Copley Place is an enclosed

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

within the mixed-use

Copley Square Copley Square , named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to i ...

in the

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and ...

neighborhood of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. It features direct indoor connections to several nearby destinations including four office towers, and the Boston Marriott Copley Place and Sheraton Boston hotels. The mall is connected to the

Prudential Center Prudential Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the men's basketball program of Seton Ha ...

shopping mall via a

skybridge Skybridge may refer to: * Skyway or skybridge, a type of pedestrian bridge * Jet bridge or skybridge, a retractable connecting bridge between an airport and an aircraft * SkyBridge (people mover), a people mover in Rome * Skybridge (TransLink), a ...

over

Huntington Avenue Huntington Avenue is a secondary thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, beginning at Copley Square, and continuing west through the Back Bay, Fenway, Longwood, and Mission Hill neighborhoods. Huntington Avenue is signed as Route ...

. The mall currently features

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compan ...

and

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washing ...

In November 2019, the online business news website MassLive rated Copley Place as fourth, and the immediately adjacent

as fifth best among 40 malls and shopping centers in Massachusetts.

Description

The bi-level indoors mall is noted for its upscale fashion stores, including

Ralph Lauren Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his c ...

Christian Dior Christian Ernest Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 24 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, Christian Dior SE, which is now owned by parent company LVMH. His fashion houses a ...

, John Varvatos,

Michael Kors Michael David Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr. August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and ...

Tory Burch Tory Burch ( née Robinson; born June 17, 1966) is an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and philanthropist. She is the Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of her own brand, Tory Burch LLC. She was listed as the 88th most power ...

, Victorinox Swiss Army,

Porsche Design Porsche Design is a German product design studio and brand founded in 1972 by F. A. Porsche, the designer of the original Porsche 911, known for its high-end accessories including sunglasses, pens, and watches. The current legal instantiation of ...

, Tiffany & Co.,

Jimmy Choo Datuk Jimmy Choo Back from ...

David Yurman David Yurman Enterprises LLC is a privately held American jewellery company founded by David Yurman (born October 12, 1942, in New York City) and Sybil Yurman (born December 10, 1942, in New York City). Its headquarters is situated in New York C ...

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and lea ...

, Salvatore Ferragamo, Saint Laurent,

Ermenegildo Zegna Ermenegildo Zegna (; born 30 September 1955), often simply known and referred to as Gildo Zegna, is an Italian entrepreneur and manager. He is Chairman and CEO of Ermenegildo Zegna Group. Early life and education Gildo is a grandson of Ermeneg ...

Burberry Burberry is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry headquartered in London, England. It currently designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats (for which it is most famous), leather accessor ...

, Furla, and

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty Inc., ...

. Above, the third level provides access to a lobby, reception desk, and the bases of the four office towers. The mall is connected directly to the

shopping mall via a

over

. Another skybridge connects to the

Westin Westin Hotels & Resorts is an American upscale hotel chain owned by Marriott International. , the Westin Brand has 226 properties with 82,608 rooms in multiple countries in addition to 58 hotels with 15,741 rooms in the pipeline. History Wester ...

at Copley Place hotel (and a few small shops), by crossing Huntington Avenue at a different location. A Marriott hotel anchors one end of Copley Place, and the

department store anchors the other end. The mall is also connected to the

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

station via a pedestrian tunnel crossing beneath Dartmouth Street. The property is managed by

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/ lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Ind ...

, which acquired it in the 2002 breakup of the then Dutch-owned Urban Shopping Centers, Inc.

History

The structure was the first major project designed by Howard Elkus, then of The Architects' Collaborative. At the time, it was Boston's largest urban mixed-use development project, financed by the

Pritzker family The Pritzker family is an American family engaged in entrepreneurship and philanthropy, and one of the wealthiest families in the United States of America (staying in the top 10 of ''Forbes'' magazine's "America's Richest Families" list since the ...

of Chicago. It was built in 1983 directly above the

Massachusetts Turnpike The Massachusetts Turnpike (colloquially "Mass Pike" or "the Pike") is a toll highway in the US state of Massachusetts that is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). The turnpike begins at the New York state l ...

and

highway interchange ramps, which had been constructed in 1964 on the site of the former South End Armory. The Armory building had been completed in 1890, and was razed to make room for the Mass Pike right-of-way. Later, as a principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects, Elkus would lead several major renovations of the mall, and a proposed expansion. In 2011, plans for a addition of retail space to the facility and a expansion of its Neiman Marcus anchor were approved by the

Boston Redevelopment Authority The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), is a Massachusetts public agency that serves as the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial de ...

. By February 2013, the project was awaiting final design plans. In October 2016, Simon Properties announced indefinite postponement of its $500-million project to build a 52-story luxury residential tower, and drastic scaling back of plans to expand the Copley Place mall, citing concerns about rising costs and competition from other Boston luxury towers already under construction. Upon its opening, the indoor mall featured as its centerpiece a high sculptural fountain designed by Boston artist Dimitri Hadzi. The artwork was composed of multiple abstract

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

and travertine marble shapes, with a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in severa ...

cascading down it into a shallow pool at the bottom, surrounded by marble benches. A proposed renovation which would eliminate the water feature prompted commentary opposing its demolition in 2013. , the fountain had been completely removed, and the location and status of its sculptural components were unknown to the general public. From its opening, the mall has been marketed as a high-end luxury retail location. Over time, the mix of stores changed in response to sweeping changes affecting the US retailing market. For example, a sizable Rizzoli Bookstore was located opposite the elevators behind the central water feature, but it had closed by the year 2000. Other stores which have moved out include Stoddard's (fine cutlery and personal care tools) and Williams Sonoma (kitchenware and food ingredients). , almost all of the stores sell fashionable clothing, shoes, or accessories. The mall had also housed one of the few major-chain-owned movie theaters within Boston city limits, but the Loews Copley Place Cinemas was closed in January 2005. It was replaced by

Barneys New York Barneys New York Inc. is an American luxury brand founded in New York City in 1923. It has introduced major designers including Armani, Azzedine Alaïa, Comme des Garçons, Christian Louboutin, and Ermenegildo Zegna to the US market. Barn ...

men's clothing. Barney's became a new

Men's Store, on August 14, 2020.

Major tenants

;Anchors ;Restaurants * Legal Sea Foods * Au Bon Pain ;Hotels * Marriott Copley Place *

Copley Place Boston ;Offices (in Copley Place Towers) * The Bridgespan Group is headquartered in 2 Copley Place * The Boston Regional Office of the

US Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

is in Suite 301 of 4 Copley Place. * The online furniture retailer Wayfair has its headquarters in 4 Copley Place. * Canada and Germany maintain Consulates-General for the New England region in Suites 400 and 500, respectively, of 3 Copley Place.German Consulate-General: Boston
."

Gallery

File:Copley Place aerial view, December 2018.JPG, The four Copley Place office towers are the irregular shapes in the upper left of this aerial view File:2009 CopleySquare Boston 3271041586.jpg, In this view centered on

, the Westin Copley Place hotel is the tower in the right foreground File:2017 Prudential Skywalk - Westin Copley Place (NNE).jpg, The Westin Copley Place hotel connects via skybridge to the mall at the far right File:2007-0925-Boston-JohnHancockTower.jpg, Copley Place mall is located at the lower right of this view File:Neiman Marcus Boston.jpg, A Neiman Marcus store is the exterior visible

anchor tenant In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. W ...

at one end of the mall File:Boston - buildings 71.JPG, The Boston Marriott Copley Place hotel anchors the other end of the enclosed mall File:Downtown Boston at dusk.jpg, This

connects Copley Place (at right) to the

File:Dartmouth Street Underpass.jpg, This glassblock-lined underground corridor connects Copley Place to

Back Bay station Back Bay station (also signed as Back Bay · South End) is an intermodal passenger station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located just south of Copley Square in Boston's Back Bay and South End neighborhoods. It serves MBTA Commuter Rail and M ...

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Landmarks in Back Bay, Boston Simon Property Group Shopping malls in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Boston Shopping malls established in 1983