Scottsdale Fashion Square

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Interior view of Scottsdale Fashion Square
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Interior view of Scottsdale Fashion Square

Scottsdale Fashion Square is the largest shopping mall in Arizona and the American Southwest, with approximately 2 million square feet (190,000 m²) of retail space, and is among the top 30 largest malls in the country.[1] It is also one of the most profitable malls in the country with over $700 sales per square foot, more than $300 over the national average.[2] The mall is located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Scottsdale Road and Camelback Road in Scottsdale, Arizona and is owned by Westcor, since 2002 a subsidiary of The Macerich Company.

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[edit] History

Scottsdale Fashion Square has a unique development history among regional shopping malls. The mall was originally built as a 3-story open-air structure in 1961. A competing mall, the fully-enclosed Camelview Plaza, was subsequently built just west of Scottsdale Fashion Square, on the other side of North 70th Street.

The two malls competed for shoppers and tenants until, in the late-80s, the owners agreed to connect the malls by building a two-story retail bridge across North 70th Street. In the process, the street separating the two malls was sunk below grade-level, widened to four lanes, and renamed North Goldwater Boulevard. Scottsdale Fashion Square was largely gutted and completely renovated. It was also enclosed by a system of retractable glass skylights. A variety of tenants were able to remain in-place and operating throughout this redevelopment process. In addition to the space added in the retail bridge, the redevelopment process also added additional department store and small store area to each of the malls. The redevelopment was completed in 1991.

Although connected, the two malls retained separate ownership and identities. Signage within the malls indicated to shoppers the demarcation between the two structures. These separate identities continued until, in 1996, the owner of Scottsdale Fashion Square purchased Camelview Plaza.

Due to the success of the redeveloped and expanded mall, the owners again looked for ways to add additional square footage. In 1999, they completed construction of a second retail bridge, this time south across the six-lane Camelback Road. This bridge leads to a new sixth department store location.

[edit] Modern

Today, Scottsdale Fashion Square is known for its high-end tenants, rivaling Biltmore Fashion Park located six miles to the west. It is the only Arizona location for several marque brands. Scottsdale Fashion Square is anchored by Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy's, Dillard's (the largest store in the Dillard's chain).

Due to the merger between Federated Department Stores and May Stores, the 235,000 sq-ft. Robinsons-May at Fashion Square was closed in June 2006. The space left vacant by Robinsons-May will be torn down and rebuilt to accommodate the much smaller 65,000 sq-ft. flagship Barneys New York, set to open in 2009. The Barney's wing will also add 100,000 sq-ft. to the mall, providing room for 25-30 new luxury stores.

In 2005, Fashion Square joined 7 other malls owned by Macerich to form the Lumenati Brand, a mission by Macerich to bring their malls to a new level of luxury. Macerich hopes to make Fashion Square rival other upscale malls in the nation such as South Coast Plaza in Orange County, California, Bal Harbour Shops in Florida, and The Galleria in Houston, Texas, all of which are famed centers for luxury collections.

[edit] Waterfront

A new bridge from Nordstrom has connected the shopping center with the newly built retail center known as the Scottsdale Waterfront, featuring several upscale eateries and boutiques. Scottsdale Waterfront is so named because it is located along 1,800 linear feet of the Arizona Canal and is one of the first phases of a master plan to create a pedestrian-friendly experience comparable to the well-known Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.

The outdoor entrances to Sephora and Anthropologie lead directly to the Scottsdale Waterfront retail and restaurant center. Pink Taco, a restaurant originally begun at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, opened its second restaurant location here, creating controversy not only locally, but also nationally, discussed most recently on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. The center has Scottsdale's only Urban Outfitters and has several local boutiques carrying upscale brands such as Chloé, Manolo Blahnik, Stella McCartney, Helmut Lang, CoCo Blanco and others.

[edit] Retailers

Scottsdale Fashion Square is notable in not only Phoenix, but also most of the Southwest because the mall boasts over 40 exclusive stores. Some exclusive stores at Fashion Square include:

[edit] Anchors

[edit] Luxury stores

[edit] Midscale stores

[edit] Restaurants & Entertainment

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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