Valley Plaza Mall is a

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 ...

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

. It is the largest mall in the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...

. The mall is situated near

California State Route 99 State Route 99 (SR 99), commonly known as Highway 99 or, simply, as 99 (without any further designation), is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley. Fr ...

, the city's main north/south freeway. Anchor stores are

Forever 21 Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...

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 ...

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

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

History

Valley Plaza Mall opened in 1967. The mall was originally developed by

The Hahn Company The Hahn Company, San Diego, California, alternately known as Ernest W. Hahn, Inc., was a major American shopping center owner and developer from the 1950s to the 1980s. Purchased by the Trizec Corp. in 1980 (which then took the name TrizecHahn), ...

of San Diego in partnership with John Brock Sr. of Brock's Department Stores. The mall originally had of retail space and three anchor stores:

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Brock's Gottschalks (former NYSE ticker symbol GOT) was a middle-tier American department store that operated 58 department stores and three specialty apparel stores in six western states (California, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada); some ...

. The original interior was described as "reflects the Spanish influence on Southern California in a contemporary manner". In 1986, the mall began expanding, adding "wings" (which increased the mall to its current size) on the east end in 1986, and the west in 1988. Two new anchor stores were added:

(1986) and May Company (1988). The Oasis Food Court was also constructed. In 1997, Pacific Theaters opened a 15-screen theater on the property, but detached from the mall. It contained a mural in the lobby which featured the newly remodeled

Bakersfield Sign The Bakersfield Sign (also known as the Bakersfield Neon Arch) is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Bakersfield, California. It is located over Sillect Avenue, where the street intersects with Buck Owens Boulevard, to the northwest of Do ...

. It was one of the first large public displays of the sign since the remodel. The anchor stores saw many changes. Only JCPenney has remained since they originally opened. Broadway was acquired by

. Brock's was purchased by

Gottschalks Gottschalks (former NYSE ticker symbol GOT) was a middle-tier American department store that operated 58 department stores and three specialty apparel stores in six western states (California, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada); some ...

, which later closed and became occupied by

. May Company became

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 chains. ...

, and it closed and eventually was demolished and replaced by

. The mall also has a 16-screen movie theater, with

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

. It is detached from the mall and is owned by

Reading Cinemas Reading Cinemas ( ) is a group of cinema chains operating in the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. They are owned by the American company Reading International. History In the late 1980s, through his holding company the Craig Corp ...

. Valley Plaza Mall is the site of the Southwest Transit Center, which has a stop for the following

Golden Empire Transit Golden Empire Transit is the operator of mass transportation in Bakersfield, California. There are 16 routes serving Greater Bakersfield, which includes both the City of Bakersfield and adjacent unincorporated communities. Since 2005, nearly the ...

(GET) routes: 2, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, and 15. On October 15, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide. The store closed on January 6, 2019.

References

External links

Valley Plaza Mall
{{Brookfield Properties 1967 establishments in California Brookfield Properties Buildings and structures in Bakersfield, California Shopping malls established in 1967 Shopping malls in Kern County, California Tourist attractions in Bakersfield, California