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The first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Utah opened at Fashion Place mall, along with the first Sephora cosmetics store. By the end of the year, specialty retailer Crate and Barrel, apparel chain H&M and a BRIO Tuscan Grille restaurant will follow suit with their first locations.

Built nearly 40 years ago, Fashion Place stands out among scores of older, enclosed shopping malls. Many are in decline or have been demolished, but the Murray property remains one of the most successful regional malls in the West — if not in the country.

Its formula for success combines the bromide of location, location, location with the attraction of strong anchors and a willingness by its owner to pump in money, even in challenging times.

"If you want to open one location in Utah, you want to be centrally located along the Wasatch Front — and there's no better place to do that than Fashion Place mall," said Chad Moore, managing principal of Mountain West Retail-Investment, a commercial brokerage in Salt Lake City. "It's in a densely populated area, close to a high-income population and it's easy to get to from all parts of the valley."

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New to the neighborhood • That prime location is what lured Bravo BRIO Restaurant Group to Fashion Place, where its BRIO Tuscan Grill is under construction. Chief Operating Officer Brian O'Malley, said his company considered a handful of sites, including City Creek Center, the massive development now under construction in downtown Salt Lake City. "We felt like Fashion Place was a better first entrance into the area," he said.

O'Malley said the restaurant's location next to popular Crate and Barrel and H&M couldn't be more ideal, adding, "we feel like this was the perfect spot for us." BRIO Tuscan Grill, which has 39 locations in 19 states, plans to open in Fashion Place in September.

Crate and Barrel and H&M have announced plans to open 20,000-square-foot stores this fall, on the mall's west side. Both retailers add even more prominence to Fashion Place.

"The addition of H&M is a big deal," said Nick Clark, a retail specialist with Commerce Real Estate Solutions, a Salt Lake City commercial real-estate brokerage. "It's going to draw people to the mall from the entire Wasatch Front — and beyond."

Although Fashion Place's location is one of its biggest assets — it's easy to reach from all parts of the Salt Lake Valley using either Interstate 15 or I-215 — its anchors are a draw, as well. Unlike some other malls, it hasn't had to struggle with the loss of major stores such as Mervyns, which went bankrupt and left "dark" stores in centers nationwide.

"Fashion Place has four large anchors — Sears, Dillard's, Nordstrom and Macy's — and in recent years, it's really added to its base of restaurants," said Jim Wood, director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

In terms of revenue per square foot, Fashion Place is one of the most sought-after centers nationwide. Even as the country starts to emerge from recession, there's only one vacant storefront.

"Fashion Place is a very successful, very productive shopping center," said Celeste Dorris, general manager of Fashion Place Mall. "Retailers want to be a part of that."

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Capital investment • A high level of capital investment over the past several years hasn't hurt, either. Owner General Growth Properties, which several months ago emerged from bankruptcy, has been redeveloping Fashion Place, overhauling the interior of the main mall property in 2009 and building a 138,000-square-foot store for Nordstrom.

General Growth, which has since demolished Nordstrom's old building, also has added 44,000 square feet of storefronts outside the mall to the south, which house The Children's Place, Carter's, Coldwater Creek, California Pizza Kitchen, Corner Bakery, TCBY and, starting this summer, Red Rock Brewing Co. Those storefronts were constructed with the look and feel of an open-air shopping center such as The Gateway in downtown Salt Lake City, giving Fashion Place a face-lift on its south side.

The effort also provides retailers such as Carter's and The Children's Place an opportunity to remain at Fashion Place while having an outside entrance, Dorris said. "A lot of retailers like to have exterior access to their stores."

The mall also is in the process of constructing another 100,000 square feet of retail space on the mall's west side for Crate and Barrel, H&M and the BRIO Tuscan Grille restaurant, as well as adding space for 12 other shops.

"We've had a lot going on around here in the past several years," said Dorris, who moved to the Murray property in August from competing South Towne Center in Sandy.

Although Crate and Barrel, which sells housewares, home furnishings and decor, is a plum tenant for Fashion Place, landing H&M, short for Hennes & Mauritz, may be even more of a coup.

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Popular stores • Since launching its U.S. operations 10 years ago on New York's Fifth Avenue, the specialty apparel retailer has more than 210 locations nationwide to go with 2,200 stores worldwide. It is a trendy chain store with an almost cult-like following that had been looking at the Utah market for some time before settling on Fashion Place for its debut.

Shopper Kris Caldwell of Pleasant Grove said H&M — with its stylish clothes and deep discounts during sales —is popular with her teenage son and daughter, as well as with the high school students she teaches.

"My students already are planning road trips to H&M," she said. Like many longtime Utah County residents, Caldwell used to shop at Fashion Place more often, but over the years many of the stores she used to travel to the Salt Lake Valley for have opened locations in Provo and Orem.

"But I will make the trip to Fashion Place for H&M," she said.

Especially advantageous for Fashion Place is that H&M, whose representatives did not respond to requests for comment, is likely to attract consumers who typically don't frequent malls.

Take Melissa Esplin of Salt Lake City, who describes herself as a "hard-core thrift shopper." Introduced to H&M in California, she loves the store and shops at it whenever she's in Phoenix. Even though she doesn't consider herself a mall shopper, she said she'll be coming to Fashion Place once H&M opens.

"It is such a great store. There is something for everyone. They have maternity, men's women's, kids and baby clothes, and a lot of different styles and great sales."

Clark, of Commerce Real Estate Solutions, said the addition of H&M and Crate and Barrel is likely to create a heightened sense of interest in the mall similar to when The Cheesecake Factory opened several years ago, resulting in long lines as patrons waited for tables, even on weeknights.

"When The Cheesecake Factory opened, things got really crazy for a while," Clark said. "When Crate and Barrel and H&M open, it will be amazing to watch what happens."

lesley@sltrib.comTwitter: @onecheapchick —

Coming Soon to Fashion Place Mall

Restaurants

Red Rock Brewing Co., summer 2011

BRIO Tuscan Grille, Sept. 2011

Retail

H&M, fall 2011

Crate and Barrel: Fall/winter 2011 —

Fashion Place Mall, at a glance

Built in • 1972

Owned by • General Growth Properties, which in Utah also owns Provo Towne Center in Utah County, Cache Valley Mall in Logan, Newgate Mall in Ogden and Red Cliffs Mall in St. George.

Location • 6200 S. State St., Murray

Anchors • Sears, Dillard's, Nordstrom and Macy's

Number of stores • More than 100

Restaurants • The Cheescake Factory, Applebee's, California Pizza Kitchen, Olive Garden, Corner Bakery, Chuck-A-Rama and various fast-food and food-court outlets