Scottsdale Fashion Square

Scottsdale Fashion Square

File:45768.jpg Neiman Marcus Wing
Location	Scottsdale Rd & Camelback Road, Scottsdale, AZ
Opening date	1961
Developer	Westcor
Owner	Macerich
No. of stores and services	225+
No. of anchor tenants	5
Total retail floor area	2,050,600 sq ft (190,510 m2)
No. of floors	3
Parking	Outdoor & Garage
Website	http://www.fashionsquare.com

Scottsdale Fashion Square is the largest shopping mall in Arizona and the American Southwest, with approximately 2 million square feet (180,000 m²) of retail space, and is among the top 30 largest malls in the country. It is one of the top 10 most profitable malls in the country with over $740 sales per square foot, more than $400 over the national average. The mall is located on the northwest corner of Scottsdale Road and Camelback Road in Scottsdale, Arizona and has been owned by Westcor, a subsidiary of Macerich, since 2002. With the explosion of new retail developments and dining options in the nearby vicinity, the term Scottsdale Fashion Square has become more generalized in recent years to include the retail shopping districts adjacent to the complex, including the Scottsdale Waterfront and Southbridge.

History

Waterfall in Palm Court

Scottsdale Fashion Square was originally built as a 3-story open-air structure in 1961, anchored by two local Phoenix stores, department store Goldwater's and supermarket AJ Bayless. At the time, the primary competitor was the Los Arcos Mall, a fully-enclosed mall built in 1969, also located in Scottsdale. Its early financial success led to an expansion of the west-side of the mall in 1974, which nearly doubled the square-footage of the mall. This expansion also added an additional department store, Diamond's, to the northern section of the mall.

In 1977, a competing mall, the fully-enclosed Camelview Plaza, was built just west of Scottsdale Fashion Square, on the other side of North 70th Street. Camelview Plaza boasted Los Angeles department store Bullock's and Houston's Sakowitz. The shopping center also included a Harkins Camelview Theatre on an outparcel.

For several years, the two malls competed for shoppers and tenants. However, in 1982 after Westcor's purchase of the mall, the owners agreed to connect the malls by building a two-story retail bridge across North 70th Street, replacing the shuttle service that ran between the two malls. In the process, the street separating the two malls was sunk below grade-level, widened to four lanes, and renamed North Goldwater Boulevard. The two malls were largely gutted and completely renovated. AJ Bayless was torn down and the space merged with Diamond's to be replaced by Dillard's. Goldwater's, which became J.W. Robinson a few years before, was expanded to 235,000 square feet (21,800 m²). The lower level food court added the Harkins Fashion Square 7 Cinema. Fashion Square 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. The redevelopment was completed in 1991.

In the early 90's, luxury developers and retailers believed the desert city would be the next retail destination. Developments such as the Scottsdale Galleria, The Borgata and Fashion Square lured internationally renowned retailers to the center of the city, including Adrienne Vittadini, A|X Armani Exchange, Bally, Escada, Gianni Versace, Royal Doulton, and Yves Saint Laurent. In 1992, Sakowitz was transformed into a luxurious, 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m²) Neiman Marcus. While many retailers discovered the market was too young and eventually withdrew from the market, Neiman Marcus experienced high sales and remained. Others would return later on.

During the luxury explosion, J.W. Robinson, after being acquired by May Department Stores, became Robinsons-May in 1993. In 1995, the old Bullock's space was vacated, and remained empty for several years. Throughout this time, while 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, Westcor purchased Camelview Plaza and renamed the entire 1,800,000-square-foot (170,000 m²) shopping plaza, Scottsdale Fashion Square.

Despite the early failure of several luxury tenants, the mall attracted a number of the state's first major luxury brands in the mid-to-late 90's during its second major expansion. The mall was redeveloped and expanded south. In 1998, a second retail bridge was constructed to connect the newly built, 235,000-square-foot (21,800 m²), 3-story Nordstrom.Three parking garages were built as well. Nordstrom's arrival landed Fashion Square a number of the state's first luxury names, including Brooks Brothers, Montblanc, Nicole Miller, Niessing, Tiffany & Co., and Swarovski. Dillard's also moved across the mall to Bullock's old space. Sears temporarily occupied the vacant retail space from 1999-2000. At the end of the entire redevelopment, Dillard's was expanded to 365,000 square feet (33,900 m²), the largest store in the Arkansas-based chain. This redevelopment brought the center to nearly 2,000,000 square feet (190,000 m²) and made it the 13th largest enclosed shopping mall in the country.

The revitalized mall helped luxury stores see record-high sales. Coach, St. John, Tiffany & Co., and Louis Vuitton underwent several expansions throughout the years, with all four having nearly doubled or tripled their spaces today. The mall continued to bring in more unique luxury tenants, including the Bang & Olufsen, BOSS Hugo Boss, BCBG Max Azria, Dana Buchman, John Atencio, Kenneth Cole New York, Max Mara, Max Studio, St. Croix, and TUMI. Banana Republic opened one of its first free-standing individual Banana Republic Men and Banana Republic Women stores. Neiman Marcus also opened one of its exclusive Horchow Collection Show Rooms at the mall. Moreover, in 2002, Sears closed and was replaced by the area's first Macy's.

In 2004, 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 hoped 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. Lumenati has helped raise the level of luxury at Fashion Square. Westcor began the transformation by transplanting Gucci and Betsey Johnson from Biltmore. The mall also brought in the first Burberry, Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Lacoste, Sony Style, Tourneau, and Vilebrequin to the state.

Modern

Scottsdale Fashion Square

Today, Scottsdale Fashion Square is known for its high-end tenants, rivaling Biltmore Fashion Park located six miles (10 km) to the west. It is the only Arizona and Southwest location for several marque brands. As such, the mall attracts over 12 million visitors annually . Scottsdale Fashion Square is anchored by Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy's, Dillard's (the largest store in the Dillard's chain), and Barneys New York (opening Fall 2009).

Due to the merger between Federated Department Stores and May Department Stores, the 235,000 sq ft (21,800 m²). Robinsons-May at Fashion Square was closed in June 2006. The space left vacant by Robinsons-May has been torn down and will be rebuilt to accommodate the much smaller 65,000 sq ft (6,000 m²). flagship Barneys New York, set to open in 2009. The Barney's wing will also add an additional 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m²). anchor to the mall and provide room for 25-30 new luxury stores. The redevelopment also plans to create street-scape retail flanking Scottsdale Rd. by tearing down the current Robinsons-May parking garage. Westcor plans to construct two floors of underground parking to compensate the elimnation of the existent parking garage.

The announcement of Barneys ignited an influx of luxury retailers. Despite the increasing competition from several planned developments in North Scottsdale, such as CityNorth, One Scottsdale, The Palmeraie and Palisene (also owned by Westcor), the mall continues to be the predominant luxury center in Phoenix. Since Barneys' announcement, A|X Armani Exchange, Bottega Veneta, CH Carolina Herrera, Cartier, FAO Schwarz (Macy*s Location) Jimmy Choo, Marciano, Metropark, Michael Kors, Puma AG, Roberto Botticelli, Salvatore Ferragamo, Melrose Avenue boutique Stash Collections, Socrati and Tous have opened. Tiffany's is among several who expanded, adding a second entrance to the store, a men's room and private VIP viewing salon. Bang & Olufsen and Max Mara have also doubled in size. Several more stores have signed leases, including, Bvlgari (April 2009), and True Religion (Barneys' wing Fall 2009).

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:

File:Scottsdalefashionsquarelogo.jpg

Anchors

• Barneys New York (65,000 sq ft) (opening fall 2009; formerly Robinsons-May)
• Crate & Barrel (35,111 sq ft)
• Dillard's (365,000 sq ft)
• Macy's (236,000 sq ft)
• Neiman Marcus (118,000 sq ft)
• Nordstrom (235,000 sq ft)

Restaurants & Entertainment

• Grand Lux Cafe
• Godiva Chocolatier
• Häagen-Dazs
• Harkins Theatres 7-Plex Cinema (28,412 sq ft)
• Kona Grill
• Marcella's Ristorante (opening fall 2009 in Barney's wing)
• Modern Steak (opening fall 2009 in Barney's wing)
• Paradise Bakery
• P.B. Loco
• Yard House[1]
• Z'Tejas

External links

• Scottsdale Fashion Square
• Scottsdale Waterfront Residences