Buckland Hills to Lose 5 Stores, Gains 2 Restaurants!

The Shoppes at Buckland Hills will lose three chain stores in the coming months, on the heels of two sudden closures of two independent sores. 

Buckland Hills will lose three longtime tenants after recent/upcoming bankruptcies at both companies. Things Remembered is currently liquidating their location on the first floor near Sears. The store has been located there for over 15 years. The longtime staple is closing ahead of a bankruptcy filing last week. Things Remembered is preparing to shutter at their remaining stores. Liquidation sales began last week.

Crazy 8s at Buckland Hills will also close in the coming months, the store is currently under liquidation. Crazy 8s is owned by Gymboree, who filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in January 2017, and filed for bankruptcy again January 2019. All Gymboree and Crazy 8s stores will close, with Janie and Jack remaining open as a buyer is sought. Gymboree had a location near Macy's, which closed in 2017 during the first bankruptcy. Gymboree also has a location in Glastonbury and a location inside Westfarms mall in Farmington. 

Payless Shoesource will close their 2,300 locations nationwide after failing to find a buyer for the struggling company. Payless filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2017, emerged in 2018; and has filed for bankruptcy again. Payless has been located in the Buckland Hills mall for a long time, first being located in on the first floor near Sears (Now Dollar & Deals), before moving upstairs near Macy's where they are currently located. Liquidation of the chain started on Sunday, February 17th.

Two independent stores closed inside the mall in the weeks after Christmas. Team Spirit, a sporting memorabilia store, closed on January 16th. Team Spirit closed with no warning to employees, the sign was hastily removed on January 17th. Remix, a custom clothing store, also closed on January 21st. The store was located on the first level of the mall near Sears. The Land's End store inside of Sears also closed early this year, but this is because of their focus on standalone stores, not because of a bankruptcy. 

Another mall staple has filed for bankruptcy protection last week, Charlotte Russe filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. The chain identified 94 stores to close, with 3 in Connecticut. The Buckland location was not on this list. The chain did stress that if no buyer for the brand is found, the chain may face complete liquidation. 

Buckland Hills will also receive a new permanent tenant; Brick Swap USA, an authorized retailer of LEGOs,will take permanent residence in the former Belden's Jewelers. The space was last used as a pop-up LEGO store for the Christmas season. Brick Swap USA has been operating a kiosk in the former Sweet U space. Buckland Hills will also add two new restaurants in 2019. BJ's Brewhouse is now under construction in the parking lot near JC Penney. Another yet-to-be-confirmed restaurant will take residence in the former Bertucci's space. The restaurant signed the lease in early 2019 and is currently planning to be open in late spring.