Bellevue was first settled by European Americans in 1869. The city’s name is derived from the French term belle vue (“beautiful view”).
Bellevue Square is a shopping center in Bellevue, Washington. The mall has over 200 retail stores with anchors Macy’s and Nordstrom. Bellevue Square also offers concierge services, valet parking, and children’s play area. Bellevue Square attracts over 25 million visitors annually.
Bellevue is an economic hub of the Seattle region’s Eastside and home to the headquarters of various sizes, including the U.S. operations for many international firms. Since 2005, the city has become a hub for software engineering and other technology development centers.
These include Expedia, PACCAR Inc, T-Mobile US, Eddie Bauer, SAP Concur, and Symetra. Bellevue hosts a number of satellite offices for large technology companies such as eBay, Oracle, Salesforce, Google, and Microsoft; Microsoft was at one point headquartered in Bellevue but has since moved to the neighboring community of Redmond, Washington. Celebrated video game companies Valve, Bungie, Sucker Punch Productions, and The Pokémon Company are also based here.