Users Envisioned Grocery Store, Roller Skating, But Not Slots, for Empty Mall Store

In September, Danvers Patch asked users what should fill the vacant The Sports Authority space at Liberty Tree Mall. Nobody mentioned a slots parlor.

The empty store has emerged as recent days as the centerpiece of a plan by a Baltimore-based casino developer to possibly locate a slots parlor there. The 50,000 square foot store would be coupled with another 50,000 square foot addition that would house 1,200 slot machines, according to briefings on the initial plans offered to some town officials.

Four months ago, as the space was about to go empty, several users suggested a new grocery store, specifically naming the Whole Foods and Wegman's chains. One suggested a roller skating rink and another suggested that the AMC Loews movie theater currently at the mall move there.

Users also suggested that a Christmas Tree Shops store and Home Goods be located there. There is currently a Home Goods store in Danvers Plaza on Route 1 and the closest Christmas Tree Shops is on Route 1 south in Lynnfield.

The Sports Authority moved to the front of the mall and reopened in a newly designed store . to fill the space left vacant in Endicott Plaza when Ultimate Electronics closed.