Mall reborn as Natick Collection

Now it's called Natick Collection.

That's the new name of the Natick Mall, the 40-year-old shopping center that is wrapping up a 500,000-square-foot expansion to include more high-end retailers and restaurants.

Yesterday's disclosure follows the public outcry when the mall tried to rebrand itself simply as "Natick." With town officials threatening last month to challenge the mall's trademark application, mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. backed off. The company temporarily reverted to Natick Mall while restarting deliberations over a more suitable name to mark its transformation.

Natick Collection was one of the names that was considered but passed over in favor of the ill-fated choice of Natick, Stephanie Gambino , the mall's senior marketing manager, said.

"We're creating literally an unparalleled shopping and dining experience here," Gambino said. "It's a collection of the finest retailers and restaurants that have never before been seen in the area, and that's our motivation for naming the project Natick Collection."

Arthur B. Fair III , a Natick business owner and president of the Natick Center Associates, said he had expected the mall to choose something like The Shoppes at Natick or The Village at Natick, but said he would leave naming decisions to the experts.

"I'm not going to prejudge the name because I'm not the one who makes a living naming things," he said.

Fair, whose family has owned Fair & Yeager Insurance Co. on Main Street for more than 100 years, said he is glad they backed off of "Natick."

"Clearly they did the right thing," he said. "It certainly wasn't the town of Natick, so I'm happy to see them make the change."

The new name refers to the restaurant and retail portion of the project, and not to two residential buildings with 215 luxury condominiums, Gambino said. The condo project will continue to be called Nouvelle at Natick.

General Growth is seven months away from completing the expansion, which will add 100 new stores and restaurants, including the state's first Nordstrom.

General Growth also unveiled five new tenants: Burberry, the British luxury goods chain; Betsey Johnson, a women's designer clothing store; Anthropologie , a home furnishing and women's clothing store; Hanna Andersson , a baby and children's clothing store; and Puma, which sells sporting apparel.

John Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.