Ontario Mills is the largest shopping mall in San Bernardino County, California. It is located in Ontario, California, and with 28 million annual visitors, it is one of the top shopping and tourist destinations in Southern California. It opened to the public on November 14, 1996 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 center to have the racetrack layout and themed neighborhoods. It is one of three Mills landmarks in California that are now owned by Simon Property Group since April 2007. The Outlets at Orange, and The Great Mall are the others. 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), one of the busiest in Southern California.
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.
Like other Mills malls, Ontario Mills is divided into neighborhoods. This mall has the most out of the Mills malls with ten.
Tenants
Some of the mall's major tenants include Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue, H&M, Last Call By Neiman Marcus, Nike Factory Store, Forever 21, Nordstrom Rack, a 30-screen AMC Theaters megaplex, and the dining and entertainment venues Dave & Buster's, and the Ontario IMPROV Comedy Club.
Ontario Mills is home to many designer-label outlet stores, including Tory Burch, Ann Taylor, Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, DKNY, Tommy Hilfiger, Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein, Coach, Kate Spade, LACOSTE and Michael Kors. Other stores include The LEGO Store, The Disney Store Outlet, Bose, Tumi, Movado, Kenneth Cole, Abercrombie & Fitch, J. Crew, ULTA Beauty, Express, Hollister Co., Levi's and Dockers (one of only three locations in California).
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, Johnny Rockets, Market Broiler, and Blaze Pizza.
Ontario Mills was formerly home to a Vans Skate Park, which in early 2005 was closed and converted into Steve & Barry's. In 2009, Steve & Barry's and Virgin Megastore were closed due to their chains' liquidations. The 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 closed again in August 2016 due to the liquidation of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy of all stores. The well-known Wolfgang Puck Cafe was taken down in early 2005 to be replaced by the Ralph Lauren Factory Store.
Ontario Mills also had one of the few JCPenney 5 Star outlets in the country but it closed after JCPenney liquidated them in 2013. A new expansion to the mall opened in this space in the Summer of 2016, including an expanded Tommy Hilfiger store, and new tenants including UNIQLO, The North Face, and a Blaze Pizza with an outdoor patio. A new mall entrance was also added to the area with a more contemporary look.
Effect on surrounding area
Like other 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 and adjacent cities.
Gallery
References
External links
- Ontario Mills
- Mills Corporation
