Arrowhead mall in Glendale is defying the odds. Here's the secret to its success
Joshua Bowling
A miniature train carries cars full of children past the long line at Build-A-Bear Workshop, around the corner and past the food court. It's a weekday, and Glendale's Arrowhead Towne Center is packed.
"You can feel it from the traffic — retail is not dying," Arrowhead Senior Property Manager Jesse Benites said.
It's not just the mall; it's the surrounding area. Topgolf, Westgate and the Arrowhead BMW dealership — all a short drive off Loop 101 — help draw people to the area.
The area hasn't always been like this. Metro Phoenix's east side hit its growth spurt before the west, and indoor shopping malls flourished for years in the suburbs of Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa and Tempe.
"There's almost a stigma of the West Valley we have to fight, but the shoppers are here," Benites said. "The retailers see that, too. Otherwise, they wouldn't be here."
The West Valley is rapidly expanding — Buckeye earlier this year was named the fastest-growing city in the U.S., and the West Valley is seeing a glut of hotels moving in to accommodate growth — and officials say that's helping places like the Arrowhead mall thrive, even as other malls struggle.
With that growth comes more shopping, more entertainment and more hang-out spots.
"There's absolutely no reason to go to the East Valley," said Brian Friedman, Glendale economic development director. "And that's our goal."
Mall staying busy during slow summers
Black Friday and the holiday rush aren't enough for malls anymore.
The end-of-year holiday shopping season tends to carry retailers through the year, so officials at Arrowhead try to draw in kids and families during the typically slow summer months.
The mall offers free, outdoor concerts in the amphitheater during the summer and usually partners with restaurants and local business to offer beer gardens and food vendors during those attractions.
July is Arrowhead mall's busiest month, right behind December, according to Benites.
Focus on hang-out spots, not shopping spots
As the internet has made it more convenient to spend money from your couch, malls have had to reinvent themselves — officials are shifting the focus from shopping destinations to hang-out spots.
Those changes have rolled out across the Valley, including:
Peoria's Park West in December announced an Orange Theory Fitness and splash pads as part of a $4 million makeover.
Scottsdale Fashion Square in 2017 announced millions in renovations and focused on adding high-end dining and luxury shops that are hard to find elsewhere.
Chandler Fashion Center in 2018 announced it would open a Crayola "Experience" all about coloring.
"The design priority is put now on where people will gather, not where they'll shop," said Brookelynn Nisenbaum, Local First Arizona community planning manager.
While Arrowhead has capitalized on that, outdoor malls like Park West in Peoria and SanTan Village in Gilbert are having some of the best success with focusing on gathering places, she said.
"As we're being more urbanized ... we're kind of replicating that through the whole main street thing," she said. "People want to feel like they're in Phoenix, even if they're in the suburbs."
Neighboring Peoria doubled down on the mall's success in April by adding a free-to-ride circulator bus that carries passengers from the mall in Glendale to Peoria's bustling P83 entertainment district.
Has the internet really killed retail?
It's hard to deny the internet's effects on retail amid headlines signaling hundreds of closures for Sears, Toys 'R' Us and Payless Shoe Source around the country. But that doesn't mean all retail is dying, experts say.
"I think that the internet has killed big box retail, but I don't think it's killed brick-and-mortar retail," Nisenbaum said. "Going into a Walmart or Target, that's mundane. But going into a boutique store ... that's very experiential, and that's where people want to go."
Arrowhead has even had luck attracting businesses that used to be online-only. The mattress store has physical storefronts in the Arrowhead mall, Scottsdale, Gilbert and Tucson.
"Amerisleep is one of those we like to call click-to-brick," Benites said. "They are solely online, but they opened up brick-and-mortar here."
But just because Arrowhead is thriving in the digital age doesn't mean more malls will go up anytime soon in the West Valley.
"West Valley development, especially as you're going toward the Happy Valley area, is really focusing on small business," she said. "Arrowhead Towne mall is successful, but in the future, you're not going to see anything like that go up."
West Valley's late growth helps — in a way
The West Valley suburbs have never had as many malls as their neighbors to the east. That's due in large part to how early the East Valley boomed.
"The West Valley was developed after Mesa (and the East Valley) was," Nisenbaum said. "They just happened to not get as many (malls)."
Since the west side didn't have as many options, it drove people from across the region to the Arrowhead mall.
Goodyear, southwest of Phoenix off Interstate 10, in the early 2000s planned an indoor shopping mall off the northwest corner of Bullard Avenue and McDowell Road. That mall never materialized.
The next best thing for westsiders used to be Phoenix's Metrocenter, which is now a husk of a mall, full of empty storefronts and boarded-up windows. In the past few years the Tanger Outlets at Westgate helped fill the shopping-mall gap for the west side.
Making 'Instagrammable moments'
Mall officials are trying to use social media to attract more young visitors.
They're doing that with what Benites called "Instagrammable moments" — murals, unique architecture and art displays that he hopes people will pose in front of and then post online with the mall's location tag.
'That buying power is here'
The train makes another round through the mall as a dozen screaming kids step off for their next destination, the play area.
This summer, the mall will open an Abercrombie Kids store and a temporary Lululemon pop-up store. The mall's occupancy is in the high 90 percent, Benites said.
This summer, the mall will also lose its Sears as part of the chain's nationwide closures. But the next tenant is already lined up, though Benites won't yet say who it is.
"You don't have to travel to Phoenix or Scottsdale," he said. "We want to show that buying power is here."
Meet reporter Joshua Bowling in the food court. Or reach him at jbowling@azcentral.com or 602-444-8138. Follow him on Twitter @MrJoshuaBowling.
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