Protests push some Valley shopping centers to change hours
May 31, 2020, 4:38 PM | Updated: Jun 1, 2020, 12:30 pm
(Tempe Marketplace Photo)
(Tempe Marketplace Photo)
PHOENIX — Several shopping complexes in the Phoenix area adjusted hours Sunday after three nights of protests and riots in the Valley and a curfew order by Gov. Doug Ducey.
After Ducey issued a statewide emergency declaration and announced the weeklong curfew, Tempe and Desert Ridge marketplaces announced a 4 p.m. closure time for Sunday then moved to 6 p.m. shutdowns on Monday.
“The properties will continue to monitor the situation and work with local authorities to reassess operating hours at a later time,” the marketplaces said in a statement Sunday.
“Respective police departments are on site at the properties and will continue to monitor the situation for the safety of shoppers, tenants, employees and all members of the public.”
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Valley properties owned by real estate investment company Macerich including Arrowhead Towne Center, Biltmore Fashion Park, Chandler Fashion Center, Desert Sky Mall, Kierland Commons, Paradise Valley Mall, SanTan Village and Superstition Springs Center posted to the malls’ respective Facebook pages that they were closed Sunday.
Scottsdale Fashion Square mall, also owned by Macerich, closed with no timeline for reopening on the Facebook post.
On Saturday night, multiple stores inside Fashion Square were vandalized and looted during riots that started around 10 p.m. About an hour after this began, police declared the gathering to be an unlawful assembly.
Some of the looting damage at Fashion Square Mall. @ScottsdalePD in SWAT gear trying to get looters to leave. Updates @KTAR923 pic.twitter.com/9HCRLDV7Nq
— Peter Samore (@ktarpetersamore) May 31, 2020
The Scottsdale Police Department said in a statement that “millions of dollars in damages and theft” had been done to the mall, which is now closed.
Phoenix Metrocenter closed around 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Ducey’s curfew will go into effect at 8 p.m. Sunday.
The curfew will be lifted each morning 5 a.m. It is scheduled to expire on June 8, according to a press release.
The protests in the Phoenix area have been in response to the killings of George Floyd in Minnesota and Dion Dion Johnson at the hands of law enforcement.
