Katy Mills is a one-story facility that sits on 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2) of land, located next to Typhoon Texas water park was opened in the Memorial Day weekend of May 2016 and just off of Interstate 10 on exit 741.

Department stores and anchors including AMC Theatres, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Books-A-Million, Burlington Coat Factory, H&M, XXI Forever, Marshalls, Off Fifth Saks Fifth Avenue, Old Navy, The Cheesecake Factory, Rainforest Cafe, Restoration Hardware Outlet, Ross Dress for Less, Sun and Ski Sports, and Tilt Studio, some of which relocated from Sealy Outlet Center, which was supplanted by Katy Mills due to its distance from nearby Sealy.

In 1997, a property development company based in Arlington, Virginia, known as The Mills Corporation had negotiations to build a mall in Katy, Texas.

The site from American Realty Trust, at the size of 500 acres, was located near Pin Oak Road.

The Mills later purchased the 500 acre site in February 1998 and construction began on the mall, along with German-based Kan Am,[4][5] RTKL Associates,[6] Greg Rose Design,[7] JK Design Group,[8] Creative Artisans Group, Penwal,[9] Texas Bomanite,[10] and the American Institute of Steel Construction.

The Mills pitched several anchors to open in the mall, such as AMC Theater, Virgin Megastore, Off Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills, Boot Town, Books-A-Million, Rainforest Cafe, Marshalls, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Old Navy and GameWorks.

[13] They also announced that they would open Bed Bath and Beyond, Burlington Coat Factory, and for the first time ever, a Benetton Sportsystem store.

Some say it's a combination of shopping and entertainment, or, as it's commonly referred to as “shoppertainment.” Katy Mills mall opened at 8:00 AM CDT, on Thursday, October 28, 1999[17] and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at 9:30.

The mall had a racetrack design and was split into six neighborhoods, each with its own combination of colors, sculptures, patterns, sounds and lighting.

Famous eateries include Rainforest Cafe, Jillian's, Johnny Rockets, Moe's Grill and Bar, Starbucks, restaurants in the Food Court, among others.

Various entertainment venues include Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Sun & Ski Sports, F.Y.E.

[17] Various celebrities came to visit the mall, such as the Miss Texas pageant, former WNBA player Tina Thompson and former NFL defense tackler Ray Childress.

One hour before the ribbon-cutting ceremony and 30 minutes after the mall opened, the Aggie Wranglers performed in the Food Court at 8:30 AM.

One of the most famous activities the mall hosted was a visit with Tommy Pickles and Chuckie Finster from the Nickelodeon TV series, Rugrats.

This is another large vacancy the mall left along with Benetton Sportsystem, which remained vacant after it closed before becoming XXI Forever.

Crew, Anne Klein, Florsheim, Lucky Brand Jeans, Lane Bryant, Foot Locker, American Eagle Outfitters, Aéropostale, and more.

In 2007, New York & Company, Juicy Couture, Oakley Vault, Ecko and Zumiez opened,[28] while Mikasa Factory Store, Big Dog Sportswear, and Midnight Rodeo closed.

In 2009, Circuit City and Steve and Barry's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, causing their locations to close, including these.

The original restaurants that cornered the Katy Field Day Food Court (Moe's Grill and Bar & Johnny Rockets) closed, as well as Go!

Janie and Jack, Yankee Candle, Clarks, Express, DC Shoes, and Robert Wayne Footwear were new to the mall.

Aside from these events that happened, newer stores opened, such as Buckle, Fossil, Kate Spade New York, Jared Vault, Converse and Adidas.

Aside, The LemonPOP name gained too much backlash, which eventually led to Charlotte Russe coming back, generating happiness for many people.

When the end of 2017 neared, Charlotte Russe permanently closed and became Under Armour Factory House, and Reebok was relocated to the former space of Kenneth Cole.

But most of the stores also went out of business, such as Lane Bryant, Justice, New York and Company, Wilson's Leather, Bass, Motherhood Maternity, A’Gaci, and Last Call.

Katy Mills reopened for shopping in 2021, but some of its stores permanently closed, such as Van Heusen and Robert Wayne Footwear.

This also marked the return of F.Y.E., but instead of being a music/video seller, it is instead similar to the now-defunct ThinkGeek stores, as it sells novelty items based on video games.

Calendars Games & Toys, but that was Katy Mills' third attempt to reintroduce the store, as it was quickly replaced with NextLevel.

Eventually, Katy Mills debuted lots of new stores, such as The Cheesecake Factory,[58] Pandora, Aerie, Miniso,[59] Dig World,[60] Lee Wrangler, and Kilwin’s Chocolate & Ice Cream.

Due to the chain becoming defunct by the end of 2022, Nestlé Toll House Café was replaced by Great American Cookies, thus making a comeback to Katy Mills.

Last minute Christmas shoppers rushed to take cover inside store dressing rooms and restrooms in attempts to clear the area.