International Malls: Fairview Mall

Toronto, Ontario, Canada - circa 1970s

Seventies multi-view postcard depicting Fairview Mall in Toronto, Ontario. America or not, these are exactly the kind of gaudy, groovy old shopping mall photos I dig, so this one's going right here at the top today! Fairview Mall opened in 1972 and is still going strong--currently undergoing a major renovation. Here's an aerial view, and some Fairview Wikipedia notes:

"The mall opened in 1972 with the Bay and Simpson's as its department store anchors. It was the fourth fully-enclosed and the first multi-level mall in Metropolitan Toronto. The Hudson's Bay Company, parent company of the Bay, purchased Simpson's in 1978. In 1991, it sold the Simpson's store in Fairview (along with five others that were co-located with the Bay) to Sears Canada."

Mall Sign: Haltom Plaza Shopping Center

Haltom City, Texas

Close-up detail of the neon lettering on the entrance sign at Haltom Plaza shopping center. Never heard of this shopping center, never seen it before, but I sure like their sign. This recently-shot image is courtesy of Earthly Possessions' photos on Flickr, and there's also a wider view of the whole sign here. From what I can gather, the Haltom Plaza shopping center itself, dates back to the 1950s, as does its beautiful sign.

See more mall signs here!

Retro Mall Video: NorthPark Mall Psychedelic Dance Show

Dallas, Texas - January, 1968

Why is a clip of a vintage Texas television dance show here? Ah patience, young Grasshopper, patience... It's here because it was shot in and broadcast from, the NorthPark Center Mall, in Dallas!

Local Dallas TV station, WFAA-TV, Channel 8, had a studio that was housed inside NorthPark Mall, where they shot the daily "Sump'N Else" teen dance show, which ran in the mid to late '60s. They also produced a morning game show for housewives called "Away We Go", that was shot live from the mall as well.

Anyway, in this context, I thought this groovy video highlight from the Sump'N Else Show (where they were staging a psychedelic light show that day) would be fun to look at here on the blog. Even though you don't technically see any of the shopping mall proper itself, we know it's there, in all its 1968 glory, right outside the studio walls! :)

More NorthPark Center Mall: 1, 2

Stouffer's Restaurant At Eastland Center Mall

Harper Woods, Michigan - circa 1960s

Great vintage sixties interior postcard view of Stouffer's Restaurant at Eastland Center Mall (aka Eastland Shopping Center), in Metro Detroit. Eastland Center is still there today, unfortunately this swanky restaurant is not. The mall is currently anchored by Sears, Target, Macy's, Marshall Field's, Steve & Barry's, and Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse. More vintage photos of Eastland Center Mall coming soon!

Mall history: 1957 - present
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Previous entries: 1, 2

The Daily Mall Reader: Discount Megamalls

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"The Price Is Always Right"

TIME Magazine - Monday, Dec. 17, 1990

(Excerpt) Psssst! Want a deal on some Jordan Airs? Joan & David pumps? A Donna Karan dress? The latest Sony tape deck? Without slogging through the sales racks at five different department stores? And in a place where the teenagers can hang out and Dad can catch a football game on TV? Well, here's a concept in shopping-till-you're-dropping, just in time for Christmas and the recession: megamalls with maxi discounts.

Step into Florida's Sawgrass Mills, the world's biggest outlet-and-discount mall. Situated 15 miles west of Fort Lauderdale, it boasts 2.2 million sq. ft. of name-brand shopping at no-name prices. The parking lot alone covers 170 acres. Two miles of storefronts, 150 in all, include outlets for such status labels as Ann Taylor, Maidenform, Van Heusen, American Tourister and Athlete's Foot, plus such familiar discount stores as Brands Mart and Marshalls.

Read the full article here.

North Whittier Heights Shopping Center

La Puente, California - circa 1960s

Retro postcard view of the North Whittier Heights Shopping Center (as it was called then) strip mall plaza in La Puente, CA (not an enclosed shopping mall). Stores seen here in this groovy shot include an Alpha Beta supermarket at the far end, Country Club Pharmacy, and Cork & Bottle Liquor. I have no idea whether this plaza is still around today, and if so, what name it might be going by now, etc., but it sure looked swanky back then!

Mall Sign: Northland Shopping Center

Tulsa, Oklahoma

The beautiful 1950s-era sign at the old Northland Shopping Center in Tulsa, OK (courtesy of Roadside Architecture). This mall first opened in the '50s and finally closed around 1990. The above photo was taken in recent years, though the sign itself still retained its original vintage look.

See more mall signs here!

Meier & Frank (Now Macy's) At Lloyd Center Mall

Portland, Oregon - circa early '60s

Early-sixties photo of the Meier & Frank department store (the chain is now Macy's) at, once again, Lloyd Center Mall--they sure produced a lot of postcards back in the day! Thanks loads to reader, Brian Neuroth, for the cool find! One of the few Lloyd Center shots I don't recall seeing before (somehow).

Mall history: 1960 - present
Current website: here
Info from Wikipedia
Current aerial view
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,
12, 13

Lloyd Center Mall Open-Air Interior

Portland, Oregon - photos August 8, 1962

More vintage looks today, at the center court promenade in the Lloyd Center shopping mall (before it was fully enclosed many years later), including that groovy winding staircase, which I've showcased in previous Lloyd Center posts (especially this one, and this one).

And here are a few Wikipedia notes regarding the mall's original major anchor store lineup, in case anyone's curious about that:

"The original anchor stores were Meier & Frank at the center, Lipman & Wolfe anchoring the west end, and JC Penney and Woolworth anchoring the east. Nordstrom initially opened as shore store in 1963, before expanding into a full-line apparel store incrementally in the mall's west wing."

Mall history: 1960 - present
Current website: here
Info from Wikipedia
Current aerial view
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

(Study images courtesy Salem (Oregon) Public Library Historic Photograph Collections)

Mall Sign: Quarry Center

Louisville, Kentucky

Pretty nifty signage here at the Quarry Center, a small strip shopping center in Louisville, KY. The snapshots here were taken this year, but the sign is obviously an older one, as is the shopping center. These were taken and kindly submitted by, Jay (thanks again!), who added:

"Earlier this year, I got inspired to run around and take some photos of Louisville-area signs that have survived through the years (though a few just barely). This little center recently lost its biggest tenant, an independent drug store. Not sure what will happen next, but I wanted to catch the sign while I could. The center itself has been renovated since it was built.

The blue neon around the edge was almost completely burnt out on the other side, so this was the best nighttime shot I could get."

See more mall signs here!

MOA Galleria - '70s Fashion Shopping

Fort Lauderdale, Florida - Fall, 1972

Two very groovy, happenin' ladies check out the trendy '70s Fall fashions they intend to rock, as they shop at Haber's department store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

See more Galleria here!

(Study images courtesy & © the State Library and Archives of Florida)

The Daily Mall Reader: Shopping Malls And Consumerism

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"More competition brings less hope for older, enclosed"

Specialty Retail - July, 2002

(Excerpt) Once-thriving malls across the nation are closing their doors, being demolished, or shutting down entire wings without any concrete plans for redevelopment. These malls, now considered dinosaurs in the retail industry, are battling for business against glitzier, more modern shopping centers, big box retailers, redeveloped main street shopping districts, discounters and entertainment centers. Traditional malls are undergoing changes of use to storage, university classrooms and new forms of retail.

Recently, malls in Landover, MD, Ogden, UT, Muskegon, MI and Johnstown, PA have closed, a mall in Durham, NC is losing its anchor store, while a pair of regional malls in Toledo, OH and one in Oak Ridge, TN are treading water just to stay afloat. A declining mall in Spotsylvania, VA is hoping that the addition of a Costco will help revive the site.

Read the full article here.

Mall Sign: Wonderland Mall

Livonia, Michigan

The super-cool Wonderland Mall sign (via AmericaJR.com) as it looked a few years ago (before the defunct shopping mall was demolished), yet still reflecting its classic original retro design from the 1960s. I've always liked this simple, yet bold, power look. An interesting and solid sign design if you ask me. Here are a few notes via Dead Malls' Wonderland entry:

"Wonderland Mall, Michigan's third-oldest mall, opened in 1959 in the western Detroit suburb of Livonia. This 850,000 sq. ft. mall had Montgomery Ward as its original anchor. Later on Target, Foland's (a catalog store), Amazing Savings (formerly Mazel's), Dunham's Sporting Goods, and Office Max joined the anchor lineup. It also was the first mall in metro Detroit to offer kiddie train rides, and used that as a selling point in its promotions.

The layout of Wonderland was similar to a 'TTT' look. At the left end of the first 'T' were Wards and Amazing Savings. An AMC 6-screen multiplex was situated at the right end of the last 'T'. The three wings that spurred off the 'T's, from left to right, were Dunham's/OfficeMax, Foland's, and Target."

Mall history: 1959 - 2003 (dead)
Current website: n/a (archived site here)
Previous entries: 1

International Malls: Yorkdale Shopping Centre (aka Yorkdale Mall)

Toronto, Ontario, Canada - 1967

Retro interior view of the stylishly beautiful and swanky Yorkdale Shopping Centre (aka Yorkdale Mall) in Toronto. I'll gladly set the malls of America aside momentarily, to make room for a photo like this. And thanks very much to MOA reader, Jason Cawood, for it! Some Wikipedia info:

"The mall was opened in 1964 and was the first to include two major Canadian department stores, Simpson's and Eaton's, under the same roof. At the time of its opening, and for several years afterwards, it was the largest enclosed mall in the world. Yorkdale generated a tremendous amount of excitement when it first opened.

Before Yorkdale, most people in the Toronto area did their major shopping downtown. Yorkdale was at the edge of the urbanized city, with only farmland around it. However, it was strategically located next to the interchange of Highway 401 and the proposed Spadina Expressway as well as the nearby Dufferin Street; all three major routes have ramps dedicated to serving the mall."

Mall history: 1964 - present
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3

Chess At Lloyd Center Mall

Portland, Oregon - April 21, 1973

A Chess Master visits Lloyd Center Mall in the early-seventies for an all-day exhibition match. The photos here and accompanying quotes below, are from the May 1973 edition of Northwest Chess Magazine:

"At 10:08am on Saturday April 21,1973. Senior Chess Master Jude.F. Acers of San Francisco made his first move on board 1 of a 117 board simultaneous, a World Record for number of players played all at the same time. It was 13 hours and 4l minutes later when he shook hands with the last player to resign.

The event was held in the open area of the Lloyd Center North Mall and drew lots of spectators. One could tell just where the master was by looking for the largest crowd of onlookers.

It got dark about 7:00pm and the lighting was not the best from then on. The rain gods held off until the event was over but it was rather on the cool side for last couple of hours. Bob Slayton of Lloyd Center Corp. did a lot of work to setup and promote the exhibition. He also played and was one of the last ones to finish."

Mall history: 1960 - present
Current website: here
Info from Wikipedia
Current aerial view
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

The Daily Mall Reader: Lloyd Center Consumer's Cornucopia

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"The Cowboy's Dream"

TIME Magazine - Monday, Aug. 08, 1960

(Excerpt) To the blare of bands and the fluttering of banners, 700 pigeons winged into the sky over Portland, Ore. last week to carry the good news to 29 Oregon and Washington cities. The news: the opening this week on the east bank of Portland's Willamette River of the sprawling (50-acre), $100 million Lloyd Center, the largest urban shopping center ever built in the U.S.

Only five minutes away from the traditional downtown "core" shopping area of Portland, Lloyd Center is a consumer's cornucopia. Its more than 100 retail stores are carefully clustered in competing groups (e.g., hardware, dresses) so that bargain hunters can save shoe leather. The sculpture and mobiles of Northwestern artists dot the landscape, and no flashy advertising or jutting store signs are permitted. Lloyd's has an ice-skating rink with live music, professional offices, seven restaurants, is dominated by the new 300-room Sheraton-Portland Hotel.

Read the full article here.

MOA Galleria - Universal Mall Vintage Decor

Warren, Michigan - circa 1980s

Since precious little vintage Universal Mall material has surfaced online (or in my inbox) yet, I'm reduced to recreating my own for this relatively obscure little cult mall I grew up with in Warren, MI. And that's what the above graphic is. It's my own Photoshop rendition of the forest-themed wall mural (or wallpaper) that hung in certain areas of Universal Mall's funky interior back in the early to mid '80s, and possibly before.

This design is based on my 1986 Universal Mall Boat Show video, where you can see quick glimpses of the mall's mural art in the background of certain shots. Obviously it was there in early 1986 (the time of the video), but my own youthful memories of this decor element go further back than that. How far back it actually does date in the mall I'm not sure, but it's possible it goes back to the late '70s at least (not that anyone on Earth really cares besides me). Either way, I just dug the design and thought I'd try to recreate it and document it here on the blog--for posterity's sake if nothing else.

More Universal Mall: 1, 2

King of Prussia Plaza (aka King of Prussia Mall) Harvest House

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania - circa 1960s

The Harvest House restaurant & coffee shop at King of Prussia Plaza (now King of Prussia Mall). I believe at the time, this was one of the very first Harvest House establishments, which soon became such a familiar fixture at many malls and shopping centers throughout the '60s and '70s (Cherry Hill Mall had one). This is a neat vintage postcard view of Harvest House's groovy-but-gaudy (a good thing in my book) interior and exterior at King of Prussia Plaza.

Mall history: 1963 - present
Developer: Kravco Co. (now Kravco Simon)
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4

Muskegon Mall Seventies Aerial

Muskegon, Michigan - circa 1976

Vintage aerial view of Muskegon Mall in the seventies, shortly after it originally opened. This sprawling shopping mall (created by throwing a roof over several existing buildings and also adding some new ones) located in the historic heart of downtown Muskegon, MI, opened in 1976, but began to struggle for its retail life in the '90s, until finally closing its doors for good in 2001. It has since been demolished and the area is undergoing an ongoing and long-term redevelopment/revitalization process.

I'll be sharing some interior photos of this mall as well in the near future. It had quite the funky look going on!

Mall history: 1976 - 2001 (dead/redeveloped)
Current website: n/a
Previous entries: none

The Daily Mall Reader: Big Town Mall Coming Down

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"Mall was 'the place to be'"
Long past its prime, Big Town coming down in Mesquite

The Dallas Morning News - Friday, July 28, 2006

(Excerpt) MESQUITE – Big Town was big news.

The first enclosed and air-conditioned shopping mall in the Southwest, the 77 ½-acre "City of Shops," drew crowds too big to count when it opened on a Thursday in late February 1959.

The Mesquite icon boasted not only a shopping utopia, but a small amusement park and a cartoon theater for kids. The Dallas Morning News ran a 24-page section on the opening, making that day's edition the largest weekday publication of the newspaper to date.

But through the decades, the crowds that once formed human traffic jams thinned to clusters of bargain shoppers and strings of mall walkers. Eventually, it attracted more folks thrilled to sneak inside an abandoned mall for snapshots of its morgue-like corridors than consumers ready to open their wallets at the remaining stores. When demolition crews began knocking down the peripheral walls late last week, it was a formality for a destination long ago declared dead.

Read the full article here.

Mall Sign: Big Town Mall

Mesquite, Texas

Not the shopping center's original classic sign (which you can see in another post here), but still quite a bold and distinctive one that I kind of dig, as it sits here at the then-abandoned, now-demolished Big Town Mall (pic courtesy of this blog). I enjoy seeing Montgomery Ward listed there as well. I'm not sure when the mall switched to this particular signage design--probably sometime in the 1980s, I'm guessing. A few Big Town Mall Wikipedia notes:

"Big Town Mall was constructed in 1959 and was the first enclosed, air-conditioned shopping mall in the Southwest. Some of the surrounding facilities included Bowlanes, A&R Course, Horse and Rider, an Exhibition hall, and a half price shoe store. At one time up to three major chain stores such as JC Penney, Sanger-Harris, and Neiman Marcus were part of the complex. The attached Woolworths was also quite popular due to its sizable inventory and food court.

This once popular spot in Mesquite that housed department stores, retail shops, an early form of arcade, and even a movie theater, has since become a derelict building after Montgomery Ward went bankrupt in 2001 and Town East Mall had long since become the new 'hotspot' for local and national retailers. For several years the mall stayed active with privately owned shops targeting urban young."

Mall history: 1959 - 2006 (dead)
Developer: Gerri Von Frelick
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Resource articles: 1, 2, 3, 4
Previous entries: 1, 2

City Center Mall under construction

Grand Forks, North Dakota - '60s or '70s

City Center Mall under construction. I'm not positive what year this mall originally opened, and this photo is undated, but going by the entry on Grand Forks at Wikipedia, I know it must be the '60s or '70s:

"A major downtown urban renewal project during the 1960s and 1970s saw the destruction of whole downtown blocks in favor of new office building, a city auditorium, and a new street overpass spanning the Grand Forks rail yards. Built in large part as a response to the new shopping malls in Grand Forks, the City Center Mall saw the blocking off of one whole block of South Third Street to vehicular traffic. A roof was built over the street and the entire one-block section became an indoor shopping center.

The City Center mall was, in large part, a failure. The 1980s and 1990s saw little development taking place downtown. Indeed, several major businesses such as Griffith's Department Store, Norby's Department Store, and Silverman's clothing store either moved elsewhere within the city or shuttered their doors."

Finally, the Red River Flood of 1997 devastated downtown Grand Forks, including City Center Mall (click here for a few photos), and saw to its sudden and final demise. The mall's roof was removed and the interior opened back up again to street traffic and stand-alone shops.

Mall history: ? - 1997
Current website: n/a
Previous entries: none

The Daily Mall Reader: Lafayette Place

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"Design for Shopping"

TIME Magazine - Monday, Apr. 28, 1975

(Excerpt) A 15-year urban renewal splurge has left Boston's government and financial districts strong and healthy, but the city's neglected downtown retail center has stagnated as established stores have followed the middle classes to the suburbs. Last week Boston joined with Jordan Marsh, the city's biggest department store, and Sefrius Corp., a French syndicate, in a bold attempt to change the situation. Their plan: to build a $220 million project called Lafayette Place that is designed to make downtown shopping attractive once more.

An important part of the developers' strategy is to make it easy for shoppers to get to—and around—the twelve-acre project. There will be a 1,500-car parking garage for suburbanites and, for city dwellers, a direct underground link to the existing subway system. Once at Lafayette Place, shoppers will be able to move from store to store at three levels: in a subterranean concourse, on ground level and, by way of flying bridges, on the second floor.

Read the full article here.

Retro Mall Video: Bob Dylan Shopping

1965

Well, not so much mall video, but certainly mod video of Bob Dylan shopping for suits and ties in the mid-sixties in some unnamed shop somewhere (maybe in a mall or strip center, who knows?). I think it's kind of groovy.

Heck, why not.

Granada Plaza Shopping Center

Ormond Beach, Florida - circa 1960s

The Walgreens and TG&Y store in the Granada Plaza shopping center in Ormond Beach, Florida. Granada Plaza is a strip mall (still there today) with an interesting location nestled right next to the Atlantic Ocean. Zoom out its aerial view to truly appreciate this plaza's impressive spot, which also puts me in mind of the Gulf View Square Mall postcard I shared before (in Port Richey, FL), with its close (if not downright precarious looking) proximity to the water.

Columbia Mall (aka Avondale Mall)

Decatur, Georgia - November, 1972

Outside Georgia's first enclosed mall, Columbia Mall (renamed Avondale Mall in the mid-'80s), in November of 1972. This photo is courtesy of Judy Baxter, who was actually taking a picture of her new Plymouth Duster at the time. Glad she chose Columbia Mall's parking lot for her photo shoot! Some of the stores visible here are: Sears, Baskin-Robbins, Ryan's, Wigs, Thom McCann Shoes, John Couffiers, Walgreen's, Walgreen's Grill, and Davison's, as well as the main entrance.

Alas, this mall is now gone. Token demolition began earlier this year in February, and the razing was completed in earnest just a few months ago in March of 2007 (some of which can be viewed here), all to make way for a... any guesses? Yep, a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Many local residents protested the coming of that Wal-Mart in place of the abandoned Columbia/Avondale Mall (see their grassroots Stop The Avondale Mall WalMart page for proof of their retail unrest).

Note: The aerial link below is obviously a little outdated now, as it still shows the mall's structure (look for Belvedere Plaza Shopping Center just to the South).

Mall history: 1964 - 2001 (dead)
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Resource links: 1, 2, 3, 4
Previous entries: 1

The Daily Mall Reader: Big Retailers Bypass Woodville Mall

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"Big retailers bypass Woodville Mall environs"

toledoblade.com - Tuesday, May 15, 2007

(Excerpt) The Woodville Mall in Northwood is up for sale, and it is surrounded by plenty of vacant space.

But retailers are bypassing Woodville Road near the mall, many of them in favor of Navarre Avenue in Oregon. Among companies making that choice are Meijer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and recently, Menards.

The mall area did attract one new retailer, Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, which moved in last fall.

"I don't know why it is. … I wish I had a magical answer and I would suggest a solution" for why Woodville Road east of I-280 isn't growing, said Northwood Mayor Mark Stoner.

Read the full article here.

Mall Sign: Buckingham Square

Aurora, Colorado

I don't know exactly how "vintage" this sign at Buckingham Square Mall is, but it sure looks pretty (image courtesy of dafaba on Flickr). Does anyone know if this is the mall's original sign from 1971 when it first opened? I'm guessing it's not, just looking at it. Probably an '80s or early '90s makeover design but I really don't know. I'd love to find out it's original vintage signage, though.

Buckingham Square Mall is now closed apparently--a dead mall--and sits awaiting future re-development (which will probably wind up rhyming with "Pall-Vart").

The mall's old website is still online (link below), but I doubt it will get updated anymore.

Mall history: 1971 - 2007
Current website: here

Current aerial view

Previous entries: none

Retro Mall Video: Columbia Mall (aka Avondale Mall) Demolition

Decatur, Georgia - March, 2007

The last Sears wall at the abandoned Columbia/Avondale Mall is razed to make way for a new Wal-Mart Supercenter in its stead--much to the dismay of many local residents (which you can read about in another Columbia Mall entry). Such a sad sight for anyone who's a vintage mall lover.

Note: This video is only part one of four. For your viewing convenience, I put them all on one page in a playlist at YouTube, if you'd like to go watch the rest after this one. Click here for the playlist.

Bellevue Park Plaza Shopping Center

Belleville, Illinois - circa early '60s

Shop & park free, at Bellevue Park Plaza! A little strip center that opened in 1970 (current aerial), and is still there today. Below is the plaza as it looks today (via LoopNet), from almost the same angle as the one above...

Plaza today

As you can see, the current stores include the typical generic type of modern lineup (i.e. boring): CVS, Rent-A-Center, Blockbuster Video, Dollar General, Fantastic Nails, First Payday Loans, Verizon Wireless, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service and Dollar Tree. Yuck!

The Daily Mall Reader: Kmart Bargains

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"Bargains with Few Frills"

TIME Magazine - Monday, Aug. 25, 1980

(Excerpt) Other department stores may try to win back recession-scarred consumers with glamorized décor, personalized service and accordion-like credit arrangements. But K mart Corp, knows that the way to the shopper's heart is still through the pocketbook. Most of the 1,750 stores around the country that show off the company's big red K are riding out the recession relatively well, and the discount chain may displace Sears, Roebuck and Co. as the U.S.'s leading retailer.

K mart has prospered because of a no-frills policy that places the premium on value. In stores that usually have the ambience of a supermarket, customers can wander amid clothing, lawn chairs and stereos, rarely encountering a sales assistant. But the prices, as much as 15% below those at tonier stores, make up for the inconvenience.

Read the full article here.

Vintage Coral Ridge Mall aerial

Fort Lauderdale, Florida - circa 1960s

Here's another vintage aerial postcard (yes, it looks like dirty mall pr0n) of Coral Ridge Mall. Card dates back to the sixties, I believe. I'm still trying to pinpoint what year this shopping mall first opened. I'm also not sure why the mall doesn't appear to maintain an official website (if they do, I sure haven't been able to find it), but current anchor stores are Target, T.J. Maxx, and Marshalls, last I heard.

An anonymous reader shared some fun memories of Coral Ridge the first time I featured it (initial comments reference the aerial in that original post):

"To the left right in front of Penny's is a Publix supermarket which is still open. Move further down in the picture and you will see the old Plitt Theatre (saw King Kong in '76 there), which was a nightclub last time I checked. I have never seen another building, much less a theater, that had this great architectural concave at the top of the roof. Very art deco-esque.

The interior had these wonderful skylights which let in ample yet understated lighting on a bright, sunny day. The ceiling was in a wave-effect pattern which only added to the mall's beauty. I also remember a small arcade where I saw Pac-Man for the first time! (It was on the left corridor exiting Penny's in the mall). They've since built a bigger arcade in almost the exact spot, but it wasn't as magical as the original.

Here is a current arial view of the mall in almost the exact frame. Notice all the new condominiums that have popped up over the years. This section of Ft. Laud is extremely affluent and ritzy, not to mention the property value has gone through the roof since the 70s. It's a realtor's dream."

Mall history: '50s or '60s - present
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view
Resource links: 1
Previous entries: 1, 2

San Antonio River Walk Shopping, '70s style

San Antonio, Texas - photos 1971

Not an indoor shopping mall here, obviously, but rather, a famous and historical outdoor pedestrian shopping center (among other attractions and services) located in quite a unique setting--along the winding San Antonio River! This is River Walk (aka Paseo del Rio), in downtown San Antonio. If you're interested, you can read all about its history from the various resource links I've provided at the end of this entry. I mainly just wanted to share these pretty pictures. :)

The photos and selected quotes and captions in this post were kindly provided by Jay (thanks again!), and come from an article titled “San Antonio Renaissance on the River”, from an April 1971 copy of Southern Living Magazine. The caption for the first photo above reads: “Brightly colored barges carry passengers beside the Starving Artist Show”, and the following content is all from the same article as well...

“Once abused and ticketed for a bed in oblivion, the San Antonio River is now a ‘movable feast’ of flowers and trees and shops. Today it not only flows, it swings.

It took time and careful planning to create the foreign, garden atmosphere of the river.

The shopping is as superb as it is varied: it’s mod, mad, Mexican, modish. There is even a high-style ladies’ emporium in the ultramodern Hilton Palacio del Rio, where the chic-minded can browse among the body furnishings with a full view of the river through a two-story sheet of bronzed glass.

The San Antonio River slips romantically along the tree-shaded walkways of El Paseo del Rio.

In 1962, before the river renaissance, 1 1/2 million visitors came to San Antonio; for 1971, the estimate is not less than 6 million."

Official website: here
Current aerial view
Resource links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

The Daily Mall Reader: J. L. Hudson Company Customers King! (in 1961 anyway)

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"No Embarrassed Customers"

TIME Magazine - Friday, Jun. 02, 1961

(Excerpt) Into the downtown Detroit department store of the J. L. Hudson Co. stomped an outraged customer, demanding to return a suit that he had bought a year before. He had just got around to taking it out of the box in which it was delivered. "Now look at it," he fumed. "It's wrinkled." Where most department stores might have offered a free pressing, Hudson's complaint department without a murmur refunded the full purchase price of the suit.

This attitude, the product of a scrupulously enforced rule that "the customer must never be embarrassed," has helped make the 80-year-old J.L. Hudson Co. a Detroit legend—and one of the nation's most successful retailers.

Read the full article here.

Town & Country Shopping Center construction

Fort Worth, Texas - 1958

Aerial photo of the Town & Country Shopping Center as it looked under construction in 1958. An interesting and raw look at the early stages of a shopping center's development (compare this with the finished, modern aerial view).

Can't find much background on this Town & Country Shopping Center, but it appears it's still around today. I've linked to a current aerial below, and do see some passing references to it being made on Google here and there. Don't see an official website or anything much in the way of solid historical info, so if anyone else out there is familiar with this shopping center I'd appreciate a few details. I'm mainly wondering what year it opened, and also, what its current retail health is like these days--assuming it still has some.

Mall history: n/a
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view
Previous entries: none

Mall Audio: Modern Shopping Mall Life Cycles

On May 20, of last month, the state of the American shopping mall (or de-mall) was discussed on a segment of NPR's (National Public Radio) All Things Considered show. California's Sherman Oaks Galleria is mentioned, along with Northgate Center (Seattle) and Laurel Mall (Washington DC). Click the title below to visit the page and listen to the segment.

"A Mall Makeover" - Shopping malls are an icon of American pop culture, but they face extinction unless they modernize. Debbie Elliott visits a Washington, D.C., area mall that's getting a makeover for the 21st century.

Thanks to Chris, of Exquisitely Bored in Nacogdoches, for the link!