San Antonio Shopping Center
Mountain View, California - 1982
Vintage early '80s view of San Antonio Shopping Center (aka San Antonio Center), an outdoor strip mall located in Mountain View, California (here's an aerial). Above Image and the following history both via MVPA:
"San Antonio Center has gone through many incarnations. It started in the 1950s as a stand alone Sears Department Store surrounded by bean fields. It grew over the years and became Downtown Mountain View's first major competition. By the 1970s the center had expanded into the pedestrian mall viewed here in this picture. During Christmas time this fountain was covered up and became a place to meet Santa Claus.
At its height in the early 1980s, the mall connected Sears, JC Penny's (which had moved from Mayfield Mall) and Meryvn's. It was also home to the Menu Tree restaurant, a strange two story international restaurant remembered for its use of dozens of cuckoo clocks for decoration.
The mall fell on hard times in the early 1990s and grand plans for its expansion fell through. Most of the mall was demolished to make way for Wal Mart and a parking lot, although a remainder of the mall can still be found behind Sears."
Labels: '80s, 1982, california, Mountain View, pedestrian mall, San Antonio Shopping Center
posted by Keith @ 5/08/2007
6 Comments:
I remember going there as a tween. I want to say there was a Rhodes department store there at one time. The Co-Op grocery store was either at this shopping center, or near it.
Yup, Rhodes opened in 1965, their only west-bay store. It became Liberty House in the mid 1970's and then closed in 1984 when parent company Amfac closed all their northern CA stores (except San Mateo).
Penney's operated there for a decade or so before moving to Sunnyvale Town Center (now also closed). The former Rhodes/Liberty House/Penney's building has since been demolished.
The cukoo clocks gave way to cukoo Walmart.
Hmmm.and this is NOT "San Antonia"..TEXAS!!
Very neat! That fountain plaza always reminds me of Newport Beach's Fashion Island. [Which REMINDS me..can you dig up 1960s-70s photos of said Newport Beach center BEFORE its 1987 revising into its current form?:))
Gladly appreciate those Lakewood Mall pics.
Steve-a native of Southern Calif.
I have fond memories flying model rockets in the parking lot in the mid 80's. There was a store Starbase Central (on the north east side of the mall) that had everything SCI-FI. They would have special events that included our rocket club, BayNAR (now gone too). James Doohan, Scotty from Star Trek was there signing autographs, and my Klingon Cruser model rocket.
Additionally, San Antonio Hobby Shop was one of the best Hobby Shops in the area. Sadly it is only a fraction of it's former self.
True, true. The hobby shop was a great one.
I remember the Menu Tree food court, complete with cuckoo clock and fake aviaries upstairs. A friend and I tried to rescue the Menu Tree birds. Paper mache' with dew-drop amber eyes (sigh). We managed to get a few from upstairs, but the others sadly were lost :(
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