Fashion Island

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Fashion Island is an open-air shopping mall in Newport Beach, California (located at 33°36′57.3″N, 117°52′34.1″W (33.616065, -117.876147)^[1]). Fashion Island is owned by The Irvine Company.

1 History
2 Urban legends
3 Anchors
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

Opened in 1967 as part of Newport Center, the mall featured four department stores: Buffum's, J. W. Robinson's, The Broadway, and J.C. Penney. These four initial buildings were designed by architects William Pereira and Welton Becket, and were flanked by several smaller stores. The Spanish architectural theme which would later define the mall was evident in the Robinson's building. A few years later, Bullocks Wilshire (which later became I. Magnin) and Neiman Marcus were added. In the early 1980s, J.C. Penney moved out, and the building it occupied was reconstructed and reopened as "Atrium Court", which contained numerous smaller shops and a food court on the lower level.

The southwest entrance to Robinson's features a bronze wind-chime sculpture by mural artist Tom Van Sant, installed in September of 1967, that was recorded by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest wind chime.

In 1988, the center underwent a major expansion and renovation based on the design of Jon Jerde, adding the Island Terrace Food Court, an eight-screen movie theater, and three new avenues of shops, all of which converge in a circular courtyard with an animated fountain that shoots jets of water up to 30 feet high. This fountain is known as the "Iris Fountain" because of the radial-leaves pattern of its marble lining coupled with the jets of water that suggests the iris plant.

Federated Department Stores which owned I. Magnin closed the chain in the early 1990s, and the store was replaced with a Bullock's Women's Store. When Federated shuttered the Bullock's chain, the store was replaced again by Macy's as a Macy's Women's Store. After the consolidation of J. W. Robinson's and May Company California, the Robinson's store became a Robinsons-May. Buffum's closed in the early 1990s, and its space was later subdivided into smaller stores. The Broadway, who's parent company had been purchased by Federated was done away with in 1996, and was replaced by one of the first Bloomingdale's stores on the West Coast.

In the early 2000s the mall underwent additional minor renovations resulting in the alteration and replacement of landscape elements, building facades, outdoor furniture ,and floor materials to better reflect the Mediterranean theme. Included in this renovation was the installment of a carousel and a new wing with restaurants and shops.

The Federated-May merger in 2006, greatly affected Fashion Island, resulting in closure of the 80,000 sq. ft. Macy's Women's Store and conversion of the former Robinsons-May into a full-line Macy's store.

The large courtyard outside the Bloomingdale's building is occupied annually by a large Christmas tree. About a week before Christmas, every year, the tree is lit, preceded by extravagant holiday performances. The trees are taken from a private timber area near Mount Shasta, and shipped to Fashion Island in several pieces, which are then re-assembled using steel rods and a large crane.

On January 29, 2008, Nordstrom announced that it had signed a letter of intent to open a 138,000 sq. ft. store in 2010.

Fashion Island Mall

[edit] Urban legends

In the Bloomingdale's Home Store freight elevator, there exists an urban legend where, supposedly, the ghosts of two busboys haunt the corresponding corridors and elevator. While never confirmed, legend tells that in 1987 two busboys working for the mall murdered a hot dog stand employee by throwing him into the elevator shaft and eventually crushing him to death. The busboys were said to have committed suicide in the same elevator with a semiautomatic pistol. The legend states that if one goes into the freight elevator alone in the early hours of the morning, one can hear the sadistic laughs of the two busboys or, upon descending to the first floor, can hear the bones crunching and horrifying screams of the hot dog stand employee.^{[citation needed]}