Christown Spectrum launches in 1961 with cooling air
Christown Spectrum opened on August 24, 1961, and was designed by Welton Becket & Associates with Friedman & Jobusch. It was Arizona's first enclosed, air-conditioned mall.
Del E. Webb developed it with anchors Montgomery Ward, JCPenney, and Korrick's, plus S.S.Kresge and Woolworth. An enclosed concourse linked the big boxes to clusters of specialty shops.
Wayfinding used named courts. Court of Fountains by JCPenney, Court of Flowers by Korrick's, and Court of Birds by Montgomery Ward.
Labels fixed meeting points and oriented shoppers in interior aisles.
Korrick's opened here as a branch of its downtown Phoenix store, while JCPenney and Montgomery Ward brought national chains into the plan.
The courts' names appeared in directories and store ads, giving shop addresses concise labels that matched the map and the entrances.
The Chris-Town name referenced Swiss-born farmer Chris Harri, whose land provided the site for the enclosed mall in Phoenix.
New wings, two cinemas, and a Bullock's arrival
By 1966, the lineup at Christown Spectrum had started to change.
Once Korrick's was rebranded as The Broadway, linking up with a chain that had started in California, change kept coming.
A year later, a free-standing movie theater opened on the property, drawing steady evening crowds that gave the mall traffic well beyond traditional shopping hours.
The push for expansion continued into the 1970s.
On April 4, 1974, United Artists Cinemas 6 opened inside the concourse, the first multiplex to be tied directly to the interior of the mall.
Visitors could step from ticket lines into storefronts, and the new screens quickly altered weekend patterns.
Soon after, the original Woolworth building came down, making way for a larger anchor.
In November 1977, Bullock's opened its doors in the new wing.
The department store offered clothing and housewares across broad floor plates, while smaller retailers filled in the approach along the new corridor.
By the end of the decade, the center carried two theaters and a broader retail footprint that stretched the walk between anchors and added new storefronts to the mix.
Branded department stores turn over in the 1980s and 1990s
By the mid-1980s, Bullock's had been converted to Diamond's, which soon changed to Dillard's as department store brands shifted across the region.
Longtime seasonal features, including the sand sculpture exhibit that had filled atriums during holidays, disappeared from the schedule, leaving the calendar to shorter promotions.
Closures arrived in sequence, reshaping the anchor mix. The Broadway shut in 1994, vacating a large box.
JCPenney followed in 1997 after more than three decades on the directory.
Montgomery Ward closed in 2001 as the national chain ended retailing, leaving another multi-level shell.
Dillard's exited in 2004, ending the original run of department stores that had carried the property from its start.
Smaller chains, including Butler Shoe and five-and-dime outlets, also wound down.
Each exit left floor space to be carved into warehouse clubs, off-price fashion, and pet goods in the next round of redevelopment, while the enclosed concourse kept its same set of courts and entrances for orientation.
Phoenix Spectrum era refocuses the mix, 2001 to mid-2000s
In November 2001, the property took on the new name Phoenix Spectrum Mall under Grossman Company Properties, which set out a renovation program aimed at pulling in larger tenants.
The former The Broadway box was converted into a Walmart, and in 2003, the store expanded into a Walmart Supercenter, adding groceries alongside general merchandise.
The vacant JCPenney space was rebuilt for Costco, a membership warehouse club with its own direct entrance as well as a connection to the concourse.
The empty Montgomery Ward box was split between PetSmart and Ross Dress for Less, each drawing steady traffic with mid-size store footprints.
A Walgreens relocated to an exterior pad during this phase, and the old slot inside went to Big 5 Sporting Goods, which kept a sporting goods presence on the map.
Renovated corridors tied these new tenants together, and by the mid-2000s, the mall leaned toward value retail and warehouse formats without abandoning its enclosed design.
Christown Spectrum rebuild with Target and Harkins, 2006 to mid-2010s
Developers Diversified Realty acquired the mall in 2006 and began a redevelopment program that also brought back the Christown Spectrum name.
A former wing was demolished, and in its place rose a new Target, paired with smaller shop buildings facing the parking field.
At the same time, the interior United Artists cinema and food court were cleared, making way for a Harkins Theatres stadium complex that anchored evening visits.
Parts of the enclosed corridor near PetSmart and Ross Dress for Less were cut back, steering shoppers to outdoor walkways for some connections.
A new JCPenney was constructed on the redeveloped side, restoring a soft-goods anchor to the directory.
On December 27, 2008, Valley Metro Rail opened its first line with the 19th Ave or Montebello station positioned next to the center, providing transit access directly to the mall.
By December 2015, Kimco Realty had purchased the property for 115.3 million dollars, reporting occupancy at 94 percent and keeping the anchor mix stable heading into the next five years.
The 2020 reset as anchors exit and a replacement arrives
In early 2020, the anchor map shifted again.
On February 11, Costco confirmed it would close its Christown store, with the last day of operation set for September 20.
The exit marked the end of nearly two decades for the warehouse club inside the former JCPenney footprint.
Just months later, JCPenney announced its own departure as part of a national downsizing plan.
The Christown Spectrum location finished sales on October 18, 2020, leaving another large anchor box vacant.
By August 1, 2022, the former Costco space reopened as American Furniture Warehouse, restoring a large-format presence and reusing the big box for a regional chain.
This replacement helped stabilize traffic but left the former JCPenney awaiting long-term reuse.
The two-year stretch closed one era of retail at Christown and started the slow process of filling in spaces left by national names that had defined earlier decades.
2024 brings new openings and civic use on site
In 2024, new tenants arrived to fill gaps in the directory.
Burlington opened in part of the former JCPenney box, joining the lineup with a large-format store that expanded the chain's presence in Phoenix.
In the same building, Hobby Lobby took 60,000 square feet, with its first day of business on July 8, giving the craft retailer a larger footprint inside Christown.
On April 22, Five Below announced its opening with a post from the center, adding a value-oriented retailer to the tenant lineup.
Later that year, the City of Phoenix staged its annual G.A.I.N. kickoff event at the mall on October 5, showing how the property continued to serve as a venue for public gatherings.
2025 city lease action and a possible anchor change
In May 2025, the Phoenix City Council approved an ordinance amending its lease with Christown Spectrum for the Yucca Branch Library site.
The revised agreement expanded the leased area to about 117,000 square feet and reset the term to 50 years, running from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2075.
The city described the change as necessary to allow a 10,000 square foot addition to the library, which would expand public space inside the mall footprint.
Just days earlier, Home Depot was exploring a move into Christown Spectrum.
Officials said the chain was considering replacing American Furniture Warehouse, which had filled the former Costco box in 2022.
While no opening date was given, the interest marked a possible new phase for the anchor lineup.