DeVargas Center is an enclosed

shopping center A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

named after

Diego de Vargas Diego de Vargas Zapata y Luján Ponce de León y Contreras (1643–1704), commonly known as Don Diego de Vargas, was a Spanish Governor of the New Spain territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México (currently covering the modern US states of New Mex ...

. Originally named DeVargas Mall, the shopping center is one of two enclosed malls in Santa Fe.

History

1973-1987

DeVargas Mall was developed by

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

businessman Nash Hancock and formally opened its doors in 1973. However, an

Albertsons Albertsons Companies, Inc. is an American grocery company founded and headquartered in Boise, Idaho. With 2,253 stores as of the third quarter of fiscal year 2020 and 270,000 employees as of fiscal year 2019, the company is the second-large ...

and Factory 2-U already had opened a few years prior. The structure was designed by Santa Fe architect William Lumpkins. In 1975, luxury men's department store Goodman's relocated from the

Santa Fe Plaza The Santa Fe Plaza (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Plaza de Santa Fe'') is a National Historic Landmark in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico in the style of traditional Spanish-American colonial cities. The plaza, or city square is a gathering place ...

. In 1977, the center added a

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...

and

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...

as anchors and a United Artist two-screen theater. When the Villa Linda Mall opened in 1985, JCPenney relocated to the southwest side of town. The site would later be replaced by upscale department store C. R. Anthony Co.

1988-2000

The mall changed ownership for the first time in

Weingarten Realty Weingarten Realty Investors was a real estate investment trust that invested in shopping centers, primarily in the Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American So ...

and underwent $1-million renovation which included upgrading the interior and expanding the theater. In 1996, Ross Dress for Less opened up a new-to-market location. In 1998, Montgomery Ward announced bankruptcy and shuttered its Santa Fe location. That same year Albertsons purchased the former Montgomery Ward location and announced plans to reconstruct the building.

2001-present

In 2010, Fidelis Realty Partners purchased the property from Weingarten Realty Management Co, Inc. In 2016, several tenants from nearby Sanbusco Marketplace relocated to the center following New Mexico School of the Art's purchase of the property. During that same year, anchor tenant

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed all of its stores. In 2017, the Regal Cinemas closed its six-screen theater In 2018, the shopping center announced plans to reconstruct the west side of the complex to include The Alley, a lounge and bowling alley. In 2019,

T.J. Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American discount department store chain. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in the country. TJ Maxx is the flagship chain of the TJX Co ...

announced

HomeGoods HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Midd ...

subsidiary plans to occupy one of the anchors at the center. In 2022, Sierra Trading Post remodeled the former Hastings location.

External links

References

{{shopping malls in New Mexico Buildings and structures in Santa Fe, New Mexico Shopping malls in New Mexico Tourist attractions in Santa Fe, New Mexico Shopping malls established in 1973 1973 establishments in New Mexico