History
Summa Corporation announced Fashion Show Mall in July 1978, to be built on 34 acre on the Las Vegas Strip, south of Summa's Frontier hotel-casino. It would be co-developed with Ernest W. Hahn, which would also serve as general contractor. It was designed by ArchiSystems, based in Van Nuys, California.[4][5] The project had been planned for years.[6] The Frontier's Little Church of the West occupied a portion of the future mall site, and was relocated elsewhere on the Strip.[7][8] Groundbreaking took place on March 15, 1979.[9]
Built at a cost of $74 million,[10][11] Fashion Show Mall opened on February 14, 1981.[12][13][14] It was the first major shopping center to open on the Strip,[15] and the third to open in the Las Vegas Valley. Tourists were the primary demographic. The mall was 75-percent owned by Summa, while Hahn held the remaining ownership.[16] The mall was successful, prompting the addition of other retail centers on the Strip, including the Forum Shops. A $10 million renovation was completed in 1993, after three years of planning and construction.[17]
Summa later became the Howard Hughes Corporation, and was sold to The Rouse Company in 1996.[19][20] A year later, Rouse announced plans to expand Fashion Show Mall,[20] while new management began hosting events there to attract additional patrons.[21] In 1998, Rouse purchased 15 acres of property just west of the mall, previously used by Mirage Resorts as an employee parking lot. Rouse bought out Hahn's ownership stake a month later.
In May 2000, work began on an expansion and remodel,[22][23][24] a project that tenants felt was overdue.[25] A new west wing, the first phase of the $1 billion expansion project, opened on November 1, 2002.[26][27] It introduced a retractable runway and stage used for fashion shows.[28][29][30]
The existing east wing debuted on October 1, 2003, following renovations.[32][33] The expansion and renovation helped the mall compete against newer retail centers on the Strip, such as the Forum Shops and the Grand Canal Shoppes, both of which were also in the process of expansion.[27] General Growth Properties (now Brookfield Properties) acquired the mall in 2004, when it purchased Rouse.[34]
Various incidents have occurred at the mall, including an unsuccessful bomb threat in 1983,[35] and a jewelry store heist in 1999.[36] Several shootings have occurred,[37][38] including one at the food court in 2014.[39][40] Another shooting in 2019 prompted the evacuation of the mall.[41][42][43]
In 2014, the mall was used to film the interior shots of the fictitious West Orange Pavilion Mall for the opening sequence of Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.
On March 6, 2026, Saks Global announced the closure of 12 Saks Fifth Avenue and 3 Neiman Marcus locations nationwide in an effort to further cut costs and focus on more profitable locations, including the Saks store at Fashion Show Las Vegas.[46]
