Mountain Farms Mall

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Mountain Farms Mall is a shopping center in Hadley, Massachusetts, United States, with approximately 12 stores. It is located on Route 9, at 335 Russell Street in Hadley, Massachusetts, between Amherst and Northampton, approximately five miles east of Exit 19 off I-91. The mall is owned by S.R. Weiner and WS Development.HistoryMountain Farms first opened to the public on Nov. 23, 1973 as an indoor shopping mall. Original anchor stores were Woolco and Almy's.After the neighboring Hampshire Mall opened in 1978, business at Mountain Farms fell off. In the heyday of its first incarnation were about 40 stores in the mall. By 1990, the Mountain Farms was generally referred to as "the dead mall", containing a hot tubbing location, a weekly flea market and an AMC theater. By the spring of 1994 its original 35 stores had declined to four. In May 1994 Wholesale Depot Inc. filed bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code and closed its store which opened at the mall in December 1992.In June 1997, WS Development, an open-air shopping center developer, showed interest in refurbishing the mall and as part of this plan it envisioned devoting a third of its space to a Wal-Mart store. The Planning Board members at the time raised concerns about the appropriateness of a Wal-Mart in Hadley saying that they preferred small and unique stores. In 1998 permission was obtained to bring in the Wal-Mart. In April 1998 a citizens group in Hadley filed suit against W.S. Development and the Hadley Planning Board seeking to overturn the Planning Board's decision to grant site plan approval. In July 1998 a Hampshire Superior Court justice dismissed the lawsuit.