Fashion Place Mall Celebrates 40 Years of Fabulous

In 1972, Fashion Place mall opened as a 293,561-square-foot shopping center and the first super mall in Utah. With recent additions to the mall, it now stands at 1,053,990 square feet, more than triple its original size.

Murray Mayor Dan Snarr attended the Morning of Memories breakfast party yesterday that kicked off a week of “Fabulous at 40” events, celebrating 40 years and honoring the six original stores still in the mall. Snarr declared October 15 as “Fashion Place Day” to commemorate its 40-year history “as the grooviest mall in America.”

“We think Fashion Place looks fabulous for being 40,” said Natalie Watson, Fashion Place senior marketing manager. “Despite a volatile economy and national job market, we’ve continued to thrive and we take great pride in that.”

The six stores honored were Morgan Jewelers, Schubach Jewelers, Zales Jewelers, Motherhood Maternity, Sears and Chuck-a-Rama. Snarr noted that the success of these stores “would indicate that Utahns like getting married, having babies and feeding their families.”

Fashion Place opened with 48 stores, and 40 years later is home to more than 150 stores, including the first Cheesecake Factory (2007), Crate & Barrel (2011) and H&M (2011) in Utah. Despite the recent economic downturn, Fashion Place has continued to bring new retailers to the mall and the state.

“We have opened seven new stores this year, in 2012, and we will be opening more new stores next year,” said Watson. “We continue to get new retailers that are not in the market, that are knocking on our door asking if we have space for them. It’s a really exciting time for retail, especially where we were in a retail slump for a while and it really is coming into its own.”