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SAN JOSE — Westfield Valley Fair is betting that its dramatic expansion will help the iconic retail hub surpass a record number of visits last year, bolstered by unique experiences such as a “digital district” along with a host of high-profile retailers.
To be sure, traditional upscale merchants such as Bloomingdale’s are front and center this week as the shopping destination unveils new stores. And this means plenty of new jobs: Bloomingdale’s expects to have 300 employees at the new store.
Yet Valley Fair wants to be far more than a shopping mall. The owners are counting that it can be one of the Bay Area’s go-to places for memorable visits.
Valley Fair’s $1.1 billion expansion, which exceeds 500,000 square feet and will increase the mall’s size to 2.2 million square feet, underscores the confidence of Valley Fair owners and executives that the mall is well-positioned to defy a forbidding retail apocalypse that menaces numerous brick-and-mortar merchants.
“Last year, Westfield Valley Fair enjoyed the most visitors that we have ever had, the highest gross sales that we have ever done, so that definitely runs counter to that narrative of a retail downturn,” said Larry Green, executive vice president of development with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, owner and operator of Valley Fair.
During 2019, Valley Fair hosted 22.3 million guests, according to mall executives.
“Retail is alive and well, but you’ve got to do the right thing,” Green said. “You’ve got to create a sense of place and the kind of experience that guests are looking for.”
A Cole Haan concept store called Grandshop is among the unique new stores in the expanded Valley Fair. The footwear and accessories merchant on Thursday opened a store with clothing and other items made from lightweight and other cutting-edge materials. Cole Haan executives said they designed the store to give it the look and feel of a live/work loft.
“This first Grandshop was designed for the young, extraordinary pioneers of Silicon Valley whose lives reflect their personal and professional passions and who work to disrupt the status quo,” said David Maddocks, Cole Haan chief marketing officer.
Yet it’s one thing to profess a desire and something else entirely to achieve that, especially at a time when the retail landscape has shifted drastically due to the rise of online bazaars such as Amazon and eBay, as well as the general stampede towards online shopping.
Westfield Valley Fair took a major step towards these goals when it landed the Showplace Icon Theaters, which offers lounge chairs, fine dining, bar service, and a party room.
Eataly was the next big piece of the unique experience puzzle at Valley Fair. Eataly, which offers Italian cuisine and wines and is also a tourist magnet, agreed to open its first Bay Area outlet at Valley Fair. The new Italian food hall will total 51,000 square feet and is slated to open in 2021.
“Eataly is a game-changer for Valley Fair,” said John Machado, an executive vice president and retail expert with Colliers International, a commercial real estate firm. Machado described the new Eataly as a “coup” for Valley Fair.
The Italian dining establishment is one of several restaurants that will populate a “dining district” adjacent to the new Bloomingdale’s store and a future two-story Apple Flagship store that’s under construction. The outdoor dining area and plaza are expected to be a major draw for the center.
Valley Fair has opened a “digital district” featuring merchants that are literal startups with primarily an online presence that will pursue success in a brick-and-mortar setting.
Felix Grey, Ghost Democracy, Lett, We the People, and Goodies are among the first wave of these startups.
“It’s really scary and really exciting,” said Justine Liu, founder of Lett, which is described as a luxe leisurewear store. “It’s really cool that Valley Fair has places like this so we can dip our feet in the water.”
Eight of these fledgling retailers will operate in Valley Fair’s digital district.
Valley Fair officials said they scoured the Internet to find startups that might be interested in taking a risk on a brick-and-mortar presence.
“It’s very exciting, this is very new for us,” said Rex Chou, founder of Ghost Democracy, which offers clean skincare products. “Even though our business is primarily digital, sometimes you want to be able to offer customers ways to touch and feel products.”
For the Digital District, the shopping center’s executives concentrated on web-based merchants with no more than one or two physical stores.
“Valley Fair figures that if somebody is really successful in a temporary space, they will probably move the merchant to a permanent space,” Machado said.
Along with the new space on the south side of Valley Fair, mall executives also launched a wide-ranging renovation of the existing sections of the mall. Part of the goal here was to ensure that all of the old spaces blend in with the new ones.
“We did a full renovation of the entire property,” Green said. “We wanted that seamless kind of experience from the existing center into the new. New flooring, new lighting, new ceilings, new skylights, new amenities throughout, new retailers, new storefront criteria. It was a robust effort to ensure that this was a complete experience for the guest.”
As an example: The future dining district will be anchored at one end by the long-time Cheesecake Factory restaurant.
“Valley Fair obviously is a crown jewel in the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield portfolio,” said James Chung, an executive managing director with Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate firm. “On a sales-per-square-foot basis, Westfield Valley Fair is the highest-performing mall in its U.S. portfolio.”
It’s believed the new openings will enable Valley Fair to top even that sterling metric.
“We are really diversifying,” Green said. “Historically, we have been known for luxury retail, a flagship retailing experience. Now we have added health and wellness, we are going to have incredible dining, we have wonderful entertainment. Icon Theaters is extraordinary.”
Aesop, Gucci, Anne Fontaine, Urban Outfitters, Sandro, Maje, Jimmy Choo, Anthropologie, Bollywood Salon, Orangtheory Fitness, Fabletics, Indochino, Untuckit, Ghost Democracy, Lett, We the People, John Varvatos, Bvlgari, Forward, Club Monaco, King’s Fish House, Vietnoms, The Void, Rodd & Gunn, Gorjana, Lucid Motors, Rag & Bone, Zadig & Voltaire, Dyson, Mastro’s, iChina, Miss. Noodle, Rooster & Rice, Bamboo Sushi, Salt & Straw, and Shake Shack are among the new merchants.
“Valley Fair has some amazing tenants coming in and they will do very well,” said David Taxin, a partner with San Jose-based Meacham/Oppenheimer Corfac International, a commercial real estate firm. “They will really crank out the sales with this expansion.”
