West Main Street / US 60, 70, 80 & 89 and North Dobson Road
Mesa, Arizona
Greater Phoenix's fifth fully-enclosed shopping center took 6 years to get from conception to completion. TRI-CITY MALL occupied a 38-acre site, which was previously an alfalfa field. The parcel was located 16.8 miles east of the Arizona State Capitol, in suburban of Mesa.
The shopping hub was built by the Malouf Development Company, a joint venture of Grant and Edmond Malouf, of Phoenix, and Los Angeles' Don Keith. Project architects were Chandler's Glenn A. McCollum and the Copeland, Novak & Israel firm, of New York City.
TRI-CITY MALL was conceived and built to serve the East Valley cities of Mesa, Tempe and Chandler. A mall-wide dedication was held on August 14, 1968, when thirty-four stores were launched in unison. There would eventually be thirty-eight.
As part of the grand opening celebration, a flag raising was performed by the Mesa Boy Scouts. In attendance were Arizona Governor Jack Williams (R), Jack Taylor (Mayor of Mesa), Elmer Bradley (Mayor of Tempe), George Nader (Mayor of Chandler) and the three mall developers. A ceremonial ribbon was cut. Later on, there were appearances by members of the Phoenix Suns Basketball team and Phoenix Roadrunners hockey team. Entertainment was provided by the Joe Esile Singers.
Situated on a single retail level, the complex was anchored by a 2-level (187,000 square foot) J.C. Penney, which opened during the August 14, 1968 mall dedication. Charter inline tenants included Hanny's apparel, Daniel's Jewelers, Walgreen Drug, Gallenkamp Shoes, a (13,500 square foot) Bashas' supermarket and (15,200 square foot) S.H. Kress 5 & 10.
Center Court featured a floor-to-ceiling "Rain Fountain"; one of the water-less "Wonderfall" features used in several enclosed shopping centers built in the 1960s. The main shopping concourse and entry halls had artificial lighting and natural illumination provided by domed skylights. Sections of the floor were carpeted.
TRI-CITY MALL was completed with the inauguration of a second anchor department store. A 2-level (136,000 square foot), Phoenix-based Diamond's welcomed its first shoppers on August 7, 1969. The mall now encompassed approximately 555,000 leasable square feet.
Competition for the shopping complex initially came from FIESTA MALL {1.8 miles southeast, in Mesa}, which opened in October 1979. The Diamond's chain operated stores in TRI-CITY MALL and FIESTA MALL for a time, but the FIESTA location eventually won out.
Diamond's at TRI-CITY MALL was shuttered on January 14, 1984. In October, the mall was sold to Grossman Company Properties, of Phoenix. They initiated a multi-million dollar face lift in November 1984. New Brazilian tile flooring was installed throughout the complex. Planters and a water-operated Center Court fountain were also added. The revitalized retail hub was re-dedicated on October 11, 1985.
Following this, the vacant Diamond's building was converted to 2 levels of tenant spaces. The first floor of this new West Mall was divided into a (25,000 square foot) Winston's department store, inaugurated in August 1986, and a CIGNA Healthcare clinic.
The second floor contained the Eatery Food Court, a branch of Lamson Junior College, a Tilt Video Arcade and the Mann Tri-City Mall 1 Dollar Theatre. This 5-screen venue showed its first features on May 22, 1987. TRI-CITY MALL now housed fifty-five stores and services. Winston's morphed into a Salt Lake City-based ZCMI II "fashion specialty store" in February 1989. On November 26, 1991, a (13,000 square foot), Florida-based Beall's Outlet was dedicated.
Meanwhile, additional rivalry for TRI-CITY MALL came from the completion of SUPERSTITION SPRINGS CENTER (November 1990) {10.4 miles southeast, in Mesa}. The ZCMI II in TRI-CITY MALL was converted into an outlet-type ZCMI store in 1992 and was shuttered in 1996. The ARIZONA MILLS mall {5.5 miles southwest, in Tempe} had held its grand opening in November 1997.
A merchandising tug-of-war between TRI CITY MALL and its many competitors had sent the shopping center into a downward spiral. By mid-1998, only six inline stores were in operation; Walgreen Drug, Furr's Cafeteria, Beall's Outlet, Radio Shack, GNC and Western Village. J.C. Penney went dark on August 8, 1998.
TRI-CITY MALL was shuttered in September. A redevelopment plan was put together by a joint venture of New York City-based Angelo, Gordon & Company and Philadelphia-based Ameri-Mar Enterprises. The majority of TRI-CITY MALL was demolished in late 1999, with the vacant J.C. Penney and four outparcels left standing.
An initial plan was to renovate the Penney's structure into offices and add new store space, creating an open-air strip plaza. TRI-CITY PAVILIONS opened in the year 2000. Encompassing 96,400 leasable square feet, the mini-complex was anchored by a (55,000 square foot) Safeway supermarket. The Penney's building was never refurbished as planned. It was knocked down in April 2006.
The adjacent 12-acre strip center was sold to California's J.G. Management in May 2006. By this time, a portion of the previous mall site had been taken by a city bus transit center. This terminal became part of the Valley Metro Sycamore / Main Street station, which was one of twenty-eight stops on the initial 19.7-route-mile light rail starter line. Revenue service was inaugurated on December 27, 2008.
TRI-CITY PAVILIONS was sold again in April 2016. The shopping center, which contained fifteen stores and services, was acquired by the New Jersey-based Lamar Companies.
Sources:
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona)
The Daily Independent (Sun City, Arizona)
www.azcentral.com / Jay Mark
Maricopa County, Arizona tax assessor website
Mitch Glaser's mall memories
John Bueker's mall memories
"Tri-City Mall" article on Wikipedia
http://www.valleymetro.com
"Tri-City Mall" article on Wikipedia
http://www.valleymetro.com
