1960s-era Westgate Shopping Center bit the dust but across the street Whitney Square is thriving with facelift and heathy mix of mostly off-price retailers

 

Photos by Retiring Guy

Wisconsin State Journal, 10/22/2019

They are located across the street from one another but stand in sharp contrast. 

Whitney Square has new tenants, a fresh layer of asphalt and buzzes with customers. On the east side of Whitney Way, the Hy-Vee that opened in 2013 is a major draw, but the remainder of Westgate Mall, once a hub of retail, is largely deserted, save for the last holdout, Wisconsin Craft Market. 

Even the mall walkers are no longer welcome after Hy-Vee, the Iowa-based grocer that bought the property more than 10 years ago, recently shuttered the interior mall space.

According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of 'off-price', as in of, relating to, selling, or being discounted merchandise, occurred in 1952.

Other coinages from the same year include:

1. automated
2. Christmas factor
3. Hawaiian shirt
4. his/her
5. mass-market
6. sweaterdress

Related posts:

Westgate Mall memories:  Where Madison west side seniors used to hang out.  (11/14/2023)

University Park:  Westgate Mall redevelopment Madison WI November 2023 construction site visit.  (11/14/2023)

University Park:  Westgate Mall redevelopment Madison WI construction site visits.  94/28/2023)

Bricks-and-mortar retail renaissance at Whitney Square Madison WI.  (11/8/2019)

Madison Plan Commission approves Westgate redevelopment.  (8/12/2020)

Last nail to be hammered in April.  (1/11/2020)

The present state of Westgate.  (3/12/2016)