Electric Boat Makes Decision On Waterford Mall's Holiday Season

WATERFORD, CT — Electric Boat has confirmed that the Crystal Mall in Waterford will remain open during this holiday season, according to The Connecticut Scoop.

The company informed the fewer than 20 tenants still in business at the mall that it will remain open and managed into next year, The Day of New London reported.

Santa will be at the mall for the 2025 Christmas season as well.

Electric Boat, a Groton-based submarine manufacturer, paid $25 million for the mall property in October. The previous owner, Namdar Realty Group, paid $9 million for the mall in 2023.

Related: Sale Price Of Waterford's Crystal Mall Revealed: Report

The property was sold after an exodus of tenants from the mall in recent years. Claire's, Forever 21, Zales Jewelry, and FYE are some of the more recent closures at the Crystal Mall.

The last remaining anchor store at the Crystal Mall, JCPenney, closed last year.

Electric Boat also bought the mall's Macy's space in June. That 121,000-square-foot space will be refurbished and is expected to accommodate about 700 employees by March 2027.

The purchase of the rest of the mall property — except the former Sears space, which was not included in the deal — will allow Electric Boat to expand its engineering, training and software development work in support of Columbia- and Virginia-class submarine production, according to a statement from the company.

Four to five thousand employees are expected to work at the location. Electric Boat will occupy 542,000 square feet of space on the 42-acre plot of land on Route 85.

The spot is 5.5 miles from Electric Boat's shipyard in Groton.

The company plans to refurbish the space for a range of functions related to its submarine production and anticipates employees will start working there by the middle of 2027 at the earliest.