Katy Mills
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Katy Mills is a super-regional shopping mall in Katy, Texas, within the Houston metropolitan area. It was primarily developed by The Mills Corporation and is now managed by Simon Property Group, which owns 62.5% of it, with the remaining shares handled by German-based KanAm Grund Group.
The mall had its grand opening on October 28, 1999 and includes over 170 stores. Katy Mills has over 1.2 million square feet (112,000 m2) of retail space.
History
1997–1999: Pre-construction and development
In 1997, the Arlington, VA-based Mills Corporation had negotiations to build a mall in Katy, Texas. This would be the second mall they would build in Texas, after Grapevine Mills in Grapevine, Texas, which opened later the same year. The original project was to be located on a 727-acre site that was owned by Interfin Corporation and located between the Grand Parkway Mason Road. Later, The Mills changed plans and instead leased land from Dallas-based American Realty Trust. The site from American Realty Trust, at the size of 500 acres, was located near Pin Oak Road and Interstate 10. Mills later purchased the 500 acre site in February 1998 and construction began on the mall, along with German-based KanAm, RTKL Associates, Greg Rose Design, JK Design Group, Creative Artisans Group, Penwal, Texas Bomanite, and the American Institute of Steel Construction.
The Mills Corporation allowed several anchors to open in the mall, such as AMC Theatres, Virgin Megastore, Off Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills, Boot Town, Books-A-Million, Rainforest Cafe, Marshalls, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Old Navy, and GameWorks. In early 1999, plans changed for the opening of Katy Mills, as GameWorks and Virgin Megastore would not open, and instead Jillian's and F.Y.E. (For Your Entertainment) would open. They also announced that they would open Bed Bath & Beyond, Burlington Coat Factory, and a Benetton Sportsystem store. This marked the first time Benetton would go in the retail business. Marshalls later pulled out and Funkyard would take its space. A couple months later, Katy Mills announced that they would open Saks Off 5th and Sun & Ski Sports, and as the opening drew closer, Off Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills would open a sports bar concept "Starflight Cafe" in the mall. It was also announced that Boot Town had leased a western-themed outlet titled "Old West Warehouse". Other tenants, such as the now-defunct NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway, Big Dog Sportswear, Skechers USA, Bose Factory Store, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, Carter's for Kids, Kenneth Cole New York, the Official Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop, Mikasa Factory Store, and Samsonite Company Store have also been added to their lineup. Construction was completed in October 1999, and the mall was ready to open. The Mills Corp. promoted the mall by releasing various print ads in newspapers, and television commercials.
1999–2006: Opening and early years
Katy Mills Mall officially opened on October 28, 1999 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. As typical in Landmark Mills malls, Katy Mills was heavily themed, as there were bright colors throughout. The mall's mascots were a family of stars with faces. The mall had a racetrack design and was split into seven neighborhoods, each with its own combination of colors, sculptures, patterns, sounds and lighting. The food court in the center named Katy Field Day was themed around an athletic field, with a scoreboard showing the current time and the decorations featuring the stars playing sports games. The food court is about the size of a typical athletic field. The mall was "the newest star in Texas", and "With Katy Mills in the area, shopping in Texas will never be the same again." The mall also had several TVs hanging from the ceiling of the mall that played music videos and other content.
The first 5,000 shoppers that came to the mall earned one of ten $1,000 shopping sprees and other great prizes. Various celebrities came to visit the mall, such as the Miss Texas pageant, former WNBA player Tina Thompson and former NFL defense tackler Ray Childress. One hour before the ribbon-cutting ceremony and 30 minutes after the mall opened, the Aggie Wranglers performed in the Food Court at 8:30 AM. Following the opening of the stores, the Houston Firefighters had a “Men of the Millennium” fashion show. People were eligible to register to win a 1999 Chrysler Sebring Convertible. At 7:30 p.m. EDT, Joyce Cooling had a concert in the food court. The concert was sponsored by Houston radio station, KODA. When the mall opened, it had 91.2% occupancy.
In 2000, more stores opened, such as Polo Ralph Lauren, which replaced EUROKIDS Designer Boutique and the planned Marshalls, which replaced Funkyard. Verizon was also opened. Benetton Sportsystem closed at an unknown time.
New stores debuted in 2003, including Diamonds and More Diamond Outlet, Nextel Wireless, Suit Warehouse, Nine West and Perfumes Unlimited. BCBG Max Azria was also closed.
In July 2004, it was announced that Neiman Marcus Last Call Clearance Center would open at Katy Mills. Mall map issues presented the store as a non-anchor. This issue was fixed in later mall maps released by Simon. This also marked the debut of Go! Calendars Games & Toys, Limited Too, American Eagle Outfitters and Aéropostale. Suit Warehouse was relocated in front of Old West Warehouse. Jillian's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which led to Jillian's being acquired by Dave & Buster's, causing the Katy Mills Jillian's to be converted to Dave & Buster's.
In October 2005, Bui-Yah-Kah relocated in Neighborhood 7, and Samsonite relocated to a new space near Neighborhood 4. The Nextel Wireless Store was rebraded to a Sprint, as a result of Sprint's merger with Nextel. Other stores opened as well, including Lucky Brand Jeans, Famous Footwear, Foot Locker, and Steve and Barry's University Sportswear. In July 2006, new upscale and designer stores started appearing in Katy Mills mall. These stores included J. Crew, Anne Klein, Florsheim, and Lane Bryant.
2006–2013: Simon acquisition
In mid-2006, Simon Property Group, in a joint venture with Farallon Capital Management, announced that they would be acquiring the mall as part of a buyout of the Mills Corporation, which was financially struggling during this time. The last addition to the mall from the Mills was a children's play area near the movie theater. The play area was sponsored by Team Certified Suzuki.
In August 2007, New York & Company, Juicy Couture, Oakley Vault, Ecko and Zumiez opened. 2008 saw the additions of Kay Jewelers and Gymboree. This saw the removals of Old West Warehouse and Lucky Brand Jeans.
In 2009, Circuit City and Steve & Barry's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (later Chapter 7 for Circuit City), causing their locations to close, including Katy Mills. An expansion was made in Neighborhood 3, merging Liz Claiborne and Bennetton to become XXI Forever. There were more additions, including Dickies, Papaya, Victoria's Secret, PINK, Calvin Klein, and U.S. Polo Association. Kirkland's closed for Papaya. RadioShack relocated for Victoria's Secret. The Athlete's Foot closed for PINK. The removal of Anne Klein saw the return of BCBGMAXAZRIA Final Cut. Gaughty Girlz and Sleep Number were also closed. Limited Too also became Justice. For a brief moment, Katy Mills had a Halloween exhibit called Katy Haunted House - Texas Terror.
The following year in February 2011, various elements from the old design were removed. New restaurants that opened include Villa, Great Wraps, and Charley's Grilled Subs. New stores opened, which were Janie and Jack, Yankee Candle, Clarks, Express, DC Shoes, and Robert Wayne Footwear. Wilson's Leather was relocated near Marshalls in order to make room for Aldo. Near the end of the year, one of the original anchors in the mall, F.Y.E. permanently closed and became Tilt Studio.
2013–2018
In 2013, Don Massey replaced Mace Hirt as general manager who had held the position since the mall first opened. In the same year, new stores opened, such as Ross Dress for Less opening in the former space of Circuit City. More stores such as Crocs, Michael Kors, Jumpstreet and Segway Outback opened. In 2014, Old Navy relocated to the former spaces of Famous Footwear and Mikasa, while its old space became H&M. Perry Ellis once again closed, making it become Vera Bradley Outlet. This was only for a short time, because it was replaced with a new location of Wilson's Leather. Two new shoe stores opened: Shoe Palace and Steve Madden. When Simon unveiled a new logo in 2014, the City of Katy started discussing renovations of the mall. Following the beginning of the discussions, Katy Mills removed more of its interior decor.
From 2015 to 2016, a complicated series of relocations of stores happened. Lane Bryant relocated to Neighborhood 1, and G.H. Bass & Co. relocated to Neighborhood 7 between Pacific Sunwear and Hot Topic. Shortly after Lane Bryant's reopening, Bass relocated yet again to the former space occupied by Lane Bryant. Following the relocation of Bass, Katy Mills tried their first attempt to bring back Go! Calendars Games & Toys in the former space of Bass, but it closed in 2016. New stores opened, such as Buckle, Fossil, Kate Spade New York, Jared Vault, Converse and Adidas.
In 2017, DR34M Home Rug and Design briefly opened over Bed Bath & Beyond, as well as new stores opening, including Kipling, Cotton On and Fashion Q. When the end of 2017 neared, Charlotte Russe permanently closed and became Under Armour Factory House, and Reebok was relocated to the former space of Kenneth Cole. Restoration Hardware opened at the mall in October 2017.
2018–2019: Interior renovation
In January 2018, James Ross became the new general manager for Katy Mills Mall. After long negotiations, James was ready to take on a project to renovate Katy Mills Mall.
The announcement was held on March 8, 2018.The renovation would bring a new color palette, new LED lighting, new flooring, redesigning seating areas, new signage, a fully redesigned food court, and a Disney Junior Play Zone.
The interior renovation was officially completed in February 2019. Aside from the completion of the renovation, more stores opened up, such as Helzberg Diamonds, BoxLunch, and Champs Sports. It also marked the return of Windsor and Dickies. Three companies that suffered from bankruptcy closed, which were Gymboree, Payless, and Dressbarn. Jumpstreet and Segway Outback were also closed. Kay Jewelers and Fashion Q was also closed. Following the completion of the interior, the exterior's renovations would begin.
2020–present
Katy Mills temporarily closed in March 2020, alongside other Simon malls in the U.S., due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Simon added special signage to keep shoppers safe. Most of its original stores closed permanently, such as Naturalizer and Great American Cookies. Most other stores also went out of business, such as Lane Bryant, Justice, New York and Company, Wilson's Leather, Bass, Motherhood Maternity, A'Gaci, and Last Call. 2022 saw the closure of Kipling and MasterCuts. Eventually, Katy Mills debuted a multitude of new stores, such as The Cheesecake Factory, Pandora, Aerie, Miniso, Dig World, Lee Wrangler, and Kilwin’s Chocolate & Ice Cream. This also marked the return of Great American Cookies and Lucky Brand Jeans. June 2023 saw the additions of Puma, Slick City Action Park in October 2023, and Sephora, along with the renovation of Adidas.
August-October 2024 came with major changes, such as the closure of Tommy Bahama's, Ferso's Traditional Mexican Cuisine, Restoration Hardware, and the announcement of Primark opening the following year., along with other new stores. Following the announcement, BoxLunch moved to the space formerly occupied by Bath & Body Works. It was also announced that Rainforest Café would undergo an Aztec-focused renovation starting October. Rainforest Café had completed its renovation by April of 2025. September 2025 saw new stores, such as La Michoacana and Vineyard Vines.
Notable incidents
December 2024 shooting
On December 23, 2024, a firearm went off in the mall, causing shoppers to clear the area. One injury had been reported. The suspects, being an 18-year-old man and an unidentified juvenile have since been arrested.
December 2025 food court fire
On December 20, 2025, a fire broke out in the Dining Pavilion around 2:20 PM, causing most of the mall to be evacuated and temporarily closed. Shortly after the fire, some surrounding stores were closed, and access to Entry 2 was prohibited.