1.
Modesto, California
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Modesto /məˈdɛstoʊ/, officially the City of Modesto, is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, it is the 18th largest city in the state of California, the Modesto Census County Division, which includes the cities of Ceres and Riverbank, had a population of 312,842 as of 2010. Modesto has been honored as a Tree City USA numerous times and it is surrounded by rich farmland, Stanislaus County ranks sixth among California counties in farm production. Led by milk, almonds, chickens, walnuts, and corn silage, the farm-to-table movement plays a central role in Modesto living as in the Central Valley. The citys annual Architectural Festival honors Modestos history as a ground for mid-century modern architecture during the 1940s and 50s. Modestos mid-century buildings have been featured four times in Museum of Modern Art publications, in December 2009, Forbes ranked Modesto 48th out of 100 among Best Bang-for-the-Buck Cities. In this ranking, Modesto ranked 8th in housing affordability and travel time, Modesto is the home of Gallo Family Winery, the largest privately owned winery in the world. Modesto was originally a stop on the railroad connecting Sacramento to Los Angeles, at its founding in 1870, it was to be named Ralston after financier William C. Ralstons modesty prompted him to ask that another name be found, Modesto was incorporated in 1884 with a population of over 1,000. With fields of grain, a river for grain barges, and railroad traffic. Irrigation water came from dams installed in the foothills, and irrigated fields of vegetables and fruit, by 1900, Modestos population was over 4,500. During World War II, the area provided canned goods, powdered milk, for the next few decades, Modestos population grew about two percent per year to over 100,000 in 1980, and over 200,000 in 2001. The citys official motto, Water Wealth Contentment Health, is emblazoned on the downtown Modesto Arch, the motto was selected in a contest held in 1911. Modestos motto is sometimes spoofed as The land gets the water, the bankers get the wealth, the cows get contentment, Modesto is known for the following tourist attractions and historical sites. McHenry Mansion – Built in the early 1880s by Robert McHenry, the mansion is included on the National Register of Historic Places. McHenry Museum – Across the street from the McHenry Mansion, filled with tidbits from Modestos history George Lucas Plaza – American Graffiti-inspired bronze statue made in honor of Modesto filmmaker George Lucas, located at Five Points. Gallo Center for the Arts – Center for the performing arts opened in 2007 and is located in downtown Modesto at 1000 I Street, Downtown Modesto – Known for having a variety of restaurants and night life. It also hosts a multi-venue Art Walk year around on the third Thursday of the month, the State Theatre – Dating back to the 1920s, it was recently renovated and serves as a local performance arts center and as a theater specializing in independent and foreign films
2.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
3.
Shopping mall
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A shopping arcade is a specific form serving the same purpose. Many early shopping arcades such as the Burlington Arcade in London, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, however, many smaller arcades have been demolished, replaced with large centers or malls, often accessible by vehicle. Technical innovations such as lighting and escalators were introduced from the late 19th century. From the late 20th century, entertainment venues such as movie theaters, as a single built structure, early shopping centers were often architecturally significant constructions, enabling wealthier patrons to buy goods in spaces protected from the weather. In places around the world, the shopping centre is used, especially in Europe, Australia. Mall is a term used predominantly in North America, outside of North America, shopping precinct and shopping arcade are also used. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, malls are commonly referred to as shopping centres, the majority of British shopping centres are located in city centres, usually found in old and historic shopping districts and surrounded by subsidiary open air shopping streets. Large examples include West Quay in Southampton, Manchester Arndale, Bullring Birmingham, Liverpool One, Trinity Leeds, Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow and these centres were built in the 1980s and 1990s, but planning regulations prohibit the construction of any more. Out-of-town shopping developments in the UK are now focused on retail parks, planning policy prioritizes the development of existing town centres, although with patchy success. Bullring, Birmingham is the busiest shopping centre in the UK welcoming over 36.5 million shoppers in its opening year, there are a reported 222 malls in Europe. In 2014, these malls had combined sales of $12.47 billion and this represented a 10% bump in revenues from the prior year. One of the earliest examples of public shopping areas comes from ancient Rome, One of the earliest public shopping centers is Trajans Market in Rome located in Trajans Forum. Trajans Market was probably built around 100-110 CE by Apollodorus of Damascus, the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul was built in the 15th century and is still one of the largest covered shopping centers in the world, with more than 58 streets and 4,000 shops. Numerous other covered shopping arcades, such as the 19th-century Al-Hamidiyah Souq in Damascus, Syria, isfahans Grand Bazaar, which is largely covered, dates from the 10th century. The 10-kilometer-long, covered Tehrans Grand Bazaar also has a lengthy history, the oldest continuously occupied shopping mall in the world is likely to be the Chester Rows. Dating back at least to the 13th century, these covered walkways housed shops, with storage, different rows specialized in different goods, such as Bakers Row or Fleshmongers Row. The Marché des Enfants Rouges in Paris opened in 1628 and still runs today, the Oxford Covered Market in Oxford, England opened in 1774 and still runs today. The Passage du Caire was opened in Paris in 1798, the Burlington Arcade in London was opened in 1819
4.
Apple Inc.
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Apple is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. Apples consumer software includes the macOS and iOS operating systems, the media player, the Safari web browser. Its online services include the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store and Mac App Store, Apple Music, Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976 to develop and sell personal computers. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. in January 1977, Apple joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in March 2015. In November 2014, Apple became the first U. S. company to be valued at over US$700 billion in addition to being the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization. The company employs 115,000 full-time employees as of July 2015 and it operates the online Apple Store and iTunes Store, the latter of which is the worlds largest music retailer. Consumers use more than one billion Apple products worldwide as of March 2016, Apples worldwide annual revenue totaled $233 billion for the fiscal year ending in September 2015. This revenue accounts for approximately 1. 25% of the total United States GDP.1 billion, the corporation receives significant criticism regarding the labor practices of its contractors and its environmental and business practices, including the origins of source materials. Apple was founded on April 1,1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, the Apple I kits were computers single-handedly designed and hand-built by Wozniak and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. The Apple I was sold as a motherboard, which was less than what is now considered a personal computer. The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66, Apple was incorporated January 3,1977, without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Multimillionaire Mike Markkula provided essential business expertise and funding of $250,000 during the incorporation of Apple, during the first five years of operations revenues grew exponentially, doubling about every four months. Between September 1977 and September 1980 yearly sales grew from $775,000 to $118m, the Apple II, also invented by Wozniak, was introduced on April 16,1977, at the first West Coast Computer Faire. It differed from its rivals, the TRS-80 and Commodore PET, because of its character cell-based color graphics. While early Apple II models used ordinary cassette tapes as storage devices, they were superseded by the introduction of a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive and interface called the Disk II. The Apple II was chosen to be the platform for the first killer app of the business world, VisiCalc. VisiCalc created a market for the Apple II and gave home users an additional reason to buy an Apple II. Before VisiCalc, Apple had been a distant third place competitor to Commodore, by the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line
5.
Chipotle Mexican Grill
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Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. is an American chain of fast casual restaurants in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France, specializing in tacos and Mission-style burritos. Its name derives from chipotle, the Nahuatl name for a smoked and dried chili pepper. The company currently trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CMG, Chipotle is one of the first chains of fast casual dining establishments. Competitors in the fast-casual Mexican market include Qdoba Mexican Grill, Moes Southwest Grill, Rubios Coastal Grill, Pancheros Mexican Grill, Freebirds World Burrito, founded by Steve Ells in July 1993, Chipotle had 16 restaurants when McDonalds Corporation became a major investor in 1998. By the time McDonalds fully divested itself from Chipotle in 2006, with more than 2,000 locations, Chipotle had a net income of US$475.6 million and a staff of more than 45,000 employees in 2015. Founder Steve Ells attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, afterward, he became a line cook for Jeremiah Tower at Stars in San Francisco. There, Ells observed the popularity of the taquerías and San Francisco burritos in the Mission District, Ells and his father calculated that the store would need to sell 107 burritos per day to be profitable. After one month, the restaurant was selling over 1,000 burritos a day. The second store opened in 1995 using Chipotles cash flow, to fund more growth, Ells father invested $1.5 million. Afterwards, Ells created a board of directors and business plan, Ells had originally planned to use funds from the first Chipotle to open a fine-dining restaurant, but instead focused on Chipotle Mexican Grill when the restaurants saw success. In 1998, the first restaurant outside of Colorado opened in Kansas City, the company opened its first location in Minnesota by opening near the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in March 1999. In 1998, McDonalds made a minority investment in the company. By 2001, the company had grown to be Chipotles largest investor, the investment from McDonalds allowed the firm to quickly expand, from 16 restaurants in 1998 to over 500 by 2005. On January 26,2006, Chipotle made its public offering after increasing the share price twice due to high pre-IPO demand. In its first day as a company, the stock rose exactly 100%, resulting in the best U. S. -based IPO in six years. The money from the offering was used to fund new store growth. In October 2006, McDonalds fully divested from Chipotle, McDonalds invested approximately $360 million into Chipotle, and took out $1.5 billion. McDonalds had attempted to get Chipotle to add drive-through windows and a breakfast menu, in 2008, Chipotle opened its first location outside of the United States in Toronto
6.
Arizona
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Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and the Mountain West states and it is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, Arizonas border with Mexico is 389 miles long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the states to be admitted to the Union. Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, after being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase, Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Alpine, in addition to the Grand Canyon National Park, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments. To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like Arissona, the area is still known as alĭ ṣonak in the Oodham language. Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona, as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area, There is a misconception that the states name originated from the Spanish term Árida Zona. See also lists of counties, islands, rivers, lakes, state parks, national parks, Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico, of the states 113,998 square miles, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land, Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the states southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This regions topography was shaped by volcanism, followed by the cooling-off. Its climate has hot summers and mild winters. The state is well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau. Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona has an abundance of mountains, despite the states aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day France or Germany. The worlds largest stand of pine trees is in Arizona
7.
Kierland Commons
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Kierland Commons is a lifestyle center in Phoenix, Arizona, adjacent to Scottsdale, Arizona which is used for the centers mailing addresses. The mixed-use development is centered on a Main Street feel and composed mostly of outdoor retail shops with residential units above, the mixed-use destination began construction in 1995 and was completed in 2000. The primary developer was Woodbine Development Corporation of Dallas, the development concept, urban design plan and design guidelines were prepared by Design Workshop, Inc. and Communication Arts, Inc. Building design was developed and prepared by Nelsen Architects, originally owned by Westcor, in 2002 Kierland Commons became part of The Macerich Company’s portfolio. Signature Properties was the Exclusive Residential Broker for The Plaza Lofts at Kierland Commons from 2003 through 2013, the awards are widely considered the land-use industry’s most prestigious recognition program. Kierland Commons was the first lifestyle center in Arizona, the 600, 000-square-foot Main-Street-style development includes shopping, dining, entertainment, office space and upscale loft condiminiums, The Plaza Lofts. Kierland Commons is home to about 75 stores, restaurants and services on approximately 38 acres, like many shopping centers in the Phoenix area, it is managed by the Westcor division of Macerich, though majority ownership is held by the developer, Woodbine Development Corporation. On December 31,2014, Barnes and Noble closed, the Plaza Lofts holds the record for the highest price per square foot of any residential project in Arizona – at $1,051 per square foot on a sale made in February 2007. Signature Properties was the Exclusive Residential Broker for The Plaza Lofts at Kierland Commons from 2003 through 2013, the Scottsdale condo community features 84 residences in two phases. Phase I was completed spring 2005, with all 30 lofts selling out in 30 days with only on-site signage, floor plans include one-bedroom and two-bedroom/study floor plans measuring 1,100 to 2,800 square feet. Phase II of The Plaza Lofts was completed summer 2008, the nine-story tower contains 54 residences and offers one-bedroom to two-bedroom/study floor plans stretching 1,100 to 2,800 square feet. Five penthouse suites occupy the top floor, measuring 3,300 to 3,900 square feet with sweeping mountain, desert and city views
8.
Colorado
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Colorado is a state in the United States encompassing most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is part of the Western United States, the Southwestern United States, Colorado is the 8th most extensive and the 21st most populous of the 50 United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Colorado was 5,540,545 on July 1,2016, the state was named for the Colorado River, which Spanish travelers named the Río Colorado for the ruddy silt the river carried from the mountains. The Territory of Colorado was organized on February 28,1861, Colorado is nicknamed the Centennial State because it became a state in the same year as the centennial of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is noted for its landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers. Denver is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado, residents of the state are properly known as Coloradans, although the term Coloradoan has been used archaically and lives on in the title of Fort Collins newspaper, the Coloradoan. Colorado, Wyoming and Utah are the states which have boundaries defined solely by lines of latitude and longitude. The summit of Mount Elbert at 14,440 feet elevation in Lake County is the highest point in Colorado, Colorado is the only U. S. state that lies entirely above 1,000 meters elevation. The point where the Arikaree River flows out of Yuma County, Colorado and this point, which holds the distinction of being the highest low elevation point of any state, is higher than the high elevation points of 18 states and the District of Columbia. A little less than one half of the area of Colorado is flat, East of the Rocky Mountains are the Colorado Eastern Plains of the High Plains, the section of the Great Plains within Nebraska at elevations ranging from roughly 3,350 to 7,500 feet. The Colorado plains were mostly prairies, but they have many patches of forests, buttes. Eastern Colorado is presently covered in farmland and rangeland, along with small farming villages. Precipitation is fair, averaging from 15 to 25 inches annually, corn, wheat, hay, soybeans, and oats are all typical crops, and most of the villages and towns in this region boast both a water tower and a grain elevator. Irrigation water is available from the South Platte, the Arkansas River, and a few other streams, however, heavy use of ground water from wells for irrigation has caused underground water reserves to decline. As well as agriculture, eastern Colorado hosts considerable livestock, such as cattle ranches. Roughly 70% of Colorados population resides along the edge of the Rocky Mountains in the Front Range Urban Corridor between Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Pueblo, Colorado. This region is protected from prevailing storms that blow in from the Pacific Ocean region by the high Rockies in the middle of Colorado. The Front Range includes Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, Loveland, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Greeley and other townships, on the other side of the Rockies, the significant population centers in Western Colorado are the cities of Grand Junction, Durango, and Montrose
9.
Connecticut
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Connecticut is the southernmost state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Connecticut is also often grouped along with New York and New Jersey as the Tri-State Area and it is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital city is Hartford, and its most populous city is Bridgeport, the state is named for the Connecticut River, a major U. S. river that approximately bisects the state. The word Connecticut is derived from various anglicized spellings of an Algonquian word for long tidal river, Connecticut is the third smallest state by area, the 29th most populous, and the fourth most densely populated of the 50 United States. It is known as the Constitution State, the Nutmeg State, the Provisions State, and it was influential in the development of the federal government of the United States. Connecticuts center of population is in Cheshire, New Haven County, Connecticuts first European settlers were Dutch. They established a small, short-lived settlement in present-day Hartford at the confluence of the Park, initially, half of Connecticut was a part of the Dutch colony New Netherland, which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware rivers. The first major settlements were established in the 1630s by England, the Connecticut and New Haven Colonies established documents of Fundamental Orders, considered the first constitutions in North America. In 1662, the three colonies were merged under a charter, making Connecticut a crown colony. This colony was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, the Connecticut River, Thames River, and ports along the Long Island Sound have given Connecticut a strong maritime tradition which continues today. The state also has a history of hosting the financial services industry, including insurance companies in Hartford. As of the 2010 Census, Connecticut features the highest per-capita income, Human Development Index, and median household income in the United States. Landmarks and Cities of Connecticut Connecticut is bordered on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west by New York, on the north by Massachusetts, and on the east by Rhode Island. The state capital and third largest city is Hartford, and other cities and towns include Bridgeport, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury, Norwalk, Danbury, New Britain, Greenwich. Connecticut is slightly larger than the country of Montenegro, there are 169 incorporated towns in Connecticut. The highest peak in Connecticut is Bear Mountain in Salisbury in the northwest corner of the state, the highest point is just east of where Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York meet, on the southern slope of Mount Frissell, whose peak lies nearby in Massachusetts. At the opposite extreme, many of the towns have areas that are less than 20 feet above sea level. Connecticut has a maritime history and a reputation based on that history—yet the state has no direct oceanfront
10.
Tapestry, Inc.
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Coach, Inc. is a multinational luxury fashion company based in New York City. Coach was founded in 1941, as a workshop in a loft on 34th Street in Manhattan, with six leatherworkers who made wallets. In 1946, Miles Cahn and his wife Lillian joined the company, Miles and Lillian Cahn were owners of a leather handbag manufacturing business, and were knowledgeable about leatherworks and business. By 1950, Cahn had taken over the business, during the early years, Cahn noticed the distinctive properties and qualities of the leather used to make baseball gloves. With wear and use, the leather in a glove became softer and suppler, attempting to mimic this process, Cahn made a way of processing the leather to make it stronger, softer, and more flexible. Since the leather absorbed dye very well, this also created a richer, deeper color in the leather. Soon after Cahn developed this new process, Lillian Cahn suggested to Miles that the supplement the factorys mens accessories business by adding womens leather handbags. The sturdy cowhide bags were an immediate hit, Miles and Lillian Cahn bought the company through a leveraged buyout in 1961. In 1961, Cahn hired Bonnie Cashin, a sportswear pioneer, Cashin revolutionized the products design, working as creative head for Coach from 1962 through 1974. Cashin instituted the inclusion of side pockets, coin purses, in 1979, Lewis Frankfort joined the company as vice-president of business development. During this time, Coach was making $6 million in sales and products were being distributed through the wholesale channel. He was mentored by the then executive VP of sales, Richard Rose, Richard joined Coach in 1965, and he is credited with making Coach a household name after putting the product in department stores across the United States and abroad. He retired from his position in the company in 1995, in 1981, under Frankforts leadership, the company opened its first directly operated retail location on Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Coach was then sold to Sara Lee Corporation for a reported $30 million, Lew Frankfort succeeded Cahn as president. Sara Lee structured Coach under its Hanes Group, in early 1986, new boutiques were opened in Macys stores in New York City and San Francisco. Additional Coach stores were under construction, and similar boutiques were to be opened in major department stores later that year. By November 1986, the company was operating 12 stores, along with nearly 50 boutiques within department stores. In 1996, Lew Frankfort was named chairman and CEO of Coach, the following year, under Frankforts leadership, Coach hired Reed Krakoff, whose creative and commercials instincts aimed to make Coach products functional, lightweight, and stylish
11.
Chandler Fashion Center
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Chandler Fashion Center is a regional shopping center located in the city of Chandler, Arizona, and is the second largest mall in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The mall is owned by Macerich, and was opened on October 19,2001 with more than 180 stores and five anchors including Arizonas second Nordstrom, Sears, Dillards, Macys and Harkins Theatres. The mall is located on Chandler Boulevard at the northwest corner of Price Road, originally owned by Westcor, in 2002 Chandler Fashion Center became part of The Macerich Company’s portfolio. The mall has a variety of stores including Coach, Swarovski, Sephora, Eddie Bauer, Pottery Barn, Abercrombie and Fitch. The Finish Line, Inc. at Chandler Fashion Center showcases a partnership with Nike, in June 2008, Arizonas first Lego Store opened at Chandler Fashion Center, and in October 2008 a 24, 000-square-foot Forever 21 flagship store opened at the mall. Sales at Chandler Fashion Center are more than $600 per square foot, Chandler Fashion Center is unique among most indoor shopping centers in its design. The mall layout is designed like the letter A with the court as the top point. All of the indoor mall shops radiate out into 3 wings from the food court, the mall features stone columns, marble floors and large skylights all incorporated in a modern, yet contemporary design. The mall is also a showcase of Arizona scenery courtesy of Arizona Highways, large photographic murals of the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Arizonas Sonoran Desert are displayed on walls at the ends of each wing as well as certain outdoor entrances to the mall. Adjacent to the court entrance of the mall is an outdoor entertainment. Restaurants such as Kona Grill, BJs Restaurant & Brewhouse, California Pizza Kitchen, Starbucks, a popular attraction of the outdoor plaza used to be the Dancing Waters fountain featuring an impressive display of water, lights and music. The fountains were demolished in the Summer of 2014 and renovated into a picnic area that featured patio seating, lawn areas. Surrounding the mall there are large retail centers including Chandler Festival, Chandler Gateway, Chandler Village Center. They include mostly big-box retailers such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, changs China Bistro and Dolce Salon and feature several small boutiques
