Until then, tenants of the 35-year-old, one-level structure at 2700 West and 3500 South will battle to survive in an increasingly competitive retail market.

Not everyone will make it. After 18 years at the West Valley City shopping center, Diann Linge, owner of the Christmas Cottage, says this month will be her last.

"There's nothing at Valley Fair Mall to attract people anymore," Linge says. "The previous owners let it go to hell; they did nothing, and it declined every year."

In fact, West Valley City reports that its sales tax revenues from the mall -- once a west-side shopping staple -- have slipped 29 percent since 1998.

Linge says that in 1999, her business did well, ringing up about $100,000 in sales. By 2001, the year-round Christmas Cottage barely broke even, due partly to the economic fallout from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Since then, Linge has witnessed a continual slide at Valley Fair, although her thriving gift shop and candy store in West Yellowstone, Mont., have helped ease her pain.

Most retailers count on the year-end fourth quarter, when holiday shoppers loosen their grip on their wallets. But Linge's Valley Fair sales have dropped another $30,000 in the past three months.

"It's time for me to cut my losses and get out," she says.

Directly across from Christmas Cottage sits the cozy Copper Kettle, a sandwich and specialty coffee shop in its second year of operation.

"It was my brother's idea to open up here," owner Dan Garretson says. "Then he got sent off to Iraq."

Business was better last year, he notes, and this year's flagging sales have forced him to reduce his six-person staff to two part-time employees -- meaning he personally logs 70 hours to 80 hours a week at the shop.

"The mall is rundown and in a bad location," Garretson says. "Shoppers here don't have much spending power like they do at other malls."

Census figures from 2000 put West Valley City's median household income at $45,773, behind Sandy's $66,458 and South Jordan's $75,433.

Perhaps rising gas costs and bargain-basement prices at nearby Wal-Mart and Costco also have something to do with Valley Fair's lagging sales, Garretson adds.

Even so, Valley Fair's occupancy is at capacity -- unlike Salt Lake City's soon-to-be-made-over downtown malls.

Near J.C. Penney, one of the anchor stores, several businesses cater to a surging ethnic population (minorities make up more than 30 percent of West Valley City's population).

"Business is good, but could be better," says Kearns resident Tina Nguyen through a translator in between helping customers at Trung Thanh Fashion.

Nguyen is part of the family-owned business, in its second year at Valley Fair Mall. Relatives in Vietnam make the striking fashions that fill the store's racks, characteristic of styles worn half a world away.

Across the way, E-Taewon Trading, also family-owned and operated, has been open for about 18 months.

"To be honest, business is down. Hopefully it will get better," says Kay Kim, a West Valley City resident from South Korea who speaks fluent English. "Weekends are better than weekdays."

Her store sells a variety of reasonably priced merchandise -- purses, backpacks, jewelry, cosmetics and more.

"Most customers love it here. They're amazed at what we have. We want to give good quality and good prices," Kim says, noting the store is named after an internationally famed tourist destination in Seoul, South Korea.

Next door, at the Bazzar, a sign touts jewelry repair and watch-battery replacement in Spanish. Also advertised are frozen Mexican confections.

Shoppers are eager for Valley Fair's upgrade.

"This mall lacks something," says West Valley City resident Monica Lima, while hunting for a birthday present. "Even the anchors lack merchandise they have elsewhere."

Lounging on a bench near the entrance and basking in a day off from his job framing houses, Brian Scheuermann of West Valley City is a mall mainstay.

"I've been coming here since I was a kid," he says. "I meet my friends here almost every day because it's easy to get here by bus."

Kellie and Byron Baker, who moved from West Valley City to Ogden almost six years ago, returned recently to Valley Fair to browse.

"The mall used to be unsafe. It's gotten better," Kellie Baker says. "It has more stores and a nicer look, as well."

Both the Bakers say they would welcome Valley Fair's renovation.

"This is the only mall on the west side. Not everyone wants to go downtown or to South Towne [in Sandy]," Byron Baker says. "They definitely need something out this way."

cmckitrick@sltrib.com