2023’s Top 10 Retail Experiences: No. 6 Scottsdale Fashion Square

More than 650,000 people moved to Phoenix from 2010 to 2020, an increase of 11.2% according to the Census Bureau. Retirees used to be the chief migrators to the metro, but no longer. Young professionals and families have taken up the slack as tech businesses the likes of Meta Platforms and Taiwan Semiconductor take root in the region.

Macerich, Scottsdale Fashion Square’s owner, had been well aware of Phoenix’s demographic shifts and decided it was time to make some changes itself.

“Each year we’d study the Phoenix demographics and see big shifts,,” said the company’s senior VP of leasing Kim Choukalas. “New businesses were moving in and bringing in sophisticated consumers looking for the kinds of goods and services they were used to in the places they’d left.”

Scottsdale Fashion Center was already known as a luxury shopping destination, but Macerich decided to ramp it up and establish it as Arizona’s undisputed home of fine goods. In 2018, construction began on the new Luxury Wing. Given a distinct identity at the north end of the center, and anchored by Neiman Marcus, the luxe loop houses 35 tenants that run the range from Vuitton to Rolex to Tiffany.

Since then, the center has focused on elevating its dining options. It’s added Nobu, Francine, Toca Madera, Ocean 44, and a 12,000-sq.-ft. space for Elephanté—the first expansion for Santa Monica’s renowned Italian eatery.

It’s elevated its fitness options, as well, this year when Life Time Fitness took a space next to the Luxury Wing, delivering about a thousand people a day from morning to night. 

The changes made over the past five years at Fashion Square have delivered on Macerich’s chief goals: More people spending more time and more money in the center.

Average sales per sq. ft. that were $1,032 at Fashion Square shot to $1,472 after the Luxury Wing arrived in 2019. After the new lineup of dining options arrived, this year’s average hit $1,737.

“We’re constantly adding more reasons for more people to spend more time at our properties,” said Macerich executive VP of leasing Doug Healey. “Sometimes you want a new T-shirt, and sometimes you want a new Hermés bag. Diversity of experiences is what Scottsdale Fashion Square is all about.”