New retailers coming to Tempe Marketplace: Lululemon, J. Crew, with Sam's Club to follow

Eleven new retailers are planned to open at Tempe Marketplace over the next few months, and construction is expected to begin in the spring on a Sam’s Club warehouse store.

Vestar, the owner of Tempe Marketplace, Desert Ridge Marketplace and other open-air shopping centers in the Valley, announced that the new tenants at the center bring it to nearly 100% occupied.

The first group of new businesses: Lululemon, Nike, Handel’s Ice Cream, LumberjAxes, a bar and restaurant with axe-throwing, and Escapology, an escape room attraction, have opened at the mall ahead of the holiday season, Vestar officials said.

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Other retailers scheduled to open at the shopping center in upcoming months are:

• Strange Adventures, a comic and collectibles seller, is under construction and expected to open by the end of 2023.
• Box Lunch, a gift and apparel shop, is also under construction and expected to open this year.
• Apparel brand J. Crew will open in spring 2024 and will be located near F21.
• Rowan Piercing, a piercing studio and jewelry retailer, will open in early 2024.
• Pandora Jewelry is scheduled to begin construction in 2024.

Hot Topic, a music and pop culture-oriented store that already had a presence at Tempe Marketplace, is expanding to a larger space and will open in the new location by the end of the year. 

When will Sam's Club open at Tempe Marketplace?

Warehouse store Sam’s Club, a chain owned and operated by Walmart, has plans to develop a store on one of the last vacant pieces of land at the mall, at 2080 E. Rio Salado Parkway.

The company has submitted plans to the city for the store, and Vestar officials said construction should begin sometime in spring 2024, with an anticipated opening in early 2025.

Tempe Marketplace opened in 2007, and city documents from that time indicate there were plans for a Sam’s Club store to be included at the mall.

A representative from Vestar said discussions between Sam’s Club and Vestar had picked up in the past 12 months. In January, Walmart announced plans to open more than 30 new clubs across the U.S. over the next several years.

Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @CorinaVanek.