Fashion Valley Mall facts for kids
Fashion Valley Mall
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| Location | San Diego, California, United States |
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| Coordinates | 32°46′02″N 117°10′05″W / 32.76725°N 117.16817°W |
| Address | 7007 Friars Rd. |
| Opening date | 1969 |
| Developer | The Hahn Company |
| Management | Simon Property Group |
| Owner | Simon Property Group (50%) / Lend Lease |
| No. of stores and services | 196 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,720,533 sq ft (159,842.7 m2) |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Public transit access | Fashion Valley Transit Center |
Fashion Valley, also known as Fashion Valley Mall, is a large, outdoor shopping mall in San Diego, California. It is located in an area called Mission Valley. This mall is huge, with over 1.7 million square feet of space for stores! That makes it the biggest mall in San Diego and one of the largest in California. A company called Simon Property Group helps manage the mall.
Contents
The Story of Fashion Valley Mall
How it Started (1969)
Fashion Valley Mall first opened its doors on October 12, 1969. It was built by Ernest W. Hahn and cost about $50 million. The mall was built on 78 acres of land. Part of this land used to be a baseball stadium called Westgate Park.
When it first opened, Fashion Valley wanted to be the main shopping spot in San Diego. It started with three big department stores:
- J.W. Robinson's
- Buffum's
- The Broadway
Soon after opening, more stores joined. A two-story J.C. Penney store opened in 1970. A fancy department store called Joseph Magnin also opened. You could also find a Woolworth store, which was a popular discount store.
At the start, the mall had about 1 million square feet of space. It also had parking for 6,000 cars. The mall had a Spanish style, with red tiles and a tall tower. Since then, the mall has grown and changed many times.
Changes in the 1980s and 1990s
The mall had its first big update in 1981. Two new well-known stores, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, were added. This helped Fashion Valley become known for its fashion. The Joseph Magnin store closed in 1984.
In 1991, Buffum's closed down. An upscale store called I. Magnin took its place in 1992. However, I. Magnin stores eventually closed in the mid-1990s. Then, Saks Fifth Avenue opened in that spot in 1995.
Other stores also changed names. Robinson's became Robinsons-May in 1993. The Broadway store was bought by Macy's in 1996.
In 1997, the mall had a huge renovation project that cost $110 million. This made the Macy's, Nordstrom, and Robinsons-May stores bigger. The mall grew to 1.7 million square feet and had 200 stores. They also added five new parking garages for 8,000 cars. In 2001, Simon Property Group became a part-owner and manager of the mall.
Fashion Valley in the 2000s and 2010s
In 2006, Robinsons-May closed its store. This was because two big department store companies merged. San Diego's first Bloomingdale's store opened in that spot on November 18, 2006.
Saks Fifth Avenue closed its Fashion Valley store in 2010. A popular clothing store called Forever 21 then took over that space.
In 2019, Simon Malls announced more updates for the mall. These plans included adding more outdoor spaces, new landscaping, and more dining options. They also planned to add outdoor "lounges" and water features.
Visitors from Mexico
Fashion Valley is a popular shopping spot for people from Tijuana, Mexico. Tijuana is a large city right next to San Diego. Many visitors from other parts of Mexico, like Mexico City, also come to shop at Fashion Valley. In 1977, about 10% of all sales at the mall were to Mexican visitors. Even in 2019, the mall managers said that customers from Mexico are very important to their business.
Free Speech at the Mall
Fashion Valley Mall was once part of a legal case about free speech. A union wanted to hand out flyers at the mall. They wanted people to stop shopping at Robinsons-May. This was because Robinsons-May advertised in a newspaper that the union was having problems with.
The court decided that people could hand out flyers at the mall. This was allowed because of a rule in the California Constitution about free speech. It meant that even though the mall is private property, it's also a public place where people can share their ideas.
See also
In Spanish: Fashion Valley Mall para niños
