Fiesta Mall - History

History

Fiesta Mall was originally developed by the Homart Development Company, which at the time of the opening of Fiesta Mall in 1979 was the real estate division of Sears, Roebuck and Company and was engaged in development of several shopping centers nationwide, anchored by Sears retail locations. In 1995, Homart Development Company and its mall properties were sold to General Growth Properties. Fiesta Mall was acquired by Macerich in 2004 for $135 million.

Fiesta Mall opened with four anchor department stores, Goldwaters (which became Robinsons-May in 1989 and changed to Macy's in 2006), Diamond's (now Dillard's), The Broadway (which became Macy's in 1996, and closed in 2006 with the location knocked down for a Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods, and Sears. It was one of the first major malls to be built in Mesa, which has traditionally been one of the nation's fastest growing areas. There are 116 stores in the mall with a total area of 9,226,325 sq ft (857,153.6 m2).

Fiesta's opening hastened the decline of Mesa's Main Street shopping corridor (although it has rebounded slightly since the 1990s with an emphasis on locally-owned boutiques and related shops). Fiesta Mall itself has seen some decline as since its opening many other regional malls have opened in the area, including the 1990 opening of Superstition Springs Center in east Mesa, the 1997 opening of Arizona Mills (located in Tempe), the 2001 opening of Chandler Fashion Center, and the 2007 openings of Mesa Riverview and Tempe Marketplace. Fiesta Mall underwent a renovation in 2000 in part to try to reverse the trend.

The demographics around Fiesta Mall have changed as the west Mesa area has become less upscale and more blue-collar in nature (as new development in Mesa favors the eastern portions of the city), which hurt sales in Fiesta's more upscale stores.

In May 2007, plans were announced to demolish the vacant Macy's location. The structure has been replaced by a new two-level building that has two separate 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) tenants, one on each level. The tenants are Best Buy and Dick's Sporting Goods. Demolition began in November 2007 and new tenants are currently in place. A new retail location has also been created with frontage on Alma School Road for a In-N-Out Burger location.