VALLEY WEST MALL was commercially broadsided just 4 years after its renovation was completed. ARROWHEAD TOWNE CENTER, a shiny new mega mall, opened its doors in October 1993, snatching the VALLEY WEST J.C. Penney. A full-line Montgomery Ward also anchored the new shopping venue. Within a few years, VALLEY WEST MALL was virtually vacant.
Graphic from Westcor, Incorporated
The final MANISTEE TOWN CENTER tenant closed in May 2002. Demolition was already underway. Stores in NORTHERN CROSSING, an open-air power center, began opening in early 2004. When fully realized, this complex spanned approximately 469,500 leasable square feet.
Original drawing from https://www2.colliers.com / Colliers International
VALLEY WEST MALL
West Northern Avenue and North 55th Avenue
Glendale, Arizona
1973 was a banner year for new shopping malls in Phoenix's West Valley suburbs! VALLEY WEST MALL was officially dedicated on August 30th. The mega-sized METROCENTER complex opened its doors on October 1st.
Ground had been broken for VALLEY WEST MALL on June 1, 1972. The 15 million dollar shopping center was built on a 53.6-acre plot, once part of the Manistee Ranch. The site was located 9.2 miles northwest of the Arizona State Capitol, in suburban Glendale. The mall was developed by Valley West Shopping Center, Incorporated, a joint venture of Ericson Development and the Watson Construction Company, both of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Fully-enclosed and air-conditioned, VALLEY WEST MALL was designed by Edward M. Cohen & Associates of Chicago. The single-level structure spanned approximately 560,000 leasable square feet and eventually housed sixty-one stores and services. The original anchors were a 1-level (131,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward and 1-level (52,400 square foot), Inglewood, California-based Boston Store.
Montgomery Ward became the first operational tenant on July 11, 1973. A mall-wide grand opening commenced on August 30th, with the Boston Store's dedication being held on September 13th. Charter VALLEY WEST tenants included Waldenbooks, Karmelkorn, United Discount Drug, Bostrom's home furnishings, Record Bar, Furr's Cafeteria, Schubach Jewelers and Jay Vee Stores ladies' wear. The Century's Valley West Cinema 1-2-3 showed first features on December 25, 1973.
Major shopping centers in the VALLEY WEST trade area included MARYVALE SHOPPING CITY (1959) {3.5 miles southeast, in Phoenix}, CHRIS-TOWN CENTER (1961) {5 miles southeast, in Phoenix}, METROCENTER (1973) {3.5 miles northeast, in Phoenix} and, eventually, WESTRIDGE MALL (1981) {5.4 miles southwest, also in Phoenix}.
Construction on the mall's only expansion commenced in January 1976, with a third anchor store added to the south side of the complex. Built as a new location for the Boston Store, it encompassed 40,000 square feet and was completed in August 1976. The original Boston Store (in the northeast corner of the mall) was renovated by J.C. Penney, who opened for business on November 3, 1976. VALLEY WEST MALL now encompassed approximately 600,000 leasable square feet.
A face lift renovation began in September 1988. Conducted in three phases, the first concentrated on the mall's exterior. Sidewalks were rebuilt, with concealed store service areas created. All entrances to the mall and its anchor stores were rebuilt, with new signage and landscaping installed. During Phase 2, the parking area was improved. The third -and final- phase refurbished the mall's shopping concourse. A grand re-opening was held on August 24, 1989.
VALLEY WEST MALL had coexisted with its mall-type competitors for several years. This changed with the completion of ARROWHEAD TOWNE CENTER {6.5 miles northwest, in Glendale}. This fully-enclosed complex, dedicated in October 1993, snatched the VALLEY WEST J.C. Penney.
A full-line Montgomery Ward also anchored the new ARROWHEAD mall. The Montgomery Ward at VALLEY WEST MALL had been reconfigured as a Wards Specialty store in the mid-1980s. It was converted to a Wards Outlet World when the full-line ARROWHEAD store opened.
Competition from ARROWHEAD TOWNE CENTER put VALLEY WEST MALL in a downward spiral. In 1993, the complex had seventy stores. By 1994, a store exodus was underway. The Boston Store went dark on September 30, 1995, leaving the failing mall with just five operational tenants.
Glendale's Louis Darwitch acquired the virtually vacant property in April 1996. He began repositioning it as a low-price-point outlet mall. A new name, MANISTEE TOWN CENTER, was instituted on May 10, 1996.
New stores were signed, such as Grocery Surplus Outlet, Toyland Express, General Factory Outlet and Glendale Antique Village & Crafts. The mall movie house, which had stints as the Valley West Cinema 6 and Valley West 1 Dollar Cinema 6, was shuttered in 1995. It was renamed MTC Cinemas and re-opened, as part of a mall-wide dedication, on November 22, 1996.
At this time, MANISTEE TOWN CENTER had thirty stores and services. Soon, stores began closing. In desperation, the mall's owner planned to lease space to a new Maricopa County Justice Center. Other vacant area was leased as the Maya (charter) High School. The County Justice Center plan proved very unpopular with local residents and the Glendale City Council. It was eventually abandoned. A lawsuit was filed against the city by the mall owner in July 2000, but was eventually dismissed.
With its repurposing plan scuttled, the virtually vacant MANISTEE TOWN CENTER was sold again. Phoenix's Steve Ellman purchased the property in October 2001 and negotiated a deal with the city to locate a new arena for his Phoenix Coyotes hockey team within their municipality.
The condition for approval of the new arena was that Ellman would also have to redevelop the "blighted" MANISTEE TOWN CENTER. Ellman agreed to the provision. An official name change, to NORTHERN CROSSING, was instituted in February 2002. The final operational mall tenant, the Maya charter school, vacated the premises on May 3, 2002. Demolition was already underway.
Ground was broken on March 17, 2003. The anchors of NORTHERN CROSSING would be a 1-level (196,900 square foot) Wal-Mart and 1-level (120,600 square foot) Lowe's. The first stores opened in March 2004, with the grand opening of Wal-Mart taking place on April 14th. A 70,300 square foot section of the shopping center, consisting of everything but Lowe's and Wal-Mart, was acquired by Encino-California's Northern Crossing, Limited Liability Company in December 2006.
In the 2020s, the 469,500 square foot complex is anchored by the aforementioned WalMart and Lowe's. Other tenants include Sally Beauty Supply, GameStop, a (29,000 square foot) Ross Dress For Less and (20,000 square foot) PetSmart.
Sources:
The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona)
Mitch Glaser's and John Bueker's mall memories
https://www.mcassessor.maricopa.gov / Maricopa County, Arizona
http://www.movietheatre.org
http://www.historicglendale.com
Poster Val has given a very heartfelt and detailed impression of VALLEY WEST MALL. We shall quote her post in verbatim.
"This mall was well-loved by everyone who grew up with it. It declined as we all graduated from high school and moved on with our lives and away from "Old Glendale". It was sort of like it was there solely for our childhood and left when we all did. Anyone else know what I mean?
It was just a perfect place for school age-teen age kids to hang out. In the Ward's end of the mall, there was Payless Shoes, The Knot Hole, Merle Norman, the Nickle Pickle Deli, Old Roma Pizza, Little Mexico. Tic Toc Toys, Marston's Sporting Goods, K-G Men's Store, Karmelkorn, Bea's Headquarters and I think a Daniel's Jewelers and Pearle Vision Center.
In the center there was the Dairy Queen, Boston Store, Camera store, Furr's Cafeteria (later various teen clubs like Confetti's), Schubach Jewelers and Kinney Shoes. The Center Court was where Santa and the Easter Bunny would be. Wallace & Ladmo (local kids TV legends) would also do their stage show once or twice a year in Center Court.
As you moved down to the east part of the mall, there was Thom McAn, FootLocker, The Glass Cage (sort of an early and bigger version of a mall kiosk), United Discount Drugs, Waldenbooks, Bob's Big Boy (later JBs), Bojangles Chicken, Shaw's Candy, Valley West Cinemas (started as a 3-screen and ended as 6), Hot Diggity Dog, Bag-a-Tell arcade (previously and later on a clothing store), then Ranchman, McMahon's Furniture and Penney's...
Bag-a-Tell became Great Games and then moved over to the Ranchman location when Ranchman left. I can see the whole thing clear as day in my memory! Thank you so much for this posting. It's so great to see that people still have great memories of Valley West.
Ooops... I forget that next to the Payless on the Ward's side there was a Miller's Outpost and across from that was a No Appointment's Necessary Hair Salon. Many a local girl was humiliated there getting an unfortunate window station while getting a perm or some other fun hair procedure done."