CITY OF KATY (Covering Katy News) — When Katy Mills Mall opened in 1999, it offered area shoppers a fresh retail destination in a growing community. For city leaders, it represented a promising economic engine for the region.
Both visions have been realized, and starting Monday, the mall will kick off its 25th-anniversary celebration with a breakfast for up to 100 guests at 9 a.m. in the luxury court near the Polo Ralph Lauren store.
“We’re super excited,” said Lisa Connolly, Katy Mills Mall marketing and business development director. “We’re going to have a VIP breakfast catered by Yellow Rose Catering. We always like to hire local talent, and Yellow Rose is right here in Katy.”
The first 250 visitors will receive a special branded anniversary tote bag and get a free photo from Snap & Pop Events. Tanner Harrington Piano Studio will provide live music.
“You’re a Hollywood star, coming to the event,” Connolly said. “We really hope people take advantage of that.”
The mall will also give away $5,000 in gift cards throughout the event, while supplies last, with no purchase necessary.
“They’re retailer gift cards,” Connolly said. “You can come enjoy the morning, have some breakfast, get your tote bag and then go.”
Shoppers can also look forward to specials at stores throughout the mall. Some offers include:
- Guess Factory: 25% off a single item (Code: KATYMILLS025, exclusions apply).
- Jewelry Box: Storewide discounts of 15%-50%, plus a $25 cashback gift with purchases of $250 or more.
- Sunglass Hut: $25 off a full-price pair of sunglasses.
- Earthbound Trading Company: Free tumbled stone with any purchase of $25 or more.
For all anniversary offers, visit the Katy Mills website.
While the mall has welcomed new tenants and will be welcoming more, the original 31 tenants will be a focus of attention.
“We've been highlighting these 31 businesses all month,” Connolly said. “Anybody can go on our website and see the wonderful deals that they have uploaded, and we are promoting them via social media all month.”
The mall opened in 1999, and the sales taxes collected from the tenants are a major revenue source for Katy. City Administrator Byron Hebert, who was the city’s finance director then, said he remembered when the first sales tax revenue check came to the city. Hebert said his own career, as finance director and now city administrator, is tied to the mall.
Hebert credited former mayors Johnny Nelson and Hank Schmidt for their pivotal roles in launching the mall. Nelson, who served as mayor from 1983 to 1987 before becoming city administrator, and Schmidt, who held office from 1995 to 2001, had the foresight to recognize the mall's potential as a major economic engine for the city.
“Now the mall will take care of the city,” Hebert said, describing Nelson and Schmidt’s attitudes at the time. “Let’s make sure we take care of the mall.”
City and mall leaders were serious about taking care of the mall, as shown by a multimillion-dollar renovation in 2017. Connolly recalled how mall and city officials held a “tile-breaking” instead of a more traditional groundbreaking to begin the renovations.
“I was guest service manager back then, but yes, I was very much involved in that, helping to promote the renovation,” Connolly said.
The renovations were important because they revitalized the mall, but they also happened at a time when online shopping had become a rival to mall shopping. Many malls have closed nationwide as online shopping has grown in popularity.
“We’re always trying to really home in on what our customer wants,” Connolly said. “That’s especially important to us. And of course, the upgrades that we did in 2018 really enforced how much Katy Mills is a place where local families and their visitors come for both a nostalgic shopping experience and new and exciting offers that we add to the mix as much as we possibly can. So, it’s a little bit of everything, and that’s such a great thing.”
Hebert said that when he became city administrator in 2014, officials began negotiations for the mall’s renovation. He said Katy was fortunate that the work was done by the time the pandemic took hold in 2020. Now that things are back to normal, Hebert said the foot traffic in the mall is “hot.”
Mayor Dusty Thiele said the mall also serves as an entertainment center, which has been a long-held goal.
“We wanted to make Katy a destination city, and bringing in Katy Mills Mall, it is the entertainment that we have over there,” Thiele said.
Walking around the mall is popular for those wanting to get some exercise. Connolly said walking a full loop inside the mall is about a mile, and both Hebert and Thiele said they have taken walks on occasion.
“We’ve done that many times, and it’s a great place to go walk,” Thiele said. “It doesn’t matter what the weather is, how wet or cold or whatever it might be. You go in there, you just get going and then you get ideas for things as you go by when the mall opens an hour or so later.”