Valley View Mall (Roanoke, Virginia)

Infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Valley View Mall


image_width = 200px
caption = Interior of Valley View Mall
location = Roanoke, Virginia
address = 4802 Valley View Boulevard NW
coordinates =
opening_date = July 17, 1985
closing_date =
developer = Henry Faison
manager =
owner =
architect =
number_of_stores =
number_of_anchors = 5
floor_area =
floors = 2
parking = 4,838 spaces
website = http://www.valleyviewmall.com
footnotes =

Valley View Mall is a 800,000 square foot regional shopping mall located in the Roundhill neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. It is located near the interchange of Interstate 581 with Hershberger Road (State Route 101) in the northwest section of the city.

Most outparcel locations around Valley View Mall have been developed into restaurants, retail stores, offices, and hotels. Major surrounding stores include Ashley Furniture, Dick's Sporting Goods, Circuit City, Best Buy, Grand Home Furnishings, Wal-Mart, and Target. Regal Cinemas has a 16 screen movie theater with stadium seating at an outparcel location, which replaced a smaller six screen cinema inside the mall.

History

The land that became Valley View Mall was a farm owned by the Huff family until the early 1980s. The sizable farm was unusual in that it was located within the city limits of Roanoke and directly beside Interstate 581. During a flight into Roanoke Regional Airport (then called Woodrum Field) in 1976, Charlotte, North Carolina-based developer Henry Faison noticed the property and immediately realized its prime location beside Interstate 581 and a short distance from Interstate 81. Local activists and the owners of Tanglewood Mall filed suit to prevent rezoning of the Huff Farm for construction of Valley View Mall. The Virginia Supreme Court ultimately upheld the rezoning and ground was broken on August 22, 1983.

Valley View Mall opened on July 17, 1985. Anchor tenants were Sears, JC Penney, Belk (then operating as Leggett), Miller & Rhoads (later Montgomery Ward), and Thalhimer's (later Hecht's; now Macy's). The original Miller & Rhoads space is divided between an annex of Macy's on the upper level and Old Navy and several other shops on the lower level. Space was left available for a sixth anchor across from Belk near the Sears end of the mall. Along the mall's access and ring road were free-standing locations of Roanoke-based electronics retailer Holdren's (now Havertys), home improvement warehouse Hechinger (later a Rack & Sack grocery store; now Dick's Sporting Goods), Toys R Us, Chi-Chi's (now T.G.I. Friday's), and Olive Garden.

Valley View did not immediately displace Tanglewood, which is located closer to more affluent neighborhoods in Roanoke City and Roanoke County. Access to Valley View was often problematic with incoming traffic backing up into the northbound lanes of Interstate 581 and exiting traffic clogging the only road out of the mall. Nonetheless, more retailers such as Roanoke-based Grand Home Furnishings and Brendle's built free-standing locations adjacent to the mall. Valley View's emergence as the retail hub of much of Southwest Virginia and Southern West Virginia was complete by the mid-1990s when traffic problems were ameliorated by the construction of a new access road and a partial interchange with Interstate 581 south of the mall. Wal-Mart, Target, Staples, PetSmart, and Best Buy built locations along the access road.

The mall was sold in 2001 to Chattanooga, Tennessee, based CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. In recent years, Valley View Mall has attracted prominent national retailers including Disney Store, Abercrombie and Fitch, Eddie Bauer, and Old Navy. Most outparcel locations near the mall have been developed since the mid-1990s. Starbucks built a freestanding location in 2005, which was its first cafe in the Roanoke Valley. Hecht's was officially renamed Macy's on September 9, 2006.

A lifestyle center is being built in stages on a portion of what was the parking lot near the JC Penney and Sears entrances to the mall, with most of the freestanding dining locations now complete. The development is called "The District at Valley View", and features Barnes & Noble, various fashion retailers, and restaurants including Carrabba's Italian Grill, [http://www.abuelos.com/ Abuelo's Mexican Food Embassy] , and Panera Bread.

Youth Escort Policy

Valley View Mall began a Youth Escort Policy in July 2007.cite web
url = http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/124244
title = Youth Escort Policy - Valley View Mall
accessdate = 2007-07-14
language = English] All persons under 18 visiting the mall after 6:00 PM on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, must either be accompanied by an adult or leave the premises. Unescorted teens may shop in the anchor stores but may not enter the mall area. Management implemented the policy in response to mall patrons who complained of unsupervised teenagers roaming around the mall and loitering in surrounding parking lots during weekend nights. Management had previously added extra security to address these concerns. Some local teens, who complain of a lack of entertainment alternatives in Roanoke, have protested the decision as penalizing all of them for the actions of a minority and have planned a boycott of the mall.

Major stores

* Belk
* Macy's
* JCPenney
* Sears
* Old Navycite web
url = http://www.valleyviewmall.com/shop/valleyview.nsf/facts
title = Fact Sheet - Valley View Mall
accessdate = 2007-04-28
language = English]

References

External links

* [http://www.valleyviewmall.com/shop/valleyview.nsf/webpages/home?opendocument Valley View Mall]
* [http://www.theroanoker.com/favoritearticles/valleyview.cfm April 1984 article in The Roanoker magazine about the future mall]
* [http://livemalls.blogspot.com/2005/07/happy-20th-anniversary-valley-view.html Several photos past and present from LiveMalls blog]
* [http://stevenswain.blogspot.com/2005/07/happy-20th-birthday-valley-view-mall.html Happy 20th Birthday, Valley View Mall!]
* [http://www.protestvv.firez.org/ Protest Valley View Mall]