Seafood City opens in former Sears space at Chandler Fashion Center

Seafood City opened July 30 at Chandler Fashion Center, bringing the Filipino supermarket chain’s first Arizona location to Chandler and adding a new food-and-grocery destination to the mall.

The nearly 66,000-square-foot store occupies the upstairs portion of the former Sears space. Its opening puts a major new tenant into a former department-store anchor as Chandler Fashion Center pursues more dining, entertainment and gathering uses.

What opened

The store includes fresh and live seafood offerings and a 300-seat food hall, according to local business reporting. The food hall gives shoppers an option to eat on-site in addition to buying groceries and specialty products.

For Chandler residents and visitors, the immediate change is straightforward: Seafood City is now operating at the mall, offering a Filipino-focused supermarket and dining option in a location that previously held Sears.

How it fits the mall’s redevelopment

Chandler Fashion Center has been reusing former anchor space as traditional department-store tenants have left. Round1, an arcade and bowling tenant, occupies the downstairs portion of the former Sears area, while Seafood City now uses the space above it.

Axios reported that the mall is positioning the property around a broader mix of dining and entertainment rather than relying only on conventional retail. The mall’s owner, Macerich, has also identified the former-anchor conversions and newer tenants as part of the property’s leasing and redevelopment activity.

The opening does not establish specific job totals, sales figures or traffic increases. Those effects will require separate measurement after the store has been operating for a longer period.

What comes next

Construction on a redesigned dining and entertainment district near the Harkins Theatres area on the mall’s south end is scheduled to begin in August 2026, Axios reported.

Plans described in the reporting include additional restaurants, a covered gathering area, lawn games, a park, an expanded splash pad and space for music performances. Those features remain planned or scheduled; they are not part of the already-open Seafood City store.

What Chandler shoppers should know

Seafood City is the completed part of the change and is open now at Chandler Fashion Center. The mall’s next south-end improvements are a separate future construction phase.

Together, the projects show how the property is reusing former department-store space and adding food and entertainment uses. Whether the broader strategy changes shopping patterns, nearby business activity or traffic will depend on how the planned work proceeds and how visitors use the new spaces.

Sources

• Axios Phoenix: Chandler Fashion Center bets big on dining and entertainment
• Phoenix Business Journal: Seafood City debuts first Arizona store
• Chandler Fashion Center events page