Paradise Valley Mall
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Paradise Valley Mall is a shopping mall located in northeastern Phoenix, Arizona. It opened in the fall of 1979 and is the hub of a master planned community called Paradise Valley Village. The entire project was developed by Westcor, the leading shopping center developer in Arizona, which is now a unit of The Macerich Company. Dayton Hudson Corporation, now Target Corporation, was an early investor in the project and owned the Diamonds department store chain, which was one of the original anchor tenants.
Major retailers include Dillard's, JC Penney, Macy's (formerly Robinsons-May, formerly occupied in a 180,000 sq. ft. building which was previously The Broadway before relocating into the Robinsons-May building), and Sears. The Dillard's store began as Diamonds, a regional department store chain owned at the time by Dayton Hudson as mentioned above; as part of its own expansion into the Southwest, Arkansas-based Dillards acquired the Diamonds chain in 1984. Numerous smaller tenants exist which are mostly clothing and gift shops. Some of the oldest independent shops still there include Knight Gallery (a tobacco and collectables store) and The Indian Market (Native-themed art and gifts). Across Tatum Boulevard is Sammy B's Pizza, another established fixture in the area.
During the 1980s and 1990s, new extensions were constructed, and shopping centers also opened on the ring roads. Today Paradise Valley Mall is several times its original size, with a gross leasable area of 1,222,353 square feet.[1] The surrounding complex of stores has become a major regional retail center in Phoenix, drawing shoppers from all parts of the metropolitan area.
Paradise Valley Mall has a large park-and-ride stop for Valley Metro buses. An elevated rail station, as part of the 1989 ValTrans proposal, had been slated for construction here, but the referendum was voted down. There are also plans to extend the light rail to serve Paradise Valley Mall and other parts of the northeastern areas. Such improvements are not part of the current development phase and are not expected until the 2020s. Long-term plans include the construction of light rail further north along Tatum Boulevard as well as frequent "supergrid" bus service. Currently, most visitors still arrive by car.
Paradise Valley Mall is just west of Scottsdale. Much of the area's original development was spurred by that community, although the demographics of Paradise Valley Village have moderated somewhat over the years to be less upscale and more middle-class. Since the late 1990s, higher income shoppers became more inclined to shop at newer facilities such as Kierland Commons and the Scottsdale Road/Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard corridor, which features power centers that cater to upscale shoppers. This has caused Paradise Valley Mall retailers such as Macy's to carry fewer high-end name brand goods and sell items more in line with a middle-income customer base.[2] The owners also added improvements in 2001 intended to attract teenagers and young families, a move made necessity by it being the oldest mall in the area. Despite this decline, the mall remains very middle-class and has not yet declined to anywhere near the level of Desert Sky Mall or even Fiesta Mall.[3]
Classrooms for Rio Salado Community College are located within the mall.
Despite having the same name as the town of Paradise Valley it is several miles to the north of that community. The neighborhood of Phoenix containing this mall as well as several other major facilities (Paradise Valley Community College, Paradise Valley High School, Paradise Valley Hospital, Paradise Valley Golf Course, Paradise Valley Park, etc.) is also called Paradise Valley.
[edit] Anchors & Majors
- Dillard's (200,000 sq. ft.)
- JCPenney (148,840 sq. ft.)
- Macy's (145,580 sq. ft.)
- Old Navy (15,390 sq. ft.)
- Sears (125,000 sq. ft.)
