FOXBORO - If, as experts say, the economy is collapsing, Foxboro and Mansfield didn't get the memo.

Two large shopping centers that began opening in those towns this fall have brought more places to buy the stationery.

Patriot Place in Foxboro and Mansfield Crossing in Mansfield welcomed crowds of several thousand shoppers a day - even before Black Friday kicked off the holiday shopping season.

Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World's Patriot Place superstore drew well over 60,000 people over its first four days in business. Shoppers drove hundreds of miles - from as far away as Pennsylvania - to spend lots of hours and bucks.

Mansfield Crossing is a 380,000-square-foot open-air plaza bounded by School Street, Route 140 and Interstate 495 in Mansfield. When finished, the mall is expected to generate for Mansfield more than $1 million annually in taxes and create 800 to 1,200 permanent jobs. Patriot Place is a 1.3-million-square-foot "super-regional entertainment and lifestyle experience" being built next to Gillette Stadium on Route 1 in Foxboro.

The Kraft Group says its development is the first of its kind in New England. The project could generate for Foxboro $17.5 million to $18.3 million in total net revenue over 10 years, according to one consultant's report.

Both malls held grand openings Nov. 15.

One of Mansfield Crossing's anchor stores, Kohl's department store, opened on Oct. 3.

The L.L. Bean outdoor retailer followed on Nov. 15. with a private sale for L.L. Bean credit card holders, and provided free food and a JumboTron for an overnight tailgate party in advance of the grand opening the next morning, when the company gave away 500 gift cards and then remained open nonstop until the following Sunday night.

The mall also features such chains as Mattress Giant, Borders and Petco.

And in January, two restaurants, T.G.I. Friday's and Bertucci's, are expected to open.

Nearby, in Foxboro, shoppers are packing Patriot Place.

Circuit City, Christmas Tree Shops and Bed, Bath and Beyond have joined Bass Pro Shops in the south plaza of the complex. Staples will open there next spring.

By next fall, a 14-screen, 3,000-seat National Amusements Cinema De Lux movie theatre with VIP screening service, a Partners Health Care ambulatory care and sports medicine clinic, a four-star, 150-room Renaissance Hotel & Spa, a Hall at Patriot Place football museum and pro shop and more than 70 shops and restaurants - all linked by tree-lined walkways - will open in the north plaza, which is still under construction. The Renaissance Hotel already has designed a 100-room expansion.

And Foxboro is bracing for another commercial expansion about two miles away in early 2008.

The Shoppes at Chestnut Green are part of the redevelopment of the former Foxboro State Hospital into a mixed-use community.

Walgreens will be the most prominent tenant of the Shoppes, where there will be 55,000 square feet of new retail space at the site, on Chestnut Street.

Another 100,000 square feet of office space will be within the historic hospital buildings but separate from the Shoppes.

Developers Feeling Foxy LLC also are constructing housing and recreation fields there.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.