Valley River Center
Eugene, Oregon - Late 60's or early '70s
Rustic aerial shot of the beautiful (in those days anyway) Valley River Center and scenic environs.
History: 1968 - present
Current website: Here.
Updated: added/adjusted the years.
posted by Keith @ 4/20/2006
29 Comments:
Yeah, I'm not sure myself, Cora! But I noticed it, too. Weird looking. At first I thought it might be a giant circus tent or carousel, but I can see by zooming way in, that it actually rises above the mall roof itself there (which is two stories on this anchor end). In addition, a quick check of Google Earth shows it's still there today, on top of what is now Macy's, so it's no tent or carousel, obviously. Appears to be just a part of the overall mall design on that, its South end. Maybe an artirum or groovy part of the entrance?
Had to be part of that original anchor's architecture. Whatever it is, and whomever the original anchor was that eventually became part of Macys, that was what popped out for me when looking at this pic.
Never visited the Northwest region, but I do know Macy's took over the chain called "Bon Marché", which kept its nameplate strictly to the Pacific Northwest region. Maybe that's what the south anchor was originally? (Just a wild guess)
The north anchor is a Penneys (JCPenney), which is still there.
http://www.angelfire.com/wa2/hwysofwastate/MandFValleyRiver.html
Check that picture out.
The round building was the Meir And Frank, now Macys.
Bingo! Thanks, Jeff! One of my guesses was right then...it's just a groovy part of the entrance design. Looks especially cool from the air!
I was going to comment about the Meier & Frank, but somebody beat me to it. LOL
BTW, this mall is in a movie called How to beat the high cost of living. It came out in 1980 and the whole plot of the movie is centered around it. Theres more info here -
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080895/
I love that movie, they try to steal money from a giant plastic ball in the center of the mall. A must see.
Yeah! Always liked that flick, too. Thanks Anonymous #1!
Hey guys - I'm a native, and this was where we went every year to buy school clothes. Talk about a Planet of the Apes inspired mall... big polished rocks in the pillars, wooden beams, everything earthtoned in that weird 70s way... And they had a Montgomery Ward, which had the most awesome logo EVER. The round thing is sort of an atrium/rotunda where (I believe) the Bon Marche was at the time. There was a restaurant in there, which was very snooty. If you check out the movie "How to Beat the High Co$t of Living," Valley River is where the heist takes place, and you can get a feel for what the place looked like. Thanks for the memories! - www.cjfdesign.com
i have a couple of photos of the rotunda interior of the vrc meier and frank from the 60s, they show the motorized sculpture that was placed there in 1969 and removed in 1989
i'll send them if you are interested
love your site
-carywd
portland, oregon
Hey Keith-
Been a while since I've visited. 'Bout time you got some Oregon malls up in here. ;)
-Jeff
May Department Stores owned Meier & Frank and they used that rotunda design on some of their other divisions around the country. Famous Barr in St Louis at West County and the Kaufmanns in Youngstown, OH at Southern Park has the rotunda also. There were probably other examples.
For some clairity:
It was actually Federated Department Stores which bought out The Bon Marche, and then they bought out Macy's about 12-13 years ago. So no, Macy's did not buy The Bon Marche, actually the other way around. And then yes, they bought out Meyer and Frank, aka May Company, this year. The round atrium in discussion was origonally Meyer and Frank, which Macy's just moved into, May of this year.
I worked for Federated for 4 years, in the VRC, and was there for the move from the original Macy's/Bon Marche location into the Meyer & Frank location.
Macy's (Federated) is changing Meier & Frank locations to the Macy's name this summer. ('06) Meier & Frank was next door to a Bon Marche (now Macy's) at this mall. So one of them had to close. Great pic. The whole area is completely developed around the mall now, and part of the river basin has been filled in with parking lots since this picture was taken.
Does anyone have early photos of the fountains/sculptures that were in the VCM?
If your looking for shopping malls, store fronts, and vinatge advertising related postcards from your neck of the woods come to my eBay store: MJM Covers and Postcards.
My prices are very affordable and save. Postcards make great gifts, but why pay $6 or more dollars for some of these things off dealers or in an antique mall?
Lastly, I also send pictures/scans of postcards to websites in an effort to preserve history.
The store was Meier & Frank, now Macy's. The Valley River Center can be seen in the 1980 film "How to Beat the High Co$t of Living" available through Blockbuster.com
Thumbnail history of Meier & Frank from Wikipedia.com: "Meier & Frank was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1857, and acquired in 1966 by May Department Stores. May operated it as a separate division for nearly forty years, expanding the chain to Utah in 2001, as a result of a conversion of May Company's Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution or ZCMI stores purchased in 1999. In 2003 it was consolidated with North Hollywood, California-based Robinsons-May, but retaining the historic Meier & Frank name in the Oregon, Utah and Washington markets."
"May itself was acquired by Federated Department Stores on August 30, 2005. On that day the former May Company divisions were dissolved and operational control of the Meier & Frank stores was assumed by Macy's Northwest. The Meier & Frank name was eliminated in favor of the Macy's name."
I am trying to find info on that restaurant as my grandmother worked there and my mom worked in a small soda type shop downstairs
I have nice memories of eating lunch at the Meier and Frank Rotunda Restuarant. Their bread rolls were the best I've ever had. I wish I had that recipe.
Is called the Pavillion that was once a Meir and Frank, now Macy's. Two story are with very high ceiling, very unique from inside looking up into it. Was also a restaurant on second floor called Wine and Casket, I believe.
Is called the Pavillion that was once a Meir and Frank, now Macy's. Two story are with very high ceiling, very unique from inside looking up into it. Was also a restaurant on second floor called Wine and Casket, I believe.
Been visiting the Valley River Center mall since 1970. Lived in the area since 1981. The Valley River Center mall has changed a lot over the years.
Wards building wing was demolished and the REGAL CINEMAS was built in it's place. Strange to see Montgomery Wards vanish like that.
At the opposite end of the mall from the old Meier and Frank store with the weird signature circular entrance, there sits an empty "anchor" store space which started out as the original space for Macy's. So, Meier and Frank and Macy's operated at the same time for a while. Then, I think in about 2006 Meier and Fank went out of business and Macy's took over their space and Gottschalks moved into the old Macy's space. Eventually Gottschalks closed and the last time I looked, that huge space is still empty.
I don't know how well Macy's is doing nowadays, but I have a sneaking suspicion that old style department stores like that are eventually going to go extinct. What to do with all that square footage then? I do like J.C. Penney's. Prices are reasonable and selection is pretty good. But I don't know if any department store can compete with internet sales. If they don't adapt, they'll die.
Correction: It was the Bon Marche not Macy's that was at the opposite end of the mall from Meier and Frank. Gottschalks took over the Bon Marche space which is now empty.
As I recall...the strange looking roof on what was the Meier and Frank store was a tribute to nuclear power station cooling towers. They were all the rage in 1968 and they were ramping up interest for the Trojan plant (now closed) which was being actively planned at the time.
There is also (or was at one time) a spiral like metal sculpture (I guess) that is suspended from the roof and it was said to have turned.
There is a circular opening on the second floor that opens up to the first floor below.
Meier and Frank
2 years ago it was a furniture store, the 2nd story. I really wish I could remain the name of it because there was a couch I really wanted.
There was a furniture store up there in 2020. It was a great place, all oregon made, and free cushions and fluff for life. Ibdont know if it's still there, but when trying to look it up I'm finding nothing.
i work in this mall! the furniture store is gone, its been replaced by a spirit halloween every year. if anyone wants more info on this mall you can reach out to me! ive been going here since i was a preteen
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