The Shops at Mission Viejo (originally the Mission Viejo 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 ...

located in

Mission Viejo, California Mission Viejo ( ; corruption of ''Misión Vieja'', Spanish for "Old Mission") is a commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities eve ...

. It is the southernmost mall in Orange County and is anchored by 2

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 ...

locations,

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, and ...

& Dick's Sporting Goods. The Shops at Mission Viejo is managed by Simon Malls, who owns 51% of it.

History

The mall opened in 1979 as the Mission Viejo Mall, anchored by

Bullock's Bullock's was a chain of full-line department stores from 1907 through 1995, headquartered in Los Angeles, growing to operate across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated as many as seven more upscale Bullocks Wilshire specialty ...

, May Company,

J.W. Robinson's J. W. Robinson Co., ''Robinson's'', was a chain of department stores operating in the Southern California and Arizona area, previously with headquarters in Los Angeles, California. History Joseph Winchester Robinson was a merchant from Waltham, ...

, and

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...

. Both Robinson's and 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. ...

in 1993 while Bullock's became Macy's in 1996. In the year 1999, it underwent a $150 million renovation and expansion that brought many new retailers, including

(replaced Montgomery Ward) and

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 ...

. In 2000, Macy's remodeled and expanded the store while Robinsons-May consolidated the two stores as one, closing the former J.W. Robinson's store down (gutted out into a food court) and expanding the former May Company store. In 2006, the newly expanded Robinsons-May store became a second Macy's store, devoting it into a women's and home store. The other Macy's store formerly Bullock's became a men's, children's, and furniture store. Since remodeling/expanding, The Shops at Mission Viejo has featured a mix of upscale and mid-tier retailers, including the country's second

Microsoft Store Microsoft Store (formerly known as Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It started as an app store for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps ...

. It was during this renovation where the mall adopted its current name. In 2010, Saks Fifth Avenue closed, which later became

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 ...

(closed in 2019 due to bankruptcy). The space in 2021 was converted to

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...

. In addition to renovating and expanding, Simon Malls signed 10-year leases with many stores to secure its investment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shops At Mission Viejo Shopping malls established in 1979 Shopping malls in Orange County, California Simon Property Group Mission Viejo, California 1979 establishments in California