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| Location | San Jose, California,U.S. |
|---|---|
| Address | 2855Stevens Creek Boulevard |
| Opening date | 1986; 39 years ago (1986) |
| Developer | The Hahn Company |
| Management | Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield |
| Owner | Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield |
| Stores and services | 236[1][2] |
| Anchor tenants | 4 |
| Floor area | 2,200,000 sq ft (200,000 m2)[2] |
| Floors | 2 (3 in Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom and Macy’s) |
| Parking | 8,500[2] |
| Website | www |
Westfield Valley Fair, commonly known asValley Fair, is a prominentshopping mall inSan Jose, California. Valley Fair is the largest mall, by area, inNorthern California and has higher sales revenue than all other malls inCalifornia, including the two in Southern California which have larger area than Valley Fair.[3] Valley Fair is thefourteenth largest shopping mall in the United States. It is officially located onStevens Creek Boulevard in the city ofSanta Clara, California, although all of its eastern half and some of its western half is physically located in the city ofSan Jose. The mall featuresMacy's,Macy's Men's and Home Store,Nordstrom andBloomingdale's.
Valley Fair consists of 214 stores, including the onlyBalenciaga inNorthern California.[4] and 58 dining options, such asEataly andDin Tai Fung.
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Westfield Valley Fair is unique in that it replaced two separate 1950s-era shopping centers. The original Valley Fair Shopping Center, opened in 1958, was confined to the eastern side of the property in San Jose. It was developed and anchored byMacy's and included roughly 40 other stores includingJoseph Magnin in an outdoor plaza. At the western side was another outdoor shopping center, Stevens Creek Plaza in the city of Santa Clara. It was anchored byThe Emporium andI. Magnin. For that reason, the current mall contributes sales tax revenues to both the cities of San Jose and Santa Clara, and is regulated by both city governments.
In 1986, both centers were acquired and merged into one two-level enclosed mall byThe Hahn Company, creating one of the most successful shopping centers in the country, called simply "Valley Fair". Nordstrom joined later in 1987, with I. Magnin closing its store in 1992. The former Emporium store became a second Macy's location in 1996, housing Macy's Men's & Home Store. The former I. Magnin housed a succession of tenants, its final one beingSports Authority, before being demolished and replaced by aShowplace ICON cinema which opened in 2019 and aBowlero bowling alley which opened in 2023.[5]
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In 1998, Westfield America, Inc., a predecessor of the Westfield Group andThe Rouse Company acquired Valley Fair jointly from Hahn. Westfield bought out Rouse in 1999 and brought in an institutional investment partner to share its investment risk in this high-profile property. In 1998 the property was renamedWestfield Shoppingtown Valley Fair. Westfield discontinued the "Shoppingtown" moniker in 2005.
The mall commenced a $165 million two-phase expansion project in 2001, which began with the addition of a new second-level Dining Terrace, 80 new stores, three multi-level parking garages, and the relocation of the property's Nordstrom store to a new three-level, 230,000-square-foot (21,367.7 m2) store to the northwest of its original store.[6] Phase Two brought the redevelopment of the former Nordstrom store and food court into an additional 30 stores, including a wing of shops facing the bordering Forest Avenue, and the addition of aCheesecake Factory restaurant.[7]
A major remodel of the center commenced in 2013, bringing the mall a revamped "Dining Terrace" with local concepts alongside national chains, and a major reshuffling of tenants.[8]Nordstrom was extensively remodeled, adding two new restaurant concepts and a completely revamped store design.[6] The mall's lower level Nordstrom wing was reconfigured into a "Luxury Collection", with new luxury tenants likeMulberry,Saint Laurent Paris,Bottega Veneta,Versace,Giorgio Armani,Tory Burch,Salvatore Ferragamo, andPrada joining existing tenantsLouis Vuitton andTiffany & Co.[9]
In 2012, San Jose raised its minimum wage to $10 USD an hour, but Santa Clara did not, leading to what the NPRPlanet Money team dubbed "A Mall Divided," where workers on one side of the mall were being paid $2 less than the other side. AGap clothing store located on the two city lines was required to either account for how long its employees spent in each city or raise its wages for all employees to the San Jose minimum wage; they chose to raise the wages.[10] In 2022, the mall began charging for daily or monthly parking, which was criticized by mall employees.[11]
By 2023, the mall had fully recovered from theCOVID-19 pandemic and with the opening of its new expansion saw sales rise to 66% over 2019 levels.[12] The mall's prosperity came at the expense of San Francisco'sUnion Square and its sibling mallWestfield San Francisco Centre to the north, which lost many retailers who either moved to or preferred to remain operating in Northern California only at Valley Fair.[12]
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In 2007, Westfield announced major expansion plans which would increase the gross leasable area to over 2,000,000 square feet (185,806.1 m2), adding anchor storesBloomingdale's andNeiman Marcus, 100 shops, and a 3000 space parking structure. Westfield was granted approval for the expansion by the city of San Jose in November 2007.[13] It was to be completed by September 2011.[14] However, the plans were postponed in May 2009 due to an ongoing recession.[15]
In early 2015, Westfield unveiled a new proposal for a $1.1 billion expansion, which called for the addition of a three-level 150,000-square-foot (13,935.5 m2)Bloomingdale's department store,[16] aShowplace Icon luxury cinema,[17] and the addition 500,022 square feet (46,453.6 m2) of new interior shop space, adding over 100 new stores,[3] including an outdoor restaurant collection fronting Stevens Creek Boulevard, and 3,000+ new parking spaces.[18]
The expansion and Bloomingdale's had its grand opening on March 5, 2020, creating a third interior thoroughfare and an outdoor dining district.[19] Several retailers opened in the months following the expansion, including relocated and largerApple and Tiffany & Co. flagship retail stores,[20] with a 45,000-square-foot (4,200 m2)Eataly food hall and market planned for the wing as well.[21] Eataly opened on June 16, 2022.[22]
The mall's first movie theatre was a Showplace Icon cinema that opened in 2019. It closed in June 2024, after parent companyKerasotes Theatres ceased operations and closed all locations.[23]Alamo Drafthouse took over the location and opened a theatre in June 2025.[24]
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‡ Managed with no ownership interest. World Trade Center space is owned by thePort Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the Fulton Center space is owned by theMetropolitan Transportation Authority. | ||||||
37°19′30″N121°56′33″W / 37.325095°N 121.942508°W /37.325095; -121.942508