History
Puente Hills Mall was built in 1974 after the completion of the Pomona Freeway a few years earlier. It opened with four primary anchors in a cross-shaped design by architecture firm Victor Gruen Associates. Two anchors departed in 1996, The Broadway (at the time purchased by Macy's) and JCPenney. At the time of JCPenney's departure, the mall had about a 50% occupancy. The mall was extensively renovated afterwards and now features a 20-screen AMC Theatres multiplex, and stores traditionally found in power centers such as 24 Hour Fitness and Burlington Coat Factory, in addition to the remaining two original anchors, Macy's (formerly Robinsons-May) and Sears. It also includes popular stores such as Forever 21, Hollister, Old Navy, Hot Topic, Zumiez, Aéropostale and G by Guess. On August 28, 2010, the Japanese sports entertainment chain Round1 opened Round1 Bowling & Amusement, a state-of-the-art video game arcade and bowling alley with karaoke rooms, as a new anchor to Puente Hills Mall, marking the Japanese company's first store overseas. The newest addition to the mall, Toys R Us, opened its doors in June 2011.
Today the mall is almost fully occupied and is the regional hub of a shopping and entertainment district that includes restaurants, auto dealerships, big-box stores, and a go-kart track.
The center of the mall previously featured a large cubed water fountain, then a merry-go-round attraction built in 1990, but it was later removed by the mall's owners, Krausz Companies, as they were losing money in its operation. An East Asian-style koi pond replaced the carousel, but was removed as of 2006. The koi were moved to Sycamore Lake at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier. The mall underwent a full interior makeover in 2007, shortly after the removal of the koi pond.
Due to the large and influential Asian immigrant populations residing and/or operating businesses in nearby areas (notably in Industry, Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, Walnut, and Diamond Bar), past owners of the mall redesigned some elements of Puente Hills Mall in order to conform to feng shui principles. There are also outlets of the Filipino chain restaurants Max's of Manila, Jolibee, and Chow King in the mall, designed to attract the large Filipino-American population in the Rowland Heights, Walnut, and West Covina areas. Puente Hills Mall also caters to a large Latino population that primarily reside in the La Puente, El Monte, Hacienda Heights, Diamond Bar and West Covina areas.
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