Every valley has the place where everyone ends up — the default answer to "where should we meet?" and "what do we do with the kids today?" In Utah Valley, that place is University Place: the 120-acre property at 575 East University Parkway in Orem that used to be University Mall and has spent the past decade becoming something considerably more interesting than a mall.
Malls across America are dying — Provo has watched its own struggle through the Towne Centre's slow-motion redevelopment saga. University Place is the counter-example: the same-era mall a few miles north that reinvented itself early, aggressively, and mostly successfully. Owner Woodbury Corporation — the century-old, family-run Utah developer that built the mall in the first place — has poured a $500 million redevelopment into the property, wrapping the surviving indoor shopping center in apartments, offices, a hotel, restaurants, and a park with its own events calendar. The result is less "mall" than "small downtown that happens to contain a mall."
Here's the complete picture: what's actually there, how locals use it, and the quirks (looking at you, Sunday hours) that first-timers should know.
A Little History, Because It Explains the Place
University Mall opened in March 1973 with ZCMI and JCPenney as anchors, and for decades it was the retail center of Utah County — at 1.5 million square feet, once the largest shopping mall in Utah. Then came the standard American mall story, in fast-forward: JCPenney decamped to the new Provo Towne Centre in 1998; Nordstrom came in 2002 and left in 2012; Macy's closed in 2019 and its building was demolished months later.
The difference is what Woodbury did next. Instead of managing decline, it tore into the property: the Macy's corpse became a brand-new full-line Dillard's (which opened in 2022 — poached, in a neat bit of valley irony, from Provo Towne Centre). A former anchor pad became RC Willey. Nine stories of parking and offices rose on the west side. Roughly a thousand apartments came in along the edges. And in the middle, where malls usually put more parking, Woodbury built a two-acre park.
That's why the place works when so many peers don't: it stopped betting everything on department stores fifteen years before most malls did.
The Shopping: Anchors, the 150-Store Middle, and the Outparcels
The anchors. Dillard's (fashion and cosmetics, the west side, the valley's only full-line location), RC Willey (the furniture-and-electronics giant), and Al's Sporting Goods (the Logan-born outdoor retailer, in the space that was once Sports Authority). Between them they cover the department-store bases the valley's other centers no longer can.
The middle. More than 150 stores ring the indoor concourses — the national roster includes H&M, Lululemon, Sephora, Gap, Vans, Pandora, Cotton On, Buckle, and Zumiez, alongside a healthy rotation of Utah-born boutiques (women's fashion labels like Bohme started or scaled here) and, in recent years, a wave of online brands opening their first physical storefronts. The mix skews noticeably younger and more fashion-forward than the mall's reputation suggests — this is where the valley's enormous student population actually shops.
The outparcels are half the story. Costco and Trader Joe's (the latter drew opening-day lines in 2018 as one of Utah's few locations) sit on the property's edge, which means University Place doubles as many families' errand hub. The Cinemark theater on the northeast corner handles movie nights. This is worth understanding as a visitor: locals may "go to University Place" three times a week without ever entering the indoor mall.
The Food: From Food Court to Restaurant Row
University Place quietly hosts one of the densest restaurant clusters in the county. The headliner is The Cheesecake Factory — whose arrival was genuinely front-page local news; we covered the opening — joined by P.F. Chang's, Texas Roadhouse, Tucanos Brazilian Grill, and Carrabba's, plus the quicker tier (Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, and the indoor food court) for shopping-day refueling.
Two local notes. First, Los Hermanos, the beloved Provo-founded Mexican restaurant, relocated here from its longtime downtown home — a small local heartbreak turned University Place win. Second, if you're building a bigger food day around Orem, our best restaurants in Orem guide covers what's beyond the property line, and Best Food Near UVU handles the campus corridor five minutes west.
The Orchard: The Park That Changed the Property's Personality
The single smartest move of the redevelopment is The Orchard — a two-acre public green at the heart of the property, programmed year-round: summer concert series, seasonal festivals, family movie nights on the lawn, and holiday lights in winter. On a warm evening it functions as Orem's de facto town square, full of families who came for nothing in particular.
For visitors, The Orchard is the reason University Place earns a slot on a leisure itinerary rather than just an errand run — check the events calendar on the University Place site before you go, because a free concert can turn a shopping stop into the evening's plan. (It also pairs well with the valley's other outdoor-entertainment staples — the SCERA Shell's summer season is five minutes south, and our outdoor movie nights roundup maps the whole summer circuit.)
The Rest of the 120 Acres: Live, Work, Stay
The redevelopment's less-visible layers matter to visitors more than you'd think:
- ~1,000 apartments ring the property, which is why the place hums on weeknights in a way dead malls never do. (House-hunting in the area? Our Orem neighborhoods guide puts the location in context.)
- A nine-story office tower — among the tallest buildings in Orem — anchors the west side above structured parking.
- The Courtyard by Marriott Orem University Place puts a 140-room hotel directly on the property — walk out of the lobby into 150 stores and a dozen restaurants. For families, it's one of the most practical bases in the valley, and it earns its slot in our where to stay in Provo guide.
More phases remain on the master plan — Woodbury has long planned a permanent home for Orem's Hale Center Theater on the property, among other additions — so expect construction fencing somewhere on the acreage more or less permanently. That's the price of being the mall that refused to die.
How It Compares: The Valley's Four Shopping Centers
Utah Valley has four major retail destinations, and visitors mix them up constantly. Here's the honest positioning:
University Place (Orem) — the biggest and most complete: department-store anchors, the deepest national-brand roster, the restaurant row, the park, the hotel. If you have one shopping stop in the valley, it's this one.
The Shops at Riverwoods (north Provo) — the boutique counterpoint: an open-air village near the mouth of Provo Canyon with local shops, restaurants, and a strong events calendar (summer concerts, holiday lights). Smaller, prettier, more local — the date-night shopping center, and home to consignment gems like Cozy Nook Treasures.
Provo Towne Centre (south Provo) — the cautionary tale mid-transformation: the 1998 mall that lost its anchors (including Dillard's, to University Place) and is now slated for a massive mixed-use redevelopment. Target, JCPenney, and the Cinemark still operate, but go for errands, not a shopping day.
Outlets at Traverse Mountain (Lehi) — the discount play, 25 minutes north at the county line: outlet stores for the brand-name bargain hunt. Worth the drive only if outlet shopping is specifically the mission.
The pattern worth noticing: the two centers that thrived (University Place and Riverwoods) both stopped being just malls years ago — parks, events, apartments, restaurants. The one that didn't is being rebuilt into exactly that. Retail in this valley survives by becoming a place to be, not just a place to buy.
Practical Notes for a First Visit
- Address & layout: 575 E University Parkway, Orem — the full property fills the block between State Street and 800 East. The indoor mall runs east–west through the middle.
- Hours: indoor shops generally run Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m. The historically firm Sunday closure — a Utah Valley signature that surprises out-of-state visitors — is finally shifting: University Place has announced Sunday hours are coming as of mid-2026. Until that fully lands, assume the indoor mall is closed Sundays and check individual outparcels (Costco, Trader Joe's, Cinemark, and several restaurants keep their own schedules). Our what's open on Sunday guide exists for exactly this problem.
- Parking: free, abundant, with a west-side structure by Dillard's. Northeast entrances are fastest for the food court and movies.
- Getting there without a car: the UVX bus rapid-transit line stops along University Parkway between the two campuses — free for BYU and UVU students with ID — making this the easiest car-free shopping trip in the county. (Details in our UVU guide.)
- Time budget: an errand run is an hour; shopping plus lunch is an afternoon; add a movie or an Orchard event and it's a full family day.
The Bottom Line
University Place is what a 1970s mall looks like when its owner spends fifty years refusing to let it become a cautionary tale. It isn't glamorous, and parts of the indoor concourse still feel like the mall your parents knew — but as a one-stop answer for shopping, dinner, a movie, and a free concert on the lawn, nothing else in Utah Valley touches it. Pair it with the thrift and vintage crawl happening in the scrappier storefronts of downtown Provo and old-town Orem, and you've got the valley's full retail spectrum in one day.
Frequently Asked Questions
What stores are at University Place in Orem?
Is University Place the same as University Mall?
Is University Place open on Sundays?
What is The Orchard at University Place?
Where do you park at University Place?