University Place, previously known as University Mall, is a single-story

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 in

Orem Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah M ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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 currently has three anchor stores: Dillard's, RC Willey, and Al's Sporting Goods (formerly

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 ...

). The mall is owned and managed by Woodbury Corporation. With of retail space and 5,400 parking spaces, it was once the largest shopping mall in Utah.

History

University Mall opened for business in March 1973, with

ZCMI Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution (typically referred to as ZCMI) was an American department store chain. It was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 9, 1868 by Brigham Young. For many years it used the slogan, "America's First De ...

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 ...

as anchor stores. Mervyn's was added as a third anchor in 1981. JCPenney closed in 1998, relocating to the then-new Provo Towne Centre in nearby Provo. The former JCPenney space was converted to a new mall wing, which included a food court and a

store.

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 ...

opened as the new wing's anchor on March 29, 2002. In 2003, the Woodbury Art Museum, operated by Utah Valley State College, opened, featuring students' artwork. On November 23, 1999,

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (Trade name, doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only Big-box store, big-box retail stores (warehouse c ...

opened a store to the north of the mall. ZCMI was rebranded as

Meier & Frank Meier & Frank was a prominent chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought by The May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006. History Summary Meier & Frank was f ...

in 2002, after

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

sold the chain to the May Company. The store was rebranded again as

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 2006 after Macy's acquired May. Mervyn's closed in 2008, as part of the chain's liquidation. The store's former space sat vacant until its demolition in 2015. Nordstrom closed on February 24, 2012, relocating to the

City Creek Center The City Creek Center (CCC) is a mixed-use development with an upscale open-air shopping center, office and residential buildings, fountain, and simulated creek near Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It is an underta ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

. The space was converted to an RC Willey store, which opened on April 16, 2015. In 2013, the Woodbury Corporation announced a major revitalization project for the mall, which includes the demolition of the former Mervyn's, the addition of new office and retail spaces, new green spaces, new residential spaces, new hotels, and new parking garages. The 2015 renovations included the addition of office space and housing and the addition of an entertainment venue called "The Orchard". The mall was then rebranded as University Place.

closed in August 2016 as part of the chain's Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidation. It was replaced by local chain Al's Sporting Goods, which opened in October 2017.

Trader Joe's Trader Joe's is an American chain of grocery stores headquartered in Monrovia, California. The chain has over 569 stores across the United States. The first Trader Joe's store was opened in 1967 by founder Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, Californi ...

opened a store in the mall's outlot on July 27, 2018. On April 25, 2019, it was announced that

would be closing as part of a plan to close 13 stores nationwide. The store closed in the summer of 2019, and was demolished in January 2020. On January 15, 2020, Dillard's announced that they would open a store on the site of the former Macy's in early 2021, replacing their location at Provo Towne Centre. The store opened on March 21, 2022.

References

External links

University Place Orem website
{{Orem, Utah Shopping malls in Utah Buildings and structures in Orem, Utah Tourist attractions in Utah County, Utah Shopping malls established in 1973