Superstition Springs Center is a shopping mall located in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Communit ...

. It is owned by Macerich, and was developed by

Westcor Westcor was a subsidiary of The Macerich Company and a large developer of shopping malls in the Southwestern region of the United States. It was founded in 1964 by entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic val ...

. The mall features the traditional retailers

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an upscale American department store chain with approximately 282 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The ...

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, Gi ...

, 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 ...

in addition to an 8-screen Picture Show. The mall features prominent specialty retailer such as

Buckle The buckle or clasp is a device used for fastening two loose ends, with one end attached to it and the other held by a catch in a secure but adjustable manner. Often taken for granted, the invention of the buckle was indispensable in securing tw ...

Tillys Tillys (originally known as World of Jeans and Tops and Tilly's) is an American retail clothing company that sells an assortment of branded apparel, accessories, shoes, and more. Tillys is headquartered and operated from Irvine, California. His ...

, Hollister,

Charlotte Russe A charlotte is a type of bread pudding that can be served hot or cold. It is also referred to as an "icebox cake". Bread, sponge cake, crumbs or biscuits/cookies are used to line a mold, which is then filled with a fruit puree or custard. The ...

, BoxLunch, and

See's Candies See's Candies is an American manufacturer and distributor of candy, particularly chocolates. It was founded by Charles See, his wife Florence, and his mother Mary in Los Angeles, California in 1921. The company is now headquartered in South San ...

. The mall features an outdoor

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

and a fountain that converts into a stage featuring free concerts from May to August on Saturday evenings. The mall also serves as a transit center for

Valley Metro Bus Valley Metro Bus is a transit bus system for public transport in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. In , the Valley Metro half the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . Buses are operated by private companies contracte ...

History

Superstition Springs Center was built and completed in 1990, and was jointly developed and owned by

and

General Growth Properties GGP Inc. (an initialism of General Growth Properties) was an American commercial real estate company and the second-largest shopping mall operator in the United States. It was founded by brothers Martin, Matthew and Maurice Bucksbaum in Ceda ...

. The original architect was Rafique Islam. The Weitz Company, Inc. was the general contractor. When it first opened, most of the area surrounding the mall was open fields. At the time, it rested at the end of a freeway ( U.S. Route 60), and was considered too far away from developed areas to be successful. However, since its opening, the area around Superstition Springs Center has seen significant growth; as of 2009, it held an estimated population of 337,000 in its primary trade area. In February 2002, the mall underwent remodeling to include exterior paint and lighting, interior paint, flooring, and lighting to create a new refined atmosphere with color, texture, and regional imagery. Originally majority-owned and managed by Westcor (two-thirds share, with

owning the other third), in 2002 Superstition Springs Center became part of Macerich's portfolio, with

kept as management. In June 2011, GGP sold its 1/3 ownership in the mall (along with its 1/3 ownership of

Arrowhead Towne Center Arrowhead Towne Center, often referred to by locals as Arrowhead Mall, is a super-regional shopping mall located in Glendale, Arizona (west suburban Phoenix). The mall is owned by Macerich & GIC Private Limited. It is anchored by Macy's, Dillar ...

in Glendale), with Westcor assuming full ownership. In recent years, the mall has struggled to retain national chains causing the mall to rely more on local businesses to backfill the empty space. As of 2021, less than 50% of the mall's tenant mix is occupied by national retailers. The surrounding area has also experienced a decline in retailers including the Mesa Pavilions which is now mostly vacant and slated to be demolished for multifamily housing. Some attempts have been made to bring life back into the mall, including the relocation of

Ross Dress For less Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of 2018, Ross operates 1,483 sto ...

Ulta Beauty Ulta Beauty, Inc., formerly known as Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. and before 2000 as Ulta3, is an American chain of beauty stores headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Ulta Beauty carries both high-end and low-end cosmetics, fragra ...

into the former

Sports Authority Sports Authority, Inc. (formerly The Sports Authority) was an American sports retailer. At its peak, Sports Authority operated 463 stores in 45 States and Puerto Rico. The company's website was on the GSI Commerce platform and supported the ret ...

. However, it is uncertain if this can help the mall attract new long-term tenants.

Anchors

The anchors at the mall are

, and

. The Macy's location was built to be Broadway Southwest (the last store built by then owner Carter Hawley Hale). This location was halted during a hostile take over attempt by the Limited and sold off to

Robinsons-May Robinsons-May was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, from 1993 until 2006. It was created when May Department Stores combined two of its chains, May Company California and J. W. Robinson's cha ...

in 1994. In 2010, the former

Mervyn's Mervyn's was an American middle-scale department store chain based in Hayward, California, and founded by Mervin G. Morris (1920–2021). It carried national brands of clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, ...

became a furniture store called Home Sleep Home, which went out of business. It was then divided up into two junior anchors. The lower level was replaced with a miniature golf course called Lunar Mini Golf and later Phoenix Sofa Factory. Phoenix Sofa Factory closed in October 2017, leaving the lower level vacant. The upper level became

, which went out of business in 2016, and became Book Vault a year later. Book Vault closed on October 28, 2018, with Ross filling the space in 2019. On October 16, 2018, It was announced Sears would shutter as part of an ongoing plan to phase out of brick-and-mortar. Several prospective tenants have been in discussion.

References

External links

Superstition Springs Center
Official website {{Macerich Macerich Shopping malls in Maricopa County, Arizona Buildings and structures in Mesa, Arizona Shopping malls established in 1990 1990 establishments in Arizona