Concord, California - circa early '70s
Sunvalley Mall (aka Sun Valley Mall) interior postcard photo that I believe dates to the early '70s. This breezy fountain court area looks pleasant enough, but what I really like is that nifty logo design on the card. That's just good stuff in my book! A few Wiki notes:
"Sunvalley Mall is a regional shopping center located in Concord, California (one of the suburbs in the San Francisco Bay Area, in east central Contra Costa County). Sunvalley opened in August of 1967 with JCPenney and Macy's as anchor tenants. The mall was attached to a pre-existing free-standing Sears store that was built several years earlier. At its opening it was considered the largest air conditioned regional shopping center in the world.Mall history: 1967 - present
It was developed by the Taubman Company, which is still the owner and operator of the mall to this day. The mall's major department stores are two separate locations for Macys, and one each for Sears and JCPenney. Sunvalley has 170 stores and a total size of about 1.4 million square feet."
Current website: here
Developer: Taubman Centers, Inc.
Info from Wikipedia
Current aerial view
Resource links: 1, 2
Previous entries: 1, 2
The early Taubman malls like Southland and Sunvalley are so different from their malls of the 70's, such as Eastridge, Woodfield, and Fairlane. (The same goes for their logos.) It really makes me wonder what influenced the design of the incredible gleaming white expanses that became the trademark look for their properties. Has anyone read the new book out by Taubman? I was wondering if it offered any insight into this period in their business.
ReplyDeleteAh, the fountain of my youth. I used to throw pennies in there when I was young. It was so dark and moody down there, too. The lower level used to fill up with smoke during the public smoking days. The fountain was removed during the remodel in the mid-Eighties. Such a shame.
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Kind of dull even for that time period,seriously GREY BRICKS? ech.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think that fountain is neat, even though the bricks are grey.
ReplyDeleteMy brother fell into this fountain on my watch, long ago (luckily quite shallow). My mom still talks about it to demonstrate my lack of babysitting skills when I was 8. I don't know how many hundreds of hours I spent in this mall--too many. It had an ice rink and a movie theater (now both gone). In the early 80s they showed midnight movies like "Pink Floyd's The Wall" and the ever-popular "Song Remains the Same." There was also an awesome Spencer's Gifts for all your gag-gift and black-light poster needs. And of course Orange Julius and Bedazzled. Thanks for featuring this mighty paen to consumerism.
ReplyDeleteThat space under the escalator would become Orange Julius. Like most of those SunValley postcards, this photo was likely taken in the first year of the malls' existence
ReplyDeleteI don't remember the "free standing Sears store built several years earlier," and I think that's a mistake. It may have opened first, but several years? Nah. I think the whole Mall opened at the same time (except Macy's, which was late). Sears always opened into the Mall. I remember seeing the signs announcing MACY'S PENNYS SEARS seen from the freeway... And the mall had a KFC, doughnut shop, post office and those birds...!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Keith, Sears opened a bit earlier. (not years)
ReplyDeleteI grew up across the street and I still have a bit of my memory!
It also had a two-story Woolworth's when it opened. It had a classic food court at one point, but I'm not sure if it was there from the beginning or just in the '70s. They had different food vendors and tables in the lower level of the mall. Then, they got rid of it. I guess store space was more valuable. Also, as I recall, Sears had a free-standing key-making kiosk in the parking lot, sort of a Fotomat for making keys. It used to fascinate me when I was a small kid. I wondered about a person sitting in that kiosk all day and into the evening, waiting for people to drive up and ask for copies of their keys to be made. They got rid of that at some point, of course. I also remember a Copper Penny restaurant being somewhere in the area close to the parking lot. Ah, the memories. My family used to go to the area to visit White Front down Coco Blvd., and it was quite exciting when Sunvalley was added to the trip. I, too, have fond memories of the "wishing well" and used to throw pennies into it.
ReplyDeleteOne of my first jobs was at the Fredericks of Hollywood (I was 17 in 1968)! I was 'discovered' by the store manager and asst manager when I waited on them while working at Kresge's, which used to be downstairs also, at the end and they talked me in to working at Frederick's - my first retail experience - and what an experience! I was surprised to see that the mall is still there.
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ReplyDeleteKey kiosk is still there.
ReplyDeleteRemember broomball every Saturday night in the ice rink??
I went to this mall woow I get to much discounts and many things, I love the malls where I can spend my time and money
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