Hannafords) in 1991 after the company got bought out by them, It was one of the few shop 'n saves named Alexander's Shop 'n Save. Sometime in the mid-90s the health clinic in the parking lot closed. In May 1995, Total Video was bought and replaced by Home Vision Video. Rich's department store closed sometime between January and February 1997. Later that year,  Ames department store opened in the former Richs on October 16th, 1997. In the late 90s, Movie Gallery replaced Home Vision Video after its acquisition in 1996. A McDonald's opened in front of the plaza in 1999. In 2002 the Shop 'n Save would be renamed to Hannafords. The Ames only lasted 5 years until being closed in late October 2002 when the company went out of business. Building #19 would open in the former Ames on November 18th, 2005. There was originally a building #19 1/2 a mile away from the Plaza in the former Mammoth Mills but was demolished in 1996 because of the deteriorating old building it was in, a Osco Drug was built on the site. Movie gallery closed in 2010. Fashion Bug would close in early summer 2011. Building #19 closed in December 2013 after the company filed for bankruptcy and closed all stores. Subway would close in July 2018. As of December 2024, the health clinic is still abandoned. the former Building #19 is also vacant.