Phoenix readers share memories of Scottsdale’s beloved Los Arcos Mall

Nostalgia can be a potent drug, hitting hard and dragging memories of a forgotten time or place straight back to the present. Case in point: the flood of responses to our recent photo retrospective of Scottsdale’s beloved Los Arcos Mall.

Last week, we published 28 vintage pictures of the now-demolished retail hub at McDowell and Scottsdale roads that served local shoppers from 1969 to 1999. The collection pulled from the archives of the Scottsdale Historical Society, Scottsdale Public Library and Tempe History Museum to capture snapshots of mall life across three decades.

The images showed Los Arcos Mall inside and out, spotlighting its Spanish-influenced architecture, ornate gazebo and numerous arches. There were also pics of long-gone businesses (remember MeraBank?) and even a playful pet-store feline at play, because the internet always adores cats.

Readers reacted to the Los Arcos retrospective. The story trended on the Phoenix New Times site for several days and Valley locals, past and present, replied to our Facebook and Instagram posts with their own memories.  Many remembered shopping or working at the mall. Some shared wholesome tales of hanging out, catching movies in the basement-level cinema or grabbing a bite at one of its restaurants. A few confessed to illicit adventures. And more than one reader brought up how the property nearly became home to the Phoenix Coyotes.

Here’s how New Times readers remember Los Arcos Mall.

Scott was exploring Los Arcos before the paint was even dry:

We played in the sewer pipes underground while it was being built...

Ron was practically neighbors with the place:

I grew up around the corner from there and remember when they built it and opened it.

Dan helped build the mall and witnessed its darkest moment:

Few people remember that when the mall was under construction a worker fell through the skylight and died at the main galleria and fountain! I was working about 50 feet from where he fell. The project was shut down for 3 days by Osha.

For old-school Scottsdale residents like Bob, Los Arcos was within strolling distance:

I went to Coronado High School, walked to the mall a lot. I miss it. Tear down those office buildings and rebuild it.

Stuart preferred to pedal over:

My friend Chris Kellogg and I used to ride our bicycles from our homes near 68th Street and Osborn over to Los Arcos Mall whenever we could on weekend days. Checking out the different shops there was fun, and the rides were pretty mellow back then in the early 1970s, too. Ah, the good old days!

Mo cruised all the way from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community:

We rode our bikes from the rez from Thomas rd and alma school rd and hang out there check out the stores and arcade

Los Arcos wasn’t a hangout for Kathy; it was a workplace:

It was a very pretty mall. I worked there when it first opened for 3 years: Hobo Joe's Pie Shop one year & Sears two years.

Harold W. earned both an education along with a paycheck at the mall:

I worked at Sears at Los Arcos selling cameras, and business equipment while attending ASU. I learned far more about business there than I did in Business college.

Wendy loved the mall’s look as much as its memories:

It makes me happy and sad everytime I think about Los Arcos. it was really so beautiful with the archway and stained glass

Some locals went to Los Arcos to shop, like Jeffery:

I won the drawing at chess king, a fine clothes retailer

Conrad went to Los Arcos for ... other reasons:

It was a great spot to drop acid.

Riis remembered the glory days of the mall:

Nothing makes me happier than reading all the nostalgia feels about Los Arcos! As a native of Scottsdale this place was awesome. Fashion Square was still a semi-outdoor, small upscale mall, but Los Arcos was for the people! I don't know how many pennys my grandparents gave me to toss into the center fountain. The mid evil looking light fixtures were great. The underground movie theater, the pet store, Miller's Outpost ... Miss it.

Betty and her family encountered some local TV heroes at Los Arcos:

Loved that mall always went wit my kids to see Wallace and ladmo

Harold also shared a heartwarming tale about the mall:

I was hired as one of the Los Arcos Mall Santas. Here's an interesting trivia fact. I was the only Jewish Santa. Jewish parents were stunned when I spoke to the kids in Hebrew and Yiddish.

Brian remembers a sugary mall-rat staple at the place:

I totally forgot about that place! They had an orange Julius. The high class mall at the time

David used to raise a tiny flag for extra burritos at the mall:

The best thing about it was Pancho's Mexican Buffet!

Pauline got her first taste of Indiana Jones at Los Arcos:

I saw ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ three times at that theater

Kathy wasn’t a stranger to the mall’s cinema:

Oh my goodness, we spent every summer there at the movie theater in the basement.

Stephen enjoyed some screen time of a different sort:

I spent many quarters in the basement arcade. Good times.

geronimoed also got his game on at Los Arcos:

I hung out there summer of 87 with my buddies in the lil arcade playing 720. Skate or die.

Richard also scored at the mall:

I got laid in a Geo Metro right about where the picture of the Nova was taken.

David also made a love connection at Los Arcos, albeit in a more PG vein:

I had my first date with my wife at the Red Robin outside the mall.

Chad referenced how the shuttered mall almost became home to a hockey venue in the ‘90s:

Could have been where the Coyotes played after they closed.

According to Tommy, you always miss 100% of the arena-building deals you don’t take:

Coyotes would still be here if they could have built there years ago

Yvette summed up the nostalgia for bygone Valley shopping hubs like Los Arcos:

Los Arcos was beautiful, I miss the malls of my youth.