Address 645 E. Shaw Avenue Owner The Macerich Company No. of anchor tenants 4 | Opening date 1970 No. of stores and services 130+ | |
Location Fresno, California 93710 | ||
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 (accommodating Macy's and a new food court) and in 2005 with the addition of an outdoor lifestyle wing. It competes with two outdoor shopping centers in Fresno: The Shops at River Park, three miles to the north; and Fig Garden Village, located 1.7 miles to the west.
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History
The mall was built in 1970 by the MacDonald Group with 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m2) and was sold in 1987. The mall originally opened with Gottschalks, Weinstock's, and J. C. Penney, with Macy's added to the roster in 1983.
In 1996, Weinstock's parent company Broadway Department Stores merged with competitor Federated Department Stores. 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, which operated in the mostly-unchanged Gottschalks building for a short time. Forever 21 then shuttered the store in early 2011 for an extensive remodel, which was completed in 2012.
In 2005, construction on a 94,000 square-foot expansion commenced. Dubbed The Village at Fashion Fair, the open-air wing features upscale retailers that are new to the Fresno market: Anthropologie, Charming Charlie, Bebe, Sephora, GUESS, Michael Kors, and The Cheesecake Factory. However, since opening in 2005, several of The Village's prominent tenants have shuttered; including Z Gallerie in 2009, BCBGMaxAzria in 2013, Urban Outfitters in 2015, and Men's Wearhouse and The Limited in 2016. The Village is nearly 50% vacant, while the interior mall retains near 95% occupancy.
The mall has had a tough year in 2016, losing several notable stores including Gap, Gap Kids, ANGL, Best Buy Mobile, Verizon, Macy's Woman, Slam X Hype, The Limited, Men's Wearhouse and Orange Julius. However, other stores, including Victoria's Secret, Bath and Body Works, Hollister Co, GameStop, and Torrid have expanded and/or remodeled their spaces.
In February 2017, American Eagle Outfitters announced that it would expand and remodel its store, while Anthropolgie, one of the last original stores to the 2005 outdoor expansion, announced that it would close in summer 2017 and relocate to a smaller space at a competing shopping center. Amazon also closed their store at the mall after only 7 months in operation.