Valley Plaza Mall facts for kids
| Location | Bakersfield, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°20′17″N 119°02′02″W / 35.338°N 119.034°W |
| Address | 2701 Ming Avenue, Bakersfield, CA 93304 |
| Opening date | 1967 |
| Developer | The Hahn Company |
| Management | Brookfield Properties Retail Group |
| Owner | Brookfield Properties Retail Group |
| No. of stores and services | 143 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 (4 open, 1 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 1,174,947 square feet (109,156.1 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in JCPenney, Parking Garage, and former Sears, 3 in Macy's) |
| Parking | 5,504 |
| Website | valleyplazamall.com |
Valley Plaza Mall is a large shopping mall located in Bakersfield, California. It is the biggest mall in the San Joaquin Valley. The mall is easy to find, as it's close to California State Route 99, a main highway that runs north and south through the city. The main stores, also known as 'anchor stores,' are Forever 21, JCPenney, Macy's, and Target.
Contents
A Look Back: History of the Mall
Valley Plaza Mall first opened its doors in 1967. It was built by The Hahn Company from San Diego, working with John Brock Sr. At first, the mall had three main stores: Sears, The Broadway, and Brock's.
Growing Bigger: Mall Expansions
The mall started to get much bigger in 1986. New sections, called "wings," were added to the east side in 1986 and to the west side in 1988. This made the mall its current large size. Two new main stores joined the mall during this time: JCPenney in 1986 and May Company in 1988. A special area for food, called the Oasis Food Court, was also built.
In 1997, Pacific Theaters opened a movie theater with 15 screens near the mall. This theater was not directly connected to the mall building. It had a cool mural in its lobby that showed the newly updated Bakersfield Sign. This was one of the first big public displays of the sign after it was remodeled.
Changes to Main Stores
Over the years, many of the main stores at Valley Plaza Mall changed. Only JCPenney has stayed open since it first arrived.
- The Broadway store was bought by Macy's.
- Brock's was purchased by another company called Gottschalks. Later, Gottschalks closed, and the space became home to Forever 21.
- May Company changed its name to Robinsons-May. Eventually, this store closed, and its building was taken down. A new Target store was built in its place.
Movie Theater and Transportation
Today, the mall also has a 16-screen movie theater, which includes an IMAX screen. This theater is separate from the main mall building and is owned by Reading Cinemas.
Valley Plaza Mall is also an important spot for public transportation. It's the location of the Southwest Transit Center. This is a stop for many Golden Empire Transit (GET) bus routes, making it easy for people to get to and from the mall.
Recent Changes: Sears Closure
On October 15, 2018, it was announced that the Sears store at the mall would be closing. This was part of a bigger plan to close many Sears stores across the country. The Sears store at Valley Plaza Mall officially closed on January 6, 2019.
