Nishikigaoka Hillside Mall

Nishikigaoka Hillside Mall (錦ケ丘ヒルサイドモール) is a shopping complex located in Nishikigaoka, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It sits on the hills of Mount Banzan, roughly 10 kilometers west of central Sendai, along the route connecting Sendai Station to the Akiu hot spring resort. The developer is Nishiki Estate Co., Ltd. (錦エステート株式会社), which developed the surrounding Nishikigaoka New Town residential area. The mall opened in 1994 as the Nishikigaoka Shopping Center (錦ケ丘ショッピングセンター), part of the Nishikigaoka Center Plaza. The facility has been renamed and repositioned several times. In 2002 it became Sendai Hillside Outlet (仙台ヒルサイドアウトレット), the first outlet mall in the Tohoku region. In 2008 it was renamed Hillside Shops & Outlets (ヒルサイドショップス&アウトレット), broadening its tenant mix beyond outlet stores. In 2015 it took its current name, Nishikigaoka Hillside Mall. Over the years the mall shifted from a tourist- and outlet-oriented destination to a community-focused neighborhood shopping center, concentrating on families with children, pet owners, and local residents. Today the mall operates under the slogan "Let's go to Hillside!" and promotes itself as a destination for families with children in Sendai, featuring indoor play areas, a dog run, a small-scale childcare facility, an animal hospital, and a footbath. Its commercial zone includes the newer "ORINAS Nishikigaoka" area. The mall is open year-round, generally from 10:00 to 19:00, though hours vary by store. It is accessible by car via the Tohoku Expressway's Sendai-Miyagi Interchange, and by bus from Aiko Station (about 4 minutes) or Sendai Station (about 30 minutes).

The Nishikigaoka area was developed as a new town beginning in 1989, coinciding with Sendai's transition to a designated city and the bubble economy. In 1994, the Nishikigaoka Center Plaza opened, housing the Nishikigaoka Shopping Center. The opening of the improved Prefectural Route 132 (Akiu Onsen Aiko Line) in 2000 placed the shopping center on the tourist route connecting Sendai Station and Akiu Onsen. In August 2002, the facility was renamed Sendai Hillside Outlet (仙台ヒルサイドアウトレット), becoming the first outlet mall in the Tohoku region. In its early years, weekend traffic to the mall caused congestion on National Route 48 and the Aiko Bypass from the Tohoku Expressway's Sendai-Miyagi Interchange. However, the mall struggled to attract famous brands like larger outlet malls, losing support from the F1 demographic (women aged 20–34). It also faced competition from suburban shopping malls that opened in the Sendai metropolitan area after the Large-Scale Retail Store Location Law, such as AEON Mall Natori, and from downtown shopping streets served by express buses connecting central Sendai with other parts of Tohoku. As the Izanami economic boom reached Sendai, customer numbers continued to decline. To counter this, the mall actively hosted entertainment events on its central mini-stage, including the Jozenji Street Jazz Festival and the Sendai Ukulele Festival (from 2006), as well as stage events by local idols such as SPLASH (affiliated with Sendai SOS) and Step One members, and kids' fashion shows. Sales peaked in the August 2008 fiscal period and then declined. In October 2008, the mall was renamed Hillside Shops & Outlets (ヒルサイドショップス&アウトレット), shifting from a pure outlet mall to an intermediate commercial facility that also included general discount shops and amusement-oriented stores. The tenant mix was refocused from tourists coming from outside Nishikigaoka to kids and families, with indoor play facilities such as Kid's US.LAND. Around this time, the population of Nishikigaoka grew from around 1,000 at the time of the Sendai Hillside Outlet opening to over 4,000, and the Sendai City Astronomical Observatory relocated and opened nearby, increasing the proportion of visitors who were families with children. The Sendai-Miyagi Destination Campaign (October 1 – December 31, 2008) also saw the opening of Mitsui Outlet Park Sendai Port and Sendai Izumi Premium Outlets in the suburbs of Sendai, intensifying competition among outlet malls. From 2010, the mall shifted to a "community-based" business model. The first step was the opening of the local produce direct sales shop "Jibutsu Chokuba Nishikiya" on the first floor in March 2010, which led to the mall being selected by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries for its "Local Production for Local Consumption and Direct Sales Function Enhancement Project." In April 2014, a dog run was opened, and in May 2014, a small-scale childcare facility was established. In March 2015, an animal hospital opened. On June 1, 2015, the facility was renamed Nishikigaoka Hillside Mall (錦ケ丘ヒルサイドモール), and the PC website changed from hillside-outlet.com to hillside-mall.com, while mobile pages and email newsletters were discontinued in favor of Facebook and LINE. On July 18, 2015, Aqua Terrace Nishikigaoka opened. As of October 2024, the mall houses a mix of tenants across two floors, including restaurants, retail shops, and services. The mall continues to operate as a community-focused shopping center, with the newer ORINAS Nishikigaoka commercial zone and a variety of family-oriented events.

• Opened as Nishikigaoka Shopping Center within Nishikigaoka Center Plaza.

• Renamed Sendai Hillside Outlet, becoming the first outlet mall in the Tohoku region.

• Hillside Mall Management Co., Ltd. established.

• Footbath 'Jomon Roman no Yu' opened.

• Sales peak for the fiscal period.

• Renamed Hillside Shops & Outlets.

• Opened local produce direct sales shop 'Jibutsu Chokuba Nishikiya' as first step of community-based conversion.

• Dog run opened.

• Small-scale childcare facility opened.

• Animal hospital opened.

• Renamed Nishikigaoka Hillside Mall; website changed to hillside-mall.com.

• Aqua Terrace Nishikigaoka opened.

Community-focused shopping complex for families with children, pet owners, and local residents in the Nishikigaoka area of Sendai.

• ORINAS Nishikigaoka

  New commercial zone within the mall.

• Aqua Terrace Nishikigaoka

  Aquatic terrace facility opened in 2015.

• Kids Land US

  Indoor play area for children.

• Dog run

  Opened in April 2014.

• Footbath 'Jomon Roman no Yu'

  Opened April 1, 2006; source name: Nishikigaoka New Town No. 2 Spring.

• Jibutsu Chokuba Nishikiya

  Local produce direct sales shop opened March 14, 2010.

1. 1錦ケ丘ヒルサイドモール【公式】hillside-mall.com
2. 2錦ケ丘ヒルサイドモール - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org
3. 3Nishikigaoka Hillside Mall - Wikidatawikidata.org