As Tucson’s first enclosed shopping center, El Con Mall fills a rich chapter in the community’s retail history. Total retail floor area is 1,200,000 square feet (111,000 m2).
Originally opened in 1960 as an outdoor shopping center, it is the oldest shopping mall in the Tucson area. It features J. C. Penney, Ross Dress For Less, Target and The Home Depot as its anchor stores. Two additional anchor stores, last occupied by Dillard’s and Macy’s, have been vacant since 1999 and 2008, respectively. El Con Mall is classified as a dead mall, due to the fact that it is largely vacant. Besides the mall’s anchor stores, only a multiplex movie theater and six other stores remain open, although several restaurants have opened on the periphery in the past five years. Because of the center’s low occupancy rate, it is slated to be demolished and reverted to an open-air complex, although no official announcement has been made on the mall’s redevelopment.
