Desert Sky seeks to fill the demands of its Maryvale customers, but ends up sucking anyway. Don't get me wrong, I like some aspects of this mall...like how so many businesses are independently owned. Virtually everything in the food court is one-of-a-kind. Even the McDonald's has been ousted. Bravo.
That being said, just because it's independent doesn't mean it won't blow. You'll find tons of cheap crap on "sale", but you're really overpaying for clothes that won't last. In between stores, you'll encounter some of the most aggressive salespeople in any mall ever. In most shopping centers, they can afford to be reasonable and soft with their approach. Here, there is no way to escape them without being a jerk.
The anchor stores suck so bad. Except Burlington Coat Factory, which is always awesome. La Curacao is basically a Spanish Best Buy--except worse--with even higher markups and some credit practices that raise an eyebrow. Sears is the worst Sears I've ever set foot into. Good luck finding any decent selection of clothing or electronics.
Full disclosure: I've held several jobs throughout this mall as a teenager. But that was five years ago...long enough to Yelp about it, right?