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January 16, 2012 - Shoppers at the Eastfield Mall.

(MICHAEL S. GORDON/ THE REPUBLICAN FILE)

SPRINGFIELD — Eastfield Mall is getting a substantive makeover, but management is keeping mum on the details.

General manager Melinda Graulau said Tuesday only that she plans to be in front of the Springfield City Council in February or more likely March, to unveil plans and ask for needed regulatory approvals.

Her reference to the City Council indicates a major construction project.

In just the last few weeks, the mall has lost its American Eagle and Radio Shack stores, and is in the process of losing its Deb.

"Unfortunately, these are all reflections of what is going on across the country. Black Friday was down 11 percent across the country. The holidays were disappointing for some of these retailers," Graulau said.

All the shutdowns are the result of nationwide corporate cutbacks, but certainly will have an impact at the mall, built in 1968 as Western Massachusetts' first enclosed shopping mall. In those days it had a Forbes & Wallace and Steiger's.

"It's certainly going to present a challenge," said Nicole Sweeney, Eastfield Mall director of marketing and advertising. "But retail in brick-and-mortar locations is what it is. We are going to bear up under the challenges."

Eastfield Mall's New Jersey-based owners, Mountain Development, have a long-term plan for the mall, Sweeney said. Playing coy, she said she couldn't disclose details or even say when details will be available.

"It certainly won't look the same," she said.

Mountain Development couldn't be reached for comment.

Here are the recent developments at Eastfield:

Employees at the Radio Shack at the Holyoke Mall insisted Monday that they are remodeling the store, not closing it.

There are a number of other Radio Shack locations in the region, including at the Springfield Plaza on Liberty Street and the Five Town Plaza on Cooley Street in Springfield, at Century Plaza in West Springfield, in Westfield, Chicopee, Northampton and in the Hampshire Mall in Hadley.

At Eastfield, Sweeney said there is some good news. Clothing store EbLens moved into an expanded space. T-Mobile has also expanded and remodeled its space at Eastfield. The mall will soon have Sole Fresh, a new, locally owned store focusing on airbrushed artwork.

Eastfield lost its JC Penney location in 2011. The building housing the former JC Penney store had been under separate ownership, but documents on file at the Hampden Registry of Deeds show that Boston Road Retail, a unit of Mountain Development, bought the building in January 2013 for $3.5 million.

Eastfield lost its branch office of the Registry of Motor Vehicles in 2009.

Eastfield Mall's Rave Cinema is now Springfield's only set of movie theaters after the Entertainment Cinemas at the Springfield Plaza is shut down.