El Con Mall

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = El Con Mall


caption =
location = Tucson, Arizona, USA
opening_date = 1960
developer= Joseph Kivel
manager =
owner =
number_of_stores = 10
number_of_anchors = 4
floor_area = convert|1200000|sqft|m2 (GLA) [ [http://www.icsc.org/apps/dmmdisp.php?dispid=AZ0220 International Council of Shopping Centers: El Con Mall] , accessed February 18, 2007]
floors = 1
website = http://www.shopelcon.com/

El Con Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in the city of Tucson, Arizona, United States. Originally opened in 1960 as an outdoor shopping center, it is currently the oldest shopping mall in the Tucson area.cite web |url=http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=96494 |title=Signs of Life: Could burgers and cheap clothes be El Con's salvation? |accessdate=2007-11-20 |last=Hart |first=Kelli |date=2007-05-24 |work=Tucson Weekly] It features J. C. Penney, Ross Dress For Less, Target and The Home Depot as its anchor stores. Two additional anchor stores, last occupied by Dillard's and Macy's, have been vacant since 1999 and early 2008, respectively.cite web |url=http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/related/67338.php |title=Macy's confirms it will leave El Con Mall |accessdate=2007-11-19 |last=Poole |first=B. |date=2007-10-31 |work=Tucson Citizen]

El Con Mall is classified as a dead mall, due to the fact that it is largely vacant. Besides the mall's anchor stores, only a multiplex movie theater and six other stores remain open, although several restaurants have opened on the periphery in the past five years. Because of the center's low occupancy rate, it is slated to be demolished and reverted to an open-air complex, although no official announcement has been made on the mall's redevelopment.

History

El Con Mall opened in 1960, adjacent to a hotel known as the El Conquistador Hotel.cite web |url=http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/opinion/67576.php |title=Smith : When El Con (the hotel) was mighty |accessdate=2007-11-19 |last=Smith |first=Jeff |date=2007-11-02 |work=Tucson Citizen] Although initial plans called for the hotel to be part of the mall itself, these plans were later scrapped.cite web |url=http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/202609 |title=Deserted core of El Con Mall may be razed |accessdate=2007-11-19 |last=Poole |first=B. |date=2007-09-23 |work=Arizona Daily Star] An outdoor mall at the time of its opening, El Con Mall featured seven anchor stores: national chains J. C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, Scagg's, Rincon Market, and Woolworth's, along with local chain Steinfeld's.cite web |url=http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/printDS/202807 |title=El Con Mall needs to return to its roots |accessdate=2007-11-19 |last= |first= |date=2007-09-25 |work=Arizona Daily Star] In 1967, the former El Conquistador Hotel space was demolished, and a Levy's was built on its site; the mall was eventually enclosed as well in the next year. Joseph Kivel, developer of El Con Mall, later opened another shopping mall, Park Place, in 1975; after his death in 1995, both malls were sold to his nephews, and their wives (Janice, and Alvin Kivel, Betty Jean, and Victor Kivel, and Beverley, and Daniel Kivel). In 1978 a Goldwater's opened.

Steinfeld's closed, and was demolished in the late 1970s. Levy's (which was owned by Federated Department Stores) became Sanger-Harris in 1985, marking the first of several name changes in the mall's western anchor store. Sanger-Harris became Foley's in 1987, and Robinsons-May in 1993. Goldwater's, in turn, became Dillard's in 1989. In 1993 Woolworth's closed.

Renovations

El Con Mall is still owned by the heirs of its original developer, Joseph Kivel. Following the elder Kivel's demise in 1996, his descendants began renovations on the mall. A multiplex movie theater and food court were both added behind J. C. Penney, although no restaurants were ever opened in the food court. Additional plans promised "a unique variety of retail stores", but competition from larger malls, most notably Park Place, caused El Con to lose more stores than it gained. [cite web |url=http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/news/central_tucson/ctt_el_con |title=El Gone Mall |accessdate=2007-11-20 |last=Denogean |first=Anne T. |date=2005-11-10 |work=Tucson Citizen] Among the stores to move to Park Place was the Dillard's anchor store, which did so in 1999;cite web |url=http://media.wildcat.arizona.edu/media/storage/paper997/news/2008/01/24/Wildlife/Ghost.Of.A.Mall-3166370.shtml |title=Ghost of a Mall |accessdate=2008-03-27 |last=Dillingham |first=Justyn |date=2008-01-24 |work=The Arizona Daily Wildcat] as of 2008, the former Dillard's at El Con is still vacant.

In 2000, Montgomery Ward closed along with the company's bankruptcy and subsequent closure, the building still stands. The Home Depot and Target were built on the east side of the mall. The addition of these stores was considered controversial by local residents, many of whom did not want such big box retailers in the area. [cite web |url=http://www.tucsonweekly.com/gbase/Currents/Content?oid=42126 |title=Walkout On Walkup |accessdate=2007-11-19 |last=Huff |first=Dan |date=2000-01-27 |work=Tucson Weekly.com] [cite web |url=http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/02-18-99/curr1.htm |title=El Con's Owners Pushed Their Neighbors Too Hard, And Tucson's City Council Punched 'Em Back. |accessdate=2007-11-20 |last=Franzi |first=Emil |date=1999-02-24 |work=Tucson Weekly] (Neither Target nor The Home Depot is directly accessible from within the mall itself; the eastern wing currently dead-ends in a blank wall next to the Target store.)

Although many retailers and restaurants opened on the mall's periphery in the 2000s, the enclosed mall itself continued to lose tenants. In 2005, May Department Stores (then owners of the Robinsons-May name) was acquired by Macy's, Inc., and most May Department Stores nameplates were converted to the Macy's name. The Macy's store in El Con Mall was deemed unprofitable, and was closed in 2008 shortly after the addition of a Ross Dress For Less store in the Macy's wing.

References

External links

* [http://www.shopelcon.com/ El Con Mall]