Los Arcos Mall - Decline

Decline

The first sign of decline came in 1979 when the 1,000,000-square-foot (93,000 m2) plus Fiesta Mall opened in Mesa with four major department stores. During the 1980s and 1990s, Scottsdale Fashion Square, which is only three miles to the north of the Los Arcos site, went through several expansions and renovations and began to serve as Scottsdale's regional mall. While several retailers had locations at both malls, such as Sam Goody, Express, and Structure, retailers began to open their stores more and more at Scottsdale Fashion Square. In 1995, when Federated Department Stores purchased The Broadway, most stores were converted to Macy's. However, the Los Arcos location became a clearance store for a short time and then closed.

In 1999, the mall's last remaining department store, Sears, moved to a new location in the former Dillard's store at Fashion Square. (The Sears store lasted only 18 months in the upscale mall and is now a Macy's). This led to the closure and subsequent demolition of the mall with the exception of the Red Robin Restaurant on the outside of the mall which remained open until 2002.