Great Mall of the Bay Area

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The Great Mall of the Bay Area (often simply called The Great Mall) is a large shopping mall in Milpitas, California owned by Mills Corporation.

1 History
2 Location
3 Layout
4 Transit Center
5 Anchors & Majors
6 External links

[edit] History

Formerly a Ford automobile assembly plant that was founded in the 1950s, it closed down a few decades later due to increasing competition with Japanese auto manufacturers. In the early 1990s, developers resized the former plant and converted it into a mall. Today, an oak tree with a plaque commemorating Great Mall's history stands in the southwest section of its parking lot.

[edit] Location

The Great Mall of the Bay Area sits at the intersection of Great Mall Parkway (which becomes Capitol Avenue when it crosses Montague Expressway) and Montague Expressway. The Parc Metropolitan apartments lie to the north of the mall. A few inns are also located at the south entrance of the mall.

[edit] Layout

Great Mall, unlike many other malls, is a "flat" mall and the biggest mall in northern California — it has only one story but takes up a large amount of land. The mall is currently laid out in this fashion because the existing main structure used to be a Ford automobile assembly plant and was not designed to serve a shopping center.

Various major retailers are represented in the mall, including Home Depot, Off 5th - Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet, Marshalls, Dave and Buster's, Kohl's, and a new Sears outlet. In addition, it houses a Century Theatre with 20 screens.

Based on gross leaseable area, the Great Mall of the Bay Area is the largest mall in Northern California. Great Mall also has a food court, which can be accessed through Entrance 4.

[edit] Transit Center

The Great Mall of the Bay Area is close to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority's Great Mall/Main transit center. Several VTA and AC Transit bus routes terminate at this transit center, which also includes a light rail station.