SJMADE Coming to Valley Fair

Finally we are getting some local flavor into Valley Fair! It sounds like SJMADE is about to open a popup shop in the mall that will feature local vendors and undoubtedly some San Jose-themed apparel. If you are a potential vendor, more info is below. For everyone else, the popup will be located across from White House Black Market and Zara (see map).

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Dear Potential SJMADE Holiday Popup Vendor, It is with great excitement that we announce this fantastic popup opportunity with Westfield Valley Fair! Due to the nature of pop-ups and temporary spaces, we know this information may be coming to you later than expected, but we hope that you are able to join us in this very promising holiday retail venture!  During this 2013 holiday season from November 15th through December 31st, San Jose Made (SJMADE) is operating a Holiday Popup location at a prime retail shop location at Westfield Valley Fair on Stevens Creek Road in Santa Clara, CA. In order to maintain an operating storefront during normal mall hours, our programming at this holiday popup location is two-fold. The space will house a permanent "Best of San Jose MADE" retail store during all normal mall operating hours, while on weekends (Friday to Sunday) we have designated Weekend Vendor Spaces available for YOU to rent and be part of this exciting venture! Our retail affiliates, Showroom San Jose, who currently have a small local retail shop at San Pedro Square Market in downtown San Jose will operate the permanent "Best of San Jose Made" pop-up at this location. They are purchasing items at wholesale cost from SJMADE vendors and retailing solely SJMADE vendor products. If your best-selling product should be at this "Best of" shop, let us know! We will send you an application form. We look forward to seeing you in one of these Weekend Vendor Spaces. In this packet you will find information about Westfield Valley Fair and detailed logistics about your Weekend Vendor Space. If you have any questions, please contact us via email at: sanjosemade@gmail.com and we'll get a vendor packet to you ASAP.  For those of you who would like to talk to us in person, we are holding an open house at the SJMADE Holiday Pop-Up location at Westfield Valley Fair on Monday, November 11th from 7:00p to 9:00p. Come-by to take a look at the space and drop-off your application form! Looking forward to the holiday retail season, The team at SJMADE

Valley Fair Expansion and New Stores

It looks like that much talked about Valley Fair expansion originally detailed in 2009 is finally moving forward. The recession put a stop to Westfield's ambitious plans to add 650,000 SQFT of retail space, bringing the mall to over 2 million SQFT and making it far and away the largest mall in Northern California. In late October, Westfield applied for a building permit to build a 6-story, 1.4 million SQFT parking structure at the corner Monroe and Forest Avenue, which is presumably to prepare for it's expansion.

Inside the mall, they are continuing to shoot for higher-end retailers. In 2014, Giorgio Armani will be opening a store. Exclusive brands like Rabeanco, Miu Miu, Prada, David Yurman, and Ferragamo have already opened up shop. Others like Banana Republic and Brookstone are upgrading to flagship stores. They even remodeled what was already a pretty nice food court to better cater towards shoppers with expensive tastes. It will be really interesting to see what this mall ends up looking like after the next few years.

Source: Anonymous Poster, SVBJ

The new Prada store at Valley Fair

Cocoabella Chocolates Opens Third Chocolate Boutique in Valley Fair

Valley Fair's collection of exclusive/premier/boutique stores continues to expand dramatically. The latest store to join the club is Cocoabella Chocolates--which only has two other locations and procures rare chocolates from around the world. They will be located right beside the new luxury wing and I have a feeling they will be doing really well in this mall. See the full press release below.

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San Jose, CA—Cocoabella Chocolates, curator of small batch, artisanal chocolates from around the world, brings their founder’s hand-selected pieces closer to its South Bay clientele by opening the brand’s third chocolate boutique in the Luxury Wing on Level 1 at Westfield Valley Fair, located in the heart of Silicon Valley.

 

Their award-winning chocolatiers’ works have been served at the Belgian Royal Palace, Gordon Ramsay’s flagship restaurant in London, the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy, at The Ritz-Carlton, and Four Seasons hotel dining rooms around the world.  Cocoabella Chocolates is also the only retailer in the country authorized to carry Thomas Haas truffles and Pierre Marcolini bars since 2012.

Years of careful curation and commitment to quality have earned Cocoabella Chocolates the privilege to receive extremely limited quantity batches fresh from the artisans’ kitchens. Each chocolate is flown to San Francisco within hours of its creation.  “Not only that, when a client orders from us for delivery through warm weather, we protect their gift with cooling packs and insulation to ensure they arrive at peak quality. I want to share the experience of tasting that perfect piece of chocolate while traveling the great chocolate regions of Europe.” says Cocoabella Chocolates CEO Michael Freeman.

 

Cocoabella Chocolates’ Westfield Valley Fair boutique, located adjacent to the shopping center’s Luxury Wing entrance, is now open.

About CocoaBella Chocolates

CocoaBella Chocolates is the leading retailer of small batch, artisanal chocolates from around the world. Founded by Michael Freeman in 2004, he has traveled the world to assemble the finest chocolates and CocoaBella Chocolates now offer more than 180 different chocolates from 18 chocolatiers and 5 countries at two San Francisco retail locations and online at www.cocoabella.com. 

New Valley Fair Eateries Launch Nov. 1st

Westfield Valley Fair is about the launch their revamped dining terrace (conceptual image below), and we have a final list of new restaurants:

• Cafe Central - pastries, salads, Blue Bottle coffee
• Chipotle
• Loving Hut - vegan
• Old Port Lobster - lobster rolls!
• Pizza Vino - pizza, sandwiches
• Sajj Mediterranean - falafel, shawarmas
• Sarku Japan - teriyaki
• Sarku Sushi Bar
• Super Duper Burger (sweet!)
• Tava Indian Kitchen

Returning eateries are:

• Boudin
• Chicken Wow
• Haagen-Dazs, Jamba Juice, McDonald's
• Panda Express
• Ruby Thai
• Youji

Source: SVBJ

Halston Coming to Valley Fair

Valley Fair is about to get one of the very first Halston retail stores. This particular designer is known for "retro" styles based in the '60s and '70s. What makes this significant is that there are only two Halston Heritage standalone stores in existence, one in New York City and the other in Los Angeles. This would make San Jose it's third location and the only announced store for Northern California.

Valley Fair is turning into a destination for these exclusive hard-to-find brands. It's days as a typical suburban mall are numbered, especially with their future expansion that will bring many more unique brands, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, and a Santana Row-ish outdoor area.

Source: SVBJ

New Eateries Coming to Valley Fair

Here is a quick update on the new places to eat at Valley Fair that should be opening soon (thanks to an anonymous poster):

• Dining Terrace Eateries
• Super Duper Burger
• Chipotle (Replacing Rubios)
• Youji
• Old Port Lobster Shack 
• Other Eateries Opening in Valley Fair
• Coffee Bean
• Pompolo Restaraunt & Lounge
• Bar Code Cafe

Source: Anonymous on Older Blog Post

Moveable Feast Expands to SoFA and Valley Fair!

More great new for SoFA. Moveable Feast has started a new food truck event that will happen every Thursday night at Parque de los Pobladores! There will also be multiple trucks at Valley Fair throughout the week to help feed people during the food court remodel and an expanded North Park food truck event. For more info, just check out the newsletter below or head over to the Moveable Feast website.

Your Weekend Guide to Moveable Feast July 18, 2013 Food. Live music. Art. Moveable Feast: SoFA The best in street food returns to it's original stomping grounds of downtown San Jose EVERY Thursday night at the newly renovated Parque de los Pobladores on the corner of Market and Williams in the SoFA District. Moveable Feast will be working with several galleries, museums  and institutes of the South First Area for this unique dinner event held from 5 pm to 9 pm with Gold Rush Eatery, Hill Country BBQ, Treatbot, and more. Live performances will be part of the programing as well. Check out our Facebook event page for more details! Grand Opening Weekend kicks off for the San Jose Night Market!  After two fun filled soft launch weekends we are proud to present the official opening of the San Jose Night Market! We have been listening to all the suggestions and feedback and we will continue to grow this new San Jose tradition to where it needs to be. So you will be seeing in the weeks ahead new vendors, games, and entertainment filling up the corners. With many more surprises to come too! So personally invite your friends and family to start your weekend with us. Hope to see you soon! NOTE: Parking is now FREE! There is a small admission fee of $2 per person (children 6 and under free). Check out our Facebook event pages for THIS Friday and Saturday. Sunday North Park Picnic We have moved our Sunday lunch event from Garden City to North Park for EVERY Sunday. Moved from 350 Saratoga Avenue to 70 Descanso Drive in San Jose, we are able to give you a large park to spread out a blanket and create a spontaneous picnic all summer long. Enjoy the sun, fun, and grub!  See our Facebook event page for more. For Garden City locals, keep an eye out for new event announcement for that location.

Valley Fair's New Dining Terrace

I could have sworn that Valley Fair remodeled their food court not long ago. Either way, they are stepping it up again with a 23,000 SQFT dining terrace that will ad 10 new food choices into the mix. The aesthetic seems very modern and high-end and is said to feel much more open than the current food court.

They are also beefing up their luxury collection of stores with 14 new retailers and announcements for a dozen more in the next few months. I'm still waiting for that 650,000 SQFT expansion with Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales to kick off.

Source: SVBJ

Prada's Miu Miu Premiering at Valley Fair

More and more companies are choosing San Jose over San Francisco to introduce new luxury retail concepts into the Bay Area. The latest in a growing list is Prada's Miu Miu, a high-end brand for women's clothing with locations only in premier fashion destinations around the world. The store is opening up at Valley Fair in Spring 2013, around the same time as David Yurman. Other stores that have chosen San Jose over SF to launch include Hastens, St. Croix, and the Tesla Store.

As a side note, Valley Fair is also beefing up their luxury wing with new stores for Tiffany & Co, Cartier, and Louis Vuitton. Now if only they would get started on their 500,000 sqft expansion.

Source: SVBJ

Rockettes coming to Macy's Valley Fair

Received this tip from a reader yesterday, thought I'd pass it along in case anyone is interested in doing something fun for their daughters this weekend:

"On Saturday, August 14, Macy's Valley Fair in San Jose invites kids and shoppers to Dance with the Rockettes at 2:00pm as the ladies will share free dance instruction (just how DO they synchronize all those high kicks?) as well as secrets on what it takes to be a world-famous Rockette. There also will be plenty of opportunities for photos following the Dance with the Rockettes experience and each young dancer who joins in the fun will receive an "Honorary Rockette" certificate.

As an added incentive, any shopper who spends $50 at Macy's the day of the event will receive a free pair of tickets to the Rockettes Radio City Christmas Spectacular coming to Oracle Arena on 12/8 & 12/9! Additionally, there will be a drawing to win a chance for an exclusive VIP Meet and Greet with the Rockettes as well as 4 tickets to the Oracle Arena show at this event.

If you need any more information including photos, ticket discount info and tour dates, please visit: http://bit.ly/MacysRockettes "