Tucson Mall is the largest

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that ...

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. Tucson Mall features over 170 stores and two levels of indoor shopping. It is anchored by

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 ...

(formerly

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, ...

J. C. Penney 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, Girl ...

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 ...

(formerly Goldwaters

Foley's Foley's was a chain of department stores owned by May Department Stores and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. On August 30, 2005, the division was dissolved and operation of the stores was assumed by Federated's Macy's West and Macy's ...

and

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 ...

), and

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 ...

(formerly Diamonds). Tucson Mall contains a food court containing several fast food restaurants, as well as "Arizona Avenue," an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

containing Southwestern-themed items. The mall is located on the north side of Tucson, bounded by Oracle Road (

Arizona State Route 77 State Route 77 (or SR 77) is a state highway in Arizona that traverses much of the state's length, stretching from its northern terminus at the boundary of the Navajo Nation north of Holbrook to its junction with I-10 in Tucson. Route descrip ...

), Wetmore Road, Stone Avenue, and the Rillito River.

Anchor stores

() *

(, formerly

) *

() *

(, formerly occupied in a originally Broadway Southwest. Current location originally opened as

in 1991; chain's Arizona locations rebranded as

February 2, 1997 changed to Macy's in 2006) *

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

()

Former anchors

Diamond's Diamond's was a department store chain headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Originally named The Boston Store, it was founded in 1897 by Nathan and Issac Diamond, Jewish immigrants who had earlier begun a dry-goods mercantile in El Paso, it was rena ...

(sold to

in 1984) *

(became Robinsons-May on February 2, 1997, closed sometime shortly after the chain was bought out by Macy's, reopened as Macy's in 2006) * The Broadway (became Macy's in 1996, closed in 2006, demolished in 2007) *

Mervyns 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, ...

(closed in 2008, became

in 2009) *

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 ...

(, closed in April 2020)

Idea for the Tucson Mall

According to historian David Leighton, it was Helen Wetmore, whose husband's family had homesteaded the land in the late 1800s, who came up with the idea for the Tucson Mall. During a trip to Chicago in the 1930s, she spotted a shopping center on the Skokie Highway and thought to herself, "That's what I am going to have on my land." She kept the parcel of land together until 1978, and at that point plans for the mall were initiated with Forest City Enterprises.

History

The Tucson Mall opened in 1982, with about 100 stores and five department stores, including

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, Mervyn’s,

and

. Diamond's was converted to

in 1984. Beginning in 1990, the mall began an extensive expansion project. First, the Dillard's anchor was expanded and a parking garage was added adjacent to Dillard's. On the east side of the mall, an entirely new wing was built; the original mall footprint had stopped just to the east of the center court area. The area to the southeast of the Mervyn's had been a parking lot. A new wing opened in 1991 and added over 400,000 sq ft to the mall, over 70 new stores, and a sixth anchor, Houston-based

. In 1993, the food court was renovated with addition of a carousel and Arizona Avenue. In 1996, the Broadway was changed to a

after

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito ...

acquired Broadway. In 1997, all of Foley's locations in Arizona were rebranded as the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

-based

. In 2001, General Growth Properties purchased Tucson Mall. In 2003, the aging mall underwent a $15 million overhaul, which was the first major overhaul since it opened in 1982. The mall was given all new polished tile floors, glass railings on the upper level, new escalators and elevators where stairs had been, a new children’s play area, new and refurbished restrooms, reworked food court and Arizona Avenue, changes to fountains and a new paint scheme. In 2006, the Robinsons-May was changed to a Macy's after Macy's acquired them in a corporate purchase. The existing Macy's on the south side of the mall was vacated. In 2007, the former Macy's store was demolished in preparation for an extensive remodel and addition on the south side of the mall. The changes include the addition of a grand entrance hall in the location of the old anchor, extension of stores on both the east and west side of the new entrance, addition of multiple water features, complete update of facade from current Macy's to Mall Security Offices, and the addition of

REI Rei or REI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Rei, a story arc of the anime ''Higurashi When They Cry'' *Rei, a shapeshifting godlike dragon in the Australian webcomic series ''Vainglorious'' *Rei I, II and III, episodes of ''Neon Genesis Eva ...

and

The Cheesecake Factory The Cheesecake Factory Incorporated is an American restaurant company and distributor of cheesecakes based in the United States. The company operates 219 full-service restaurants: 206 under The Cheesecake Factory brand and 13 under the Grand Lux C ...

on the south side of the Tucson Mall. A parking structure was also added adjacent to the current Macy's. In 2008,

GameStop GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operates ...

, formerly an Electronics Boutique, in the bottom floor was relocated to the center as a Software ETC on the top floor, also owned by Gamestop, hyped a bigger, better Gamestop, this larger center one being the result. Mervyn's closed their store with the chain's demise. In 2009,

opened in the approximately space formerly anchored by Mervyn's as part of its strategy to open larger stores with a more diverse merchandise selection. On February 6, 2020, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 31 stores nationwide. The store closed in April 2020.

Transportation

Sun Tran's Tohono Tadai Transit Center, located adjacent to the Mall, was opened in 1994.

References

ErSys: Tucson, AZ - Area Malls - Shopping Experience

External links

Aerial View
{{Brookfield Properties Shopping malls established in 1982 Brookfield Properties Shopping malls in Arizona Buildings and structures in Tucson, Arizona Economy of Tucson, Arizona Shopping malls in Pima County, Arizona Tourist attractions in Tucson, Arizona