The Biltmore Fashion Park is an outdoor retail and dining mall located in the Biltmore District of

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, along East Camelback Rd. The Biltmore Fashion Park, as well as the surrounding business and residential district, are named after the historic

Arizona Biltmore Hotel The Arizona Biltmore Hotel is a resort located in Phoenix near 24th Street and Camelback Road. It is part of Hilton Hotels' Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts. It was featured on the Travel Channel show ''Great Hotels.'' The Arizona Biltmore h ...

, nearby.

History

Biltmore Fashion Park opened on of land in what was once considered "the outskirts" of Phoenix, in 1963. Anchored at that time by San Francisco's upscale

I. Magnin I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, ...

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...

and

The Broadway The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1896 by English-born Arthur Letts Sr., and named after what was once the city's main shopping street, the Broadway became a dominant reta ...

, which opened in 1968, it was the city's original luxury shopping and dining destination. The mall was designed by

Welton Becket Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California. Biography Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washingt ...

and Associates and built by the Chanen Construction Company. The original

featured native stone walls and concrete Native American hieroglyphics. The Broadway Building which was the first expansion of the mall was designed by

Charles Luckman Charles Luckman (May 16, 1909 – January 26, 1999) was an American businessman, property developer, and architect known for designing landmark buildings in the United States such as the Theme Building, Prudential Tower, Madison Square Garden, ...

and built by the Del E. Webb Corporation in 1968. During the 1960s and 1970s, The Gittings Portrait Studio at the Biltmore photographed the likes of

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

Princess Grace of Monaco Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...

Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...

, and many other celebrities and well-known figures who frequented the Biltmore. In the mid-1990s, the center was purchased by

Taubman Centers Taubman Centers, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The company invests in shopping centers, and is a subsidiary of Simon Property Group since 2020. History The company was founded in 19 ...

for $115 million. During this period, the Biltmore underwent a transformation. Both original anchors changed hands, with

taking over I. Magnin's former space and

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 ...

taking The Broadway's former space. The center also introduced a number of new luxury retailers. The Biltmore was also chosen as one of three sites nationwide for The Galleries of Neiman Marcus; however, Neiman Marcus folded the concept two years later. The Biltmore continued to remain as the dominant luxury collection in Phoenix, drawing the metropolitan area's at the time sole

Allen Edmonds Allen Edmonds is an American upscale men's shoe company based in Port Washington, Wisconsin. The company was established in Belgium, Wisconsin, in 1922 by Elbert W. Allen as Allen-Spiegal Shoe Company. The company is one of the few companies to m ...

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

Elizabeth Arden Elizabeth Arden (born Florence Nightingale Graham; December 31, 1881 – October 18, 1966) was a Canadian-American businesswoman who founded what is now Elizabeth Arden, Inc., and built a cosmetics empire in the United States. By 1929, s ...

, Rangoni Firenze, Stuart Weitzman, and

Waterworks Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

stores.

Tommy Bahama Tommy Bahama Group Inc. is an American multinational manufacturer of casual men's and women's sportswear and activewear, denim, swimwear, accessories, footwear and a complete home furnishings collection. Its parent company is Oxford Industries. ...

also opened a flagship store at the center. By the early 2000s, Biltmore Fashion Park was purchased by Westcor, which initiated a relocation project of the more global brand names to the Fashion Square to allow more room for "home-grown" and "fashion-forward" stores.Shopping Centers Today

References

{{Macerich Shopping malls in Arizona Macerich Buildings and structures in Phoenix, Arizona Shopping malls in Maricopa County, Arizona Tourist attractions in Phoenix, Arizona Shopping malls established in 1963