Leslie G. Everett, owner of
Fort Collins, Colorado real estate company Everitt Enterprises, purchased the land that would become Foothills Fashion Mall in 1968 with the intention of developing it for commercial and residential use. At the time, the city of Fort Collins was undergoing significant population growth, which led to an increased demand for retail.
Sears, which at the time had only a
catalog merchant store downtown, Sears and The Denver were the first two stores to open for business, respectively opening on August 9 and 10, 1973. Stores opened incrementally between October 1973 and February 1974, the last being the May D&F department store. By the mall's one-year anniversary in late 1974, all but seven of the fifty-three retail spots within the mall were occupied, and the overall mall had more than 450 employees. In response to mall traffic, the city of Fort Collins widened College Avenue and installed a traffic signal at the mall's entrance. Gary Haxtun, then-vice president of Everitt Enterprises, noted that at the time, nearly 25 percent of mall customers were from
Wyoming. By 2001, the mall consisted of over of retail space and was the biggest in northern Colorado. Mervyn's closed in 2005 and J. C. Penney moved to a larger store in 2006, while Foley's was sold to
Macy's. The vacancies of two anchors, combined with deferred maintenance of the building, led to a severe increase in vacancy throughout. Alberta Development Partners bought the mall from General Growth in 2012 and planned to redevelop it as well. Renovation had begun in late 2014 following the closure of Sears. Renovation included demolition of portions of the mall, along with the addition of
Cinemark movie theater,
Nordstrom Rack, and
Ross Dress for Less. New stores continued to open throughout 2016, including multiple restaurants and
H&M. By this point, the mall was officially renamed The Shops at Foothills. Also included in the renovation were apartments. Despite the renovation, the revived mall felt short of sales expectations and was only 77 percent leased by 2018, but mall developers noted that stores were still being opened at the time. One year later, the mall remained only three-quarters occupied, with developers noting that one factor was the existence of tenants that do not generate significant tax revenues, such as yoga studios and nail salons. In December 2020, ownership failed to make their loan payment and the mall was set for foreclosure in April 2021. Retail Developer McWhinney, who had been involved in numerous retail developments in the Northern Colorado area, agreed to purchase the mall in February 2021, with plans to redevelop the mall. On December 12, 2022, it was announced that Macy's would be closing in March 2023. ==References==