Arden Fair is a two-level regional

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

located on

Arden Way The Arden Way is waymarked by the Heart of England Way Association and forms a circular walk to be enjoyed with the rest of Heart of England Way and the European route E2. Rural in character, the route traces old paths and routes through the ...

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It consists of over 165 tenants, encompassing over of retail space. It currently maintains the traditional chain anchors

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

and

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

. It is operated by

Macerich Macerich ( ) is a real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. It is the third-largest owner and operator of shopping centers in the United States. As of December 31, 2020, the company owned interests in 52 properties comprisi ...

History

Arden Fair was originally built in 1957 as a single-level outdoor mall with

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

as the original anchor, despite being physically separated from the rest of the mall. Hale's, the second original anchor, opened four years later in 1961, which was later converted to

Weinstock's Weinstock's, originally Weinstock, Lubin, and Co., was an American department store chain headquartered in Sacramento, California. It was founded by Harris Weinstock and his half-brother, David Lubin. The chain was purchased by Hale's in 1949, b ...

. By the 1970s, Arden Fair was converted into an indoor mall. In 1989, a major structural renovation and physical face-lift occurred by Homart Development, which more than doubled the size of the mall. It added a second story, a food court and brought the first

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...

department store to Sacramento. The old Sears building was gutted as part of the expansion and Sears was relocated to a new building that finally connected the store to the mall. In 1994,

opened up as the mall's fourth anchor, replacing a

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...

movie theater that was relocated to Market Square at Arden Fair, an entertainment and retail complex next door to the mall. In 1996, Weinstock's was converted to the present-day

as part of

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito ...

' (now

Macy's, Inc. Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito' ...

) acquisition of Broadway Stores, Inc in 1995. In early 2004,

KCRA-TV KCRA-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Sacramento, California, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Stockton-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KQCA (channel 58). Both stations share studios on Tel ...

, the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

affiliate in Sacramento, opened "The KCRA 3 Experience", an in-house studio that was located on the second floor of the mall where shoppers got a behind-the-scenes look of how a newscast was put together and a chance to be on TV. Over the years, Walt Gray, Patty Souza, Adrienne Bankert and Eileen Javora broadcast the news every Monday-Friday at Noon. KCRA discontinued the in-house studio and closed it in late 2008 and was replaced by a

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...

phone store. On May 7, 2020, it was announced that Nordstrom, which maintains an additional outpost close-by, would be leaving the mall after pulling back due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic. Prospective replacement tenants are being discussed. On January 29, 2021, it was announced that Sears would shutter its Arden Fair store after operating overall for 64 years. The store closed permanently on April 15, 2021 and was the last remaining full-line Sears store in the greater Sacramento area. As of 2022, This mall still remains a top destination and an important feature in the Sacramento region.

References

External links

Arden Fair Official Site
{{Shopping malls in California Shopping malls established in 1957 Buildings and structures in Sacramento, California Macerich Economy of Sacramento, California Shopping malls in Sacramento County, California Tourist attractions in Sacramento, California