Fashion Fair

Fashion Fair is a medium-sized, enclosed shopping mall in Fresno, California, anchored by two Macy's stores, JCPenney, and Forever 21. Originally opened in 1970, Fashion Fair was expanded in 1983 (to accommodate Macy's and a new food court) and in 2005 (with the addition of an outdoor lifestyle wing). It competes with The Shops at River Park and Fig Garden Village, two outdoor shopping centers in the city of Fresno.

Fashion Fair
Fashion Fair Mall sign
LocationFresno, California, United States
Coordinates36.806°N 119.776°W / 36.806; -119.776
Address645 E. Shaw Avenue
Opening date1970
OwnerThe Macerich Company
No. of stores and services130+
No. of anchor tenants4
Total retail floor area963,000 sq ft (89,500 m2)
No. of floors1 (2 in JCPenney, 3 in Forever 21 and Macy's)
Parkingparking lot, valet
Websitefashionfairmall.com

History

The 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m2) mall was built in 1970 by the MacDonald Group and was sold in 1987.[1] The mall originally opened with Gottschalks, J. C. Penney, and Weinstock's; Macy's joined the roster in 1983.[2]

In 1996, Weinstock's parent company, Broadway Department Stores, merged with its competitor, Federated Department Stores.[3] While most of Broadway's stores were converted to the Macy's nameplate, Weinstock's stores in Fresno and Modesto were traded to Gottschalks. This allowed Gottschalks to take over the larger Weinstock's buildings, while Macy's converted the original Gottschalks stores into separate Macy's Men's & Home stores. Gottschalks filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and sold its lease to Forever 21.[4]

After an extensive remodel, Forever 21 opened on April 1, 2011; this was the largest Forever 21 built in the United States at 164,052 square feet. Approximately one year after opening, the store downsized and took the third level out of service. In Spring 2019 amid company restructuring, the store downsized again leaving only the first floor in use. The 2nd level partially reopened on August 30, 2019, however, was re-closed by October 24, 2019 leaving only the first floor in use. Forever 21 filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on September 29, 2019. On October 1, 2019, this location was placed on the initial list of stores set to close by the end of the year. By October 31, 2019, the store was removed from the list of locations to close.

In 2005, construction on a 94,000 square-foot expansion commenced. Dubbed The Village at Fashion Fair, the open-air wing features upscale retailers including Charming Charlie, Lucky Brand Jeans, LUSH Cosmetics, Michael Kors, and Sephora; alongside The Cheesecake Factory and a Fleming's steakhouse.[5]

The Village has experienced significant turnover since it opened, with major retailers Urban Outfitters,[6] Anthropologie,[7] and Z Gallerie[8] (among others) exiting the property after less than 10 years in business. The former Urban Outfitters was replaced with an Ulta Beauty[9] store in 2018, which was joined by Fresno's second H&M store later in the year.[10] Charming Charlie, which originally replaced Z Gallerie, closed in 2019, and was replaced with a Five Below which opened September 27, 2019.

Anchor stores
AnchorYear OpenedSquare FeetNotes
Macy's Women's, Children's, and Home1983176,410 sfOpened in 1983 as anchor to mall expansion.
Macy's Men's & Backstage199676,650 sfBuilt 1970 as Gottschalks, became Macy's Men's & Children's in 1996 after Gottschalks relocated to former Weinstock's, Kids department relocated to women's store to make room for addition of Macy's Backstage in 2019
JCPenney1970153,769 sfOriginal anchor
Forever 212011164,052 sfOpened in 1970 as Weinstock's, became Gottschalks in 1996 after Weinstock's/ Macy's merger, became Forever 21 in 2011 after Gottschalks bankruptcy and liquidation in 2009. *Noted as the largest Forever 21 store ever built.
H&M201822,000 sfJunior anchor, formerly Forever 21 and Love Culture
Ulta Beauty 2018 10,164 sf Formerly Urban Outfitters

Former anchors
  • Weinstock's (Opened 1970, closed 1996 due to Broadway-Federated merger)
  • Gottschalks (Opened 1970, moved to former Weinstock's in 1996, closed 2009 due to company liquidation)
  • Love Culture (Opened 2012 in former Forever 21 space, closed 2018, replaced by H&M)

See also

References
  1. "Sale of Fashion Fair Complete". Fresno Bee. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  2. "Macy's new 'Miracle on 34th Street'". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  3. "Federated to Buy Broadway Stores for $1.6 Billion". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  4. "MACY'S, FOREVER 21 TO TAKE OVER GOTTSCHALKS STORES". ABC30. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  5. "Macerich Announces 13% Increase in FFO Per Share". PRNewswire. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  6. "Retail Therapy: What happened to Urban Outfitters?". Fresno Bee. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  7. "Fig Garden Village nabs Anthropologie, Paper Source Stores". Fresno Bee. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  8. "Lease Cancellations (June 14–20): Z Gallerie To Cancel 25 Store Leases". CoStar. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  9. "Ulta Beauty coming to Fashion Fair, more changes on the way". Fresno Bee. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  10. "Fashion Fair location for H&M clothing store to open September 13". ABC30 Fresno. 2018-09-04. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
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