Arden and Ethan Ways
Sacramento County (Sacramento), California
In December 1954, details about a new Greater Sacramento shopping hub were announced. SWANSTON ESTATES CENTER would be built on a 73.6-acre plot, located 3.8 miles northeast of the California State House.
The shopping center site was situated in an unincorporated section of Sacramento County known as Arden-Arcade. Access was provided by the Elvas Freeway / US 40 & 99E, which had opened to traffic in May 1955. The highway was designated as Interstate 80 in 1964 and redesignated as Business Route Interstate 80 in 1981.
Meanwhile, the name of the prospective retail complex had been changed to ARDEN FAIR CENTER. The complex would be developed by the River City's Kassis Investment Company (a joint venture of brothers Frank, Edward, Lewis, Walter and John Kassis). The open-air mall would be designed by Sacramento's Dreyfuss & Blackford firm and Charles Luckman Associates, of Los Angeles.
The first operational store, a 1-level (156,700 square foot) Sears, welcomed first shoppers on May 15, 1957. A mall concourse was added to the east side of Sears in the early 1960s. It included a 3-level (205,000 square foot), Sacramento-based Hale's, which opened for business on August 10, 1961. The first two stores within the mall proper were Smith's men's wear, which had debuted in April 1961, and Lane Bryant, which was inaugurated in November of the same year.
A 2-level (38,400 square foot) S.H. Kress 5 & 10 commenced operation in December 1962. Other charter ARDEN FAIR CENTER stores included Thom McAn Shoes, The Carousel restaurant, Leed's Qualicraft Shoes, Roger's Jewelers and an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10.
Sears dedicated a 35,000 square foot addition in June 1963, with the enlarged store encompassing 191,700 square feet. By this time, a freestanding convenience center was being built east of Hale's. The building would encompass 110,000 leasable square feet and house fourteen tenant spaces. A (35,000 square foot) Stop-n-Shop supermarket opened its doors on December 7, 1964.
The (35,000 square foot) Food Circus "restaurant arcade" held its grand opening on March 24, 1965. It was a 16-bay, cafeteria-style collection of eateries and food stores, something akin to today's shopping mall food court. Vendors included Die Rheinlander, Carnation Ice Cream and La Plaza Mexican Kitchen.
The mall site, originally within unincorporated Sacramento County, had been annexed into the capital city in July 1962. Commercial competitors included COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE (1952) {2 miles northeast, in Sacramento County}, COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA (1961) {2.3 miles northeast, in Sacramento County}, DOWNTOWN PLAZA (1971) and SUNRISE MALL (1972) {9.7 miles northeast, in Citrus Heights}.
The Hale's anchor was operated by a Sacramento-based division of Broadway-Hale Stores (of Los Angeles). Hale's merged with Weinstock's, another Sacramento-based chain, in 1949. In 1965, stores in both chains began operating under a Weinstock-Hale brand. Hale's was dropped from the name on July 2, 1967, with all stores now operating as Weinstock's. A freestanding Tire Center was completed -at ARDEN FAIR CENTER- in June 1969.
At this time, the Transcontinental Theatres Arden Fair 4 was being installed in the mall's northeast store block. Its first features were shown on December 19, 1969. A mall-enclosing renovation, first announced in March 1969, was completed in April 1971. The mall proper of ARDEN FAIR CENTER now spanned approximately 760,000 leasable square feet and contained fifty stores and services. The mall was sold, to Sacramento's Fulcrum Group of Properties, in 1973.
A twin cinema was built on the north side of the complex. It was connected, via hallway, to the original 4-plex. The two movie houses would be operated as a single entity, known as the United Artists Arden Fair 6. This new cinema complex was dedicated on March 12, 1982. By this time, the shopping hub was officially promoted as simply ARDEN FAIR.
In June 1984, a mall-wide face lift was completed. Keith Way, which separated the mall proper from Sears, was paved over. Sears was joined with the mall via an air-conditioned concourse, which added 80,000 square feet of store space. The main mall entrance was rebuilt and several new stores opened. These included Casual Corner, Frederick's of Hollywood, SuperGap and La Petite Boulangerie.
In May 1987, Fulcrum sold a fifty-percent share of ARDEN FAIR to Boston-based AEW Capital Management. In mid-1988, the joint venture embarked on a massive mall renovation. The 30-year-old Sears was demolished and replaced with a 2-level (156,900 square foot) store. It opened, as a first phase of the mall's reconstruction, on March 29, 1989.
A 3-level (185,000 square foot) Nordstrom, the chain's twenty-third California store, was dedicated on October 20, 1989, along with a new parking garage. On November 1st, a renovated Weinstock's made its debut. This was followed by the first stage of openings in the mall's new Second Level, which took place on May 5, 1990. A second stage included restaurants in a 12-bay Food Court, which opened in June of the same year.
The 2-year-long -60 million dollar- remodeling was dedicated with Circus Gala Fantastique, a 100-dollar-per-person charity party. J.C. Penney, who had been trying to begin construction on an ARDEN FAIR store for over a year, had been delayed by the City of Sacramento. The powers that be were concerned over the increase of vehicular traffic that might result from the addition of a fourth anchor store.
Approval was finally granted. The 3-level (154,000 square foot) store, a relocation of the circa-1971 Penney's at COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA, opened for business on July 27, 1994. A second parking garage had also been built. ARDEN FAIR now spanned approximately 1,108,800 leasable square feet and contained 165 stores and services. It was the region's second-largest shopping venue, with SUNRISE MALL being the largest.
The old Food Circus at ARDEN FAIR was renamed MARKET SQUARE AT ARDEN FAIR. It was retenanted by the United Artists Market Square at Arden Fair. This was a relocation of the in-mall 6-plex, which had been displaced by J.C. Penney. The new cinema was dedicated on November 13, 1992.
This debut was followed by those for California Pizza Kitchen (April 1993), Barnes & Noble (August 1993) and a Virgin Megastore (November 1994). In 1995, the MARKET SQUARE structure was renovated inside and out. In the mall proper, Weinstock's was rebranded -by Macy's- on May 31, 1996.
Santa Monica's Macerich Company was recruited to manage the mall in June 1999. Soon after, ARDEN FAIR faced a formidable competitor. The GALLERIA AT ROSEVILLE {14.5 miles northeast, in Roseville}, was dedicated in August 2000. At this time, ARDEN FAIR housed stores such as Forever 21, Ann Taylor, New York & Company, Zumiez, Foot Locker, GameStop, a BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse and Seasons 52 restaurant.
Stores at ARDEN FAIR closed as a precautionary measure against the Covid-19 outbreak. Nordstrom went dark on March 17, 2020, with the remainder of the mall being shuttered on March 27th. Nordstrom never re-opened. Sears did resume operation, but was permanently shuttered on April 15, 2021.
Vacant Nordstrom and Sears structures were acquired by the mall's owner -now known as Fulcrum Property- in December 2021 and July 2023, respectively. In the mid-2020s, Fulcrum Property replaced The Macerich Company with a new management agency. Dallas-based Centennial Real Estate Management took over in June 2024.
Meanwhile, new stores were coming to the mall. An (18,300 square foot) H & M replaced shuttered Lane Bryant, New York & Company and LOFT locations. A (17,500 square foot) Uniqlo took the place of Armani Exchange, J. Crew and Gap. The new stores began business in September 2024.
As part of a mall "reinvisioning," Sports Fever and Wetzel's Pretzels were relocated. Sbarro the Italian Eatery was refurbished. In July 2024, plans for a prospective Dick's House of Sport were announced. This store would be installed in a renovated Sears building.
Sources:
The Sacramento Bee
www.sacramentopastperfect-online.com
Comment post by Randy
www.cahighways.com
www.valcomnews.com / Lance Armstrong
www.retailtraffic.com
www.fulcrumproperty.com
www.aew.com
www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.kcra.com
https://fox40.com
https://www.bizjournals.com
"Arden Fair Mall" article on Wikipedia
"Broadway-Hale Stores" article on Wikipedia
"Carter Hawley Hale Stores" article on Wikipedia
