Kings Plaza, the sprawling shopping center that has anchored Brooklyn since 1970, is in the middle of a makeover that's reshaping its storefronts, its food options and, owner Macerich says, the kind of shopper walking through its doors. New lighting, flooring and furnishings have gone in throughout the mall, along with upgrades to its attached parking deck, as the company works to turn a decades-old retail fixture into something that pulls in Gen Z alongside the regulars who've shopped there for years.
Macerich has invested more than $250 million in Kings Plaza since buying the property in 2012, according to FashionUnited. The mall has added 35 stores since 2021, the outlet reports, with recent arrivals including Pacsun, Foot Locker, JD Sports, Crocs, Urban Planet, Akira and Digiso. As News 12 Brooklyn reports, the mall has also added Gap and upgraded the longtime Cookie House, which has operated at Kings Plaza since 1978.
Coach Picks Kings Plaza as Its Only Brooklyn Store
Among the splashiest additions is Coach, which opened its only Brooklyn location inside Kings Plaza, per the same FashionUnited reporting. Lee Ra Johnson, assistant vice president of leasing at Macerich, told News 12 that brands like Coach and Pacsun were chosen specifically to resonate with Gen Z shoppers. Johnson said Macerich has added brands aimed at appealing to a younger generation because that demographic shops differently than previous ones — they like going to malls, touching and trying on products, and posting their finds on social media, Johnson said.
Deborah Colloimore, a shopper quoted by News 12, said Kings Plaza now offers more places and choices than it used to. Johnson added that despite the new tenants, the mall has always functioned as a community space for Brooklyn residents, not just a place to shop.
Restaurant Row Fills a Longtime Food Gap
For years, Kings Plaza had no full-service, sit-down dining and only a very limited food offering, according to News 12. That's changing with the conversion of the former Best Buy space into an exterior-facing Restaurant Row, with Applebee's and Chipotle set to open there in the fourth quarter of 2026, per FashionUnited's reporting. Macerich is hoping the new sit-down options will keep shoppers at the mall longer, News 12 reports, and Colloimore said shoppers tend to feel more relaxed when they can buy something and then sit down to eat it.
The mall already draws nearly 11 million shoppers a year, and Macerich says the average visit lasts about 73 minutes — a number the company says is rising, according to FashionUnited. The company has indicated, per News 12, that more store announcements are expected soon.
Part of a Larger Overhaul
The current round of additions builds on a bigger transformation of the property. Macerich's 2023 announcement detailed how the former Sears space had been filled with a three-level Target that opened that August, alongside Primark, Zara and Burlington, which had each operated there since 2018. The company said at the time it expected those stores to generate combined annual sales representing nearly eight times what Sears had produced, according to a Macerich news release. An earlier redevelopment plan for that same space, reported by Chain Store Age, called for a three-level Primark and a two-level Zara store, along with a four-story glass curtain wall at the mall's entrance.
Macerich did not disclose sales or occupancy figures specifically for Kings Plaza, FashionUnited reported. The push to woo younger shoppers reflects a broader pattern tracked nationally: in 2025, 57 percent of shoppers aged 18 to 34 said they visited a mall frequently and were more likely than older groups to go without a specific purchase in mind, per FashionUnited. Separately, Ipsos has reported a 9-point year-over-year jump among 18- to 34-year-olds who say they go to malls often or sometimes, though the increase was entirely among those who said they go sometimes, according to Ipsos.
USA Today has reported that traffic to indoor malls nationally was up 4.5% in January and February compared with the same months the year before, citing data from Placer.ai. The outlet also found that 75% of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed across the U.S. and Canada said in-store third spaces — cafés, lounges or social areas — influence where they choose to shop, according to USA Today. For Kings Plaza, more than five decades into its run as a Brooklyn institution, the bet is that new restaurants, new fashion names and a refreshed interior can keep that community pulling through its doors a little longer with each visit.
