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 location and transit stop for Valley Metro buses. There are also plans to extend the light rail system, currently under construction in the central area of the city, to serve Paradise Valley Mall and other parts of the northeastern part of the city and suburbs, though according to Valley Metro, 2021 would be the earliest date for it to be completed. Most visitors still arrive by car.

The surrounding Paradise Valley Village neighborhood consists of office complexes and single-family homes. Apartments and condominium buildings raise the population density in the Tatum Blvd. area, which is designated as a "high-capacity corridor" for future study of light rail use further north of the mall.

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.^[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

Abercrombie & Fitch (10,348 sq. ft.)
Dillard's (200,000 sq. ft.)
Gap (17,120 sq. ft.)
JCPenney (148,840 sq. ft.)
Luby's Cafeteria (10,425 sq. ft.)
Macy's (145,580 sq. ft.)
Old Navy Clothing Co. (15,390 sq. ft.)
Sears (125,000 sq. ft.)

[edit] References

^ [1] The Macerich Company
^ [2] Summary of PVNC Meeting with Westcor March 30, 2006
^ Robertson, Ann, "Paradise Valley Mall dressing up family image" The Business Journal. Phoenix: Nov 16, 2001.Vol.22, Iss. 7; pg. 5