Valley River Center
A super-regional shopping mall in Eugene, Oregon, serving the southern Willamette Valley with more than 90 stores, restaurants, and entertainment venues.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Valley River Center is a super-regional shopping mall in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Situated beside the Willamette River, the center is integrated with local walking and cycling routes and functions as one of the principal retail, dining, and entertainment destinations in the southern Willamette Valley. Its trade area extends beyond Eugene and includes communities across the wider region. The mall opened in 1969 with JCPenney and Meier & Frank as its original anchor department stores. Over time, the property expanded its tenant mix and added further department-store anchors, including Montgomery Ward and The Bon Marché. These changes reflected the evolution of American enclosed shopping centers from a small group of department stores and specialty retailers into broad-use destinations combining fashion, services, food, cinema, and leisure. Valley River Center has experienced several significant tenant transitions. Montgomery Ward closed in 2001, and its former space was subsequently redeveloped for Regal Cinemas. The Bon Marché became Bon-Macy’s in 2003 and was fully converted to the Macy’s name in 2005. In 2006, The Macerich Company acquired the property from Grosvenor. That year, Macy’s relocated from the smaller former Bon Marché building into the larger former Meier & Frank building, which Macy’s owned, while the former smaller department-store space was subleased to Gottschalks. Gottschalks opened there in 2007. The property later underwent additional repositioning after Sports Authority ceased operations. Its former space was demolished to create room for two restaurant locations, illustrating the center’s shift toward a more diversified mix of dining and experiential uses. In 2019, Round One Entertainment was announced as a tenant for the former Gottschalks anchor building. The planned venue was intended to add amusement and entertainment uses, complementing the mall’s existing cinema and traditional retail offer. The center contains more than 90 local and national stores and restaurants. Its anchor and major destination uses have included JCPenney, Macy’s, Regal Cinemas, and Round One Entertainment. The combination of department stores, specialty retail, food service, cinema, amusement, and riverfront accessibility gives Valley River Center a broader role than a conventional neighborhood shopping center. It is commonly described as the fourth-largest shopping center between Portland, Oregon, and Sacramento, California, although the available reference material does not provide a current floor-area or sales figure. Valley River Center has also had a connection to popular culture: scenes from the 1979 film How to Beat the High Cost of Living were filmed at the mall. The property remains an active Eugene-area shopping and entertainment destination, with its identity shaped by long-term department-store tenancy, repeated adaptive reuse of anchor spaces, and continued investment in restaurants and experiential attractions.
History
Valley River Center opened in Eugene, Oregon, in 1969. JCPenney and Meier & Frank served as the original anchor department stores, establishing the mall as a major enclosed retail destination for the Eugene area and the surrounding southern Willamette Valley. Its location along the Willamette River provided a distinctive setting and connected the property with pedestrian and bicycle paths. As the center developed, its anchor roster expanded. Montgomery Ward and The Bon Marché were added during later phases of the mall’s history. These additions broadened the department-store offer and supported the center’s growth into a super-regional shopping complex. The property’s tenant base eventually included more than 90 local and national stores, restaurants, and entertainment businesses. A major change occurred in 2001, when Montgomery Ward closed. The former anchor space was later repurposed for Regal Cinemas, adding a large-scale entertainment use to the property. The Bon Marché brand underwent another retail-sector transition: it operated under the Bon-Macy’s name beginning in 2003 and was converted fully to Macy’s in 2005. In 2006, The Macerich Company acquired Valley River Center from Grosvenor. During the same year, Macy’s moved out of the smaller former Bon Marché space and into the larger building that had previously housed Meier & Frank. The larger building was owned by Macy’s rather than Macerich. Macy’s former location was subsequently subleased to Gottschalks, which opened there in 2007. The property continued to adapt as department-store and specialty-retail conditions changed. After Sports Authority ceased operations, its former location was demolished, making space for two new restaurant sites. This redevelopment reflected a broader industry trend in which shopping centers replace large underperforming retail boxes with food, leisure, and service uses that can increase visit frequency and diversify the tenant mix. On March 12, 2019, Round One Entertainment was announced for the former Gottschalks anchor building. The planned amusement center was expected to add bowling, arcade, and other leisure-oriented functions, although the reference material does not document the full operational outcome. Alongside Regal Cinemas, the proposed Round One venue reinforced Valley River Center’s role as an entertainment destination as well as a retail center. The mall has also appeared in popular culture. Some scenes for the 1979 film How to Beat the High Cost of Living were filmed at Valley River Center. Today, the center is described as a super-regional shopping mall with more than 90 stores and restaurants. Its major destination tenants include JCPenney, Macy’s, Regal Cinemas, and Round One Entertainment. The center’s long-term development illustrates the transformation of American malls from department-store-led retail complexes into mixed retail, dining, and entertainment environments.
- 2019
Round One Entertainment announced
[1]Round One Entertainment is announced for the former Gottschalks anchor building as a planned amusement center.
- 2007
Gottschalks opens
[1]Gottschalks opens in the former smaller department-store location under a sublease arrangement.
- 2006
Macerich acquires the property
[1]The Macerich Company purchases Valley River Center from Grosvenor.
- 2006
Macy's relocates within the mall
[1]Macy's moves from the former Bon Marché building into the larger former Meier & Frank building.
- 2005
Bon Marché becomes Macy's
[1]The former Bon Marché operation is fully converted to Macy's.
- 2003
Bon-Macy's conversion begins
[1]The Bon Marché location begins operating under the Bon-Macy's name.
- 2001
Montgomery Ward closes
[1]Montgomery Ward ends operations at the center; the former anchor location is later used for Regal Cinemas.
- 1979
Film production at the mall
[1]Scenes for the film How to Beat the High Cost of Living are filmed at Valley River Center.
- 1969
Valley River Center opens
[1]The mall opens in Eugene with JCPenney and Meier & Frank as its original anchor stores.
Products and positioning
A regional retail, dining, and entertainment destination serving Eugene and the broader southern Willamette Valley, with a mix of national anchors, specialty stores, restaurants, cinema, and experiential attractions.
Retail · 1969
Department-store retail
Valley River Center's department-store offer has historically included JCPenney, Meier & Frank, Montgomery Ward, The Bon Marché, Gottschalks, and Macy's. These stores provided broad assortments spanning apparel, footwear, beauty, home goods, accessories, and seasonal merchandise. The anchor roster changed repeatedly as department-store companies consolidated or closed, making anchor repositioning a central part of the mall's development.
Retail · 1969
Specialty retail
The center houses a broad collection of local and national specialty retailers. The available reference material describes more than 90 stores and restaurants, but does not provide a complete current tenant directory. Typical categories represented by a regional mall of this type include fashion, accessories, beauty, services, electronics, gifts, and lifestyle merchandise.
Food service
Dining
Restaurants and other food-service businesses form an important part of Valley River Center's tenant mix. The redevelopment of the former Sports Authority location to accommodate two restaurant sites shows the property's effort to increase dining capacity and replace obsolete large-format retail space with uses that can support recurring visits.
Entertainment
Regal Cinemas
Regal Cinemas occupies a former Montgomery Ward anchor location and provides a cinema-based entertainment offer within the shopping center. Its addition followed Montgomery Ward's 2001 closure and helped diversify Valley River Center beyond department stores and specialty retail.
Amusement and entertainment · 2019
Round One Entertainment
Round One Entertainment was announced in 2019 for the former Gottschalks anchor building. The planned venue was intended to provide amusement and leisure activities, complementing the mall's cinema, dining, and retail uses. The available source identifies the announcement but does not establish the venue's subsequent operating status.
Brand decisions
2019
Round One amusement-center planProduct launchBackground
The former Gottschalks anchor building represented an opportunity to introduce a large experiential tenant.
Action taken
Round One Entertainment was announced as the planned occupant, with an amusement center expected in late 2019.
Aftermath
The announcement reinforced Valley River Center's shift toward entertainment-led uses, although the available material does not document the final opening or current status.
2006
Acquisition by The Macerich CompanyM&ABackground
Valley River Center was acquired from Grosvenor during a period when the property was also undergoing major anchor-store changes.
Action taken
The Macerich Company purchased the shopping center and became the property's management and ownership group identified in the reference material.
Aftermath
The center continued to reposition its anchor spaces, including Macy's relocation and the later introduction of entertainment and restaurant uses.
2001
Conversion of the Montgomery Ward spaceStrategyBackground
Montgomery Ward closed its Valley River Center store, leaving a major anchor space available for reuse.
Action taken
The former department-store space was eventually redeveloped for Regal Cinemas.
Aftermath
The change added a major entertainment use and reduced the property's reliance on department-store anchors.
Sources2 sources
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