This is the shopaholic’s haven in Norfolk. MacArthur Center is the biggest mall in Norfolk. It is situated right smack in the middle of town and it is named after an American war hero, Douglas MacArthur. His memorial is just on the opposite across this shopping complex, which makes the whole touristy thing very convenient. The family can go for a historical experience and hop over to MacArthur Center for a little shopping spree.

MacArthur Center is the only place in Southwestern Virginia where you can experience world class shopping in a world class environment. All the brands you can possibly think of have a place in the mall. Names like Nordstrom, Dillard’s and much, much more along with 140 stores and an 18 screen cinema can be found here at MacArthur Center.

It all started in mid 1990’s when the fortunes of the waterfront looking brighter and more solid after a decline in Norfolk’s community decades before. Norfolk leaders once again turned their attention back to the historic Granby Street core of downtown, which was lagging in revitalization. After the failure of the Granby Street Mall project, city leaders were intent on finding some way to bring commercial activity back to downtown in a major way. This is how the idea of creating an upscale regional mall on a 17acre land was born. Then, Norfolk had tried to court the favor of Nordstrom retailers to locate in the city for years. It was in late 1996 that Norfolk Officials announced that they finally received commitment from Nordstrom to pin a store in the new downtown shopping mall – which they named MacArthur Center.

In return for opening a store at the new mall, Norfolk officials spent nearly $100 million dollars in public funds which were allocated to infrastructure improvements and construction of parking garages to support the shopping mall. Construction of MacArthur Center began in late 1997 and was completed in March 1999. The three storey mall was a highly acclaimed. With MacArthur Center introduced to the town of Norfolk, the Hampton Roads region has become an upscale retailing arena, something that did not previously exist in Hampton Roads before.

Currently, Lynnhaven Mall is MacArthur Center’s main competitor in Virginia Beach. Since MacArthur Center opened, it has heightened the competition in retailing and has opened doors to world class retailers that never existed before the mall was introduced to the community.