When Foothills Mall lured the new World Sports Grille to its Northwest site, it was the equivalent of a retail home run.
The company is expanding its GameWorks entertainment center inside the mall into a 16,000-square-foot bar, restaurant and arcade near the south entrance of the shopping center.
"A lot of good things have happened since the Feldman group bought us," said Regina Harmon, the mall's general manager.
Since 2002, Feldman Mall Properties Inc. has owned the shopping center that opened its doors in August 1982 at West Ina Road and North La Cholla Boulevard. Back then, it was a conventional center with 36 specialty shops and two department stores.
Today, with more than 90 stores, outlets and discount retailers, the mall remains true to a revamped purpose that came with a major renovation in the late 1990s.
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Until then, growth at the mall had been stagnant. In 1994, the mall suffered a financial setback when anchors Foley's and Dillard's left the shopping center.
The beginnings of the Foothills Mall's metamorphosis from a conventional shopping center to a discount outlet mall came after its sale in the 1990s, Harmon said.
"Don Bourn and other investors envisioned a miniature version of Arizona Mills," Harmon said of the Tempe mall. "They wanted the mall to be a discount outlet that would attract value retailers with an entertainment concept."
The idea attracted tenants such as Barnes & Noble, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th and Nike Factory Store.
By all accounts, the Foothills Mall has succeeded and built on that vision, said Harmon, who went to work for Foothills Mall in 1997.
"It's been pretty steady improvement and growth since 1996, 1997 . . . as this area has become more populated, our traffic has increased and our sales have increased," she said.
The mall, which covers 517,000 square feet, generates about $100 million in sales each year, Harmon said.
But the mall's expansions over the years mean it has little room left to grow, Harmon said.
"We still have about 30,000 square feet where we could expand, but there'd be too much pressure on parking," she said.
Much of the vacant land that once surrounded the mall has been sold off parcel-by-parcel over the years, she said.
In addition to value, the aim for years has been to offer the public something unique, she said.
"With the addition of Sega, it's unlike anything else in town," she said of the mall.
Mike Patterson, a regional manager with Sega Entertainment USA Inc., said bringing the World Sports Grille to Foothills Mall seemed natural given the company's existing presence at the mall.
"This is a really nice evolution for us," he said. "We feel this is the perfect community for us."
World Sports Grille is hiring about 125 employees who are training for a grand opening in early August, Patterson said.
Inside Foothills Mall, Bacary Thioune works to drum up business by slashing in half the price of his handbags.
He has been selling his bags at different mall locations since December 2006, he said.
"It's a nice mall; the rent is affordable," he said, adding that he has paid between $1,200 and $1,500 monthly for a retail space at the shopping center.
"Right now sales are slow," he said. "Bags are not something necessary, so I'm hoping that a discount will bring me some customers."
Northwest-area winter residents Bob and Kim Agrella said they like the convenience of Foothills Mall.
"We're on our way to see 'Indiana Jones,' " Bob Agrella said en route to the mall's movie theater.
"But we do come here to shop — she buys shoes," he said of his wife.
Did you know
Foothills Mall, 7401 N. La Cholla Blvd., was developed by Federated Stores Realty Inc. and opened in August 1982.
Anchor stores Foley's and Dillard's left the mall in 1994, and in the late 1990s, the mall experienced a rebirth of sorts as it morphed into a discount outlet mall.