[3] Along with high population growth, east Contra Costa County is also experiencing sizable household income increases.

[1][3] County East Mall was opened in 1966 as an open-air shopping center with Sears, Mervyns, and W. T. Grant as the original anchor tenants.

A major overhaul in the late-1980s transformed the center into an enclosed shopping mall with Gottschalks added as a fourth anchor tenant.

[5] JCPenney closed on January 25, 1997,[7] and was occupied for several years by a furniture retailer until the 97,000 square feet (9,010 m2) building was gutted in 2003 and replaced by the larger two-story Macy's anchor in 2004.

[18][5] The new construction and makeover, which included new paint, new landscaping, new flooring, and improvements to the mall's entrances, cost a reported US$20 million.