Valley Fair Mall Marks 27th Birthday in Big Way

Big is the only way to describe the Valley Fair Mall birthday party this week.

First, Kathi Lund, marketing manager, ordered a birthday cake 24 feet long and 5 feet wide – enough to feed 4,000 customers.

Second, she promised a sidewalk sale bigger than anything seen in this area.

Bakers began making 60 sheet cakes earlier this week, and Thursday morning members of the Wilton School of Cake Decorating started assembling the cakes and decorating them with 125 pounds of frosting. It was finished with a large “Happy Birthday Valley Fair Mall” and the mall's logo.

Lund said the birthday celebration is the beginning of big things promised by the mall's new owners, Excel Realty Corp., a company that purchased the mall earlier this year.

In 1968 Valley Centers Inc. started building the mall in an unoccupied field in what was to become West Valley City. The mall opened in 1970 with ZCMI and J. C. Penny as the anchor tenants. Since then, Mervyn's has been added as an anchor on the east side. There are 112 stores in the mall.

The original stores in the mall are Popcorn Cottage (formerly Karmelkorn), Baker's Shoes, Deseret Book, 5-7-9, Thom McCann, The Keyhole, Kinney Shoes and Zales Jewelers.

The mall was remodeled in 1987 giving the facility a new facade, landscaping, skylights and changes in the center court. A 450-seat food court was added, and the number of movie theaters was increased to nine.

Over the years, the mall has changed owners several times. Valley Center Inc. sold the mall to BUR Inc. which then sold it to Winmar Co. Inc. which then sold it to Excel Realty.

The new general manager, Robert H. Parker, is heading a development team whose task is to refurbish the mall, bring in more national chains and work with city officials to improve the city's retail corridor. Coupled with the new hockey arena and several retail establishments on the northeast quadrant of 3500 South and I-215 and the new city hall, the mall is helping the city establish its “downtown” area.