#75,  Mall of Arizona
Metro Center Mall

9878 N Metro Pkwy E., Phoenix, AZ 85051

4/20/2010

Metro Center Mall had saw its hey day in the 80’s and 90’s. If you were a pre-teen or high schooler during that time, chances are, your parents dropped you off at the old ice skating rink, which later became an arcade.

The mall appeared in the movie, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), as the “San Dimas Mall”, and according to its Wikipedia entry. It is also the  location for the movie, Kids in America, starring Topher Grace.

The mall was opened in 1973, and when it opened as the first two-level, five-anchor mall in the U.S. Metro Center was the largest shopping center in Arizona and was considered one of the largest shopping centers in the United States.

Though it’s had a variety of renovations throughout the 2000’s, Metro Center has some tough competition with newer malls and shopping centers popping up all over town. Once the middle class/high end mall is now the working class shopping center.