Ontario Mills
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34°04′26″N 117°33′07″W / 34.073777°N 117.551908°W
 Ontario Mills Entry 8 | |
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| Location | Ontario, California, United States |
|---|---|
| Address | 1 Mills Cir Ontario, CA 91764 |
| Opening date | November 14, 1996 |
| Developer | Mills Corporation |
| Management | Simon Property Group JPMorgan Chase |
| Owner | Simon Property Group |
| No. of stores and services | 200 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 20 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,473,000 sq ft (136,800 m2) |
| No. of floors | 1 |
| Website | ontariomills |
Ontario Mills is a large enclosed shopping mall, marketed as an outlet mall. It is located in Ontario, California and it is one of the primary tourist attractions in the Inland Empire. It is located across the street from the former site of the Ontario Motor Speedway. Like all other Mills properties, it was first developed and once owned by the Mills Corporation. Ontario Mills is the first Mills landmark to have the racetrack layout and having a theme in its neighborhoods.[citation needed] It is one of three Mills landmarks in California that are now owned by Simon Property Group since April 2007. The Block at Orange, and Great Mall of the Bay Area are the others. One of the largest shopping malls in North America, the mall opened to the public on November 14, 1996. Ontario Mills was designed by the architectural firm, F+A Architects.
The mall is near the Ontario International Airport, as well as the interchange between the Ontario Freeway (Interstate 15) and the San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10).
Size
According to the mall's former owners, the Mills Corporation, it is the largest one-level shopping mall in Western North America (there are larger malls, but they have two or more levels). In addition, it is California's largest outlet and value retail shopping destination.[1]
Like other Mills malls, Ontario Mills is divided into neighborhoods. This mall has the most out of the Mills malls with ten. When shoppers enter at a mall's main entrances at neighborhoods 1,3, 5, 6, 8 & 10, the automatic doors continuously play audio reminders of which entrance one used (in both English and Spanish). The use of this audio service has been rare in recent times. The light poles in the parking lots are decorated with large "Where Did You Park?" signs.[2]
Tenants
Some of the mall's major tenants include H&M, Hot Topic, a Nike store, a Nordstrom Rack, a 30-screen AMC movie theatre (technically a megaplex), dining and entertainment venue, Dave & Buster's and a GameWorks video arcade.
Ontario Mills is home to many designer-label outlet stores, including Ann Taylor, J.Crew Factory Store, Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Bostonian/Clark and Guess?. Saks 5th Avenue has an outlet store, as do Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister Co., Kenneth Cole, Levi's and Dockers (one of only three locations in California), and Coach Factory Store. The china and silverware store, Mikasa, has been phased out with the relocation of GAP Outlet. A Banana Republic Outlet has taken over the old GAP Outlet's space.
The mall also has a large food court, with about 1,000 seats, and all the usual food court tenants like Panda Express, Burger King, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Sbarro, and Cinnabon. Restaurants outside the food court include Rainforest Cafe and Market Broiler.
Ontario Mills was formerly home to a Vans Skate Park, which in early 2005 was closed and converted into Steve & Barry's. Sports Authority closed its 50,111 sq ft (4,655 m2) store in 2004 when the company merged with Gart Sports, then Sports Authority reopened in the mall next to the Nike Factory Store in 2012, but will be closing again in August 2016 due to the liquidation of all stores. The well-known Wolfgang Puck Cafe was taken down in early 2005 to be replaced by the Ralph Lauren Factory Store.
In 2009, Steve & Barry's and Virgin Megastore were closed due to their chains' liquidations.
On January 24, 2011, JCPenney announced it will shut down all 19 of its outlets by June 1, including the Ontario Mills location. A new expansion to the mall opened in this space in the Summer of 2016, including an expansion of the existing Tommy Hilfiger store, and new tenants including UNIQLO, The North Face, and a Blaze Pizza with an outdoor patio. A new mall entrance also opened and the existing entrance in that area was closed to allow space for more tenants.
In late 2011, most of the tenants in the food court had closed, leading some to believe that Simon was closing the food court.[3] It was later found out that a renovation of the food court had been planned, in which the Mills would welcome new tenants.[4] In mid to late 2012, renovations were completed and the new food court was unveiled.[5]
Effect on surrounding area
Like some premium outlet centers, Ontario Mills was built in an area that had ample land available. The development of the mall has since contributed to the further urbanization of the Eastern Ontario area.[citation needed]
Gallery
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Typical entrance to parking lot, featuring lush landscaping -
Ontario Mills interior -
The attached AMC Theatres megaplex -
Ontario Mills sign, Entrance 8
References
- ^ http://www.simon.com/mall/ontario-mills
- ^ http://www.ontariothinksbusiness.com/lifestyle/shopping/ontario-mills-mall
- ^ http://www.insidesocal.com/dine909/2011/12/31/ontario-mills-big-food-gets-mu/
- ^ http://www.insidesocal.com/dine909/2012/01/19/new-ontario-mills-food-court-l/
- ^ https://www.facebook.com/OntarioMills/posts/527786623899291