Southcenter Mall

Tukwila, Washington - circa 1960s

Here's an old Southcenter Mall interior image dating to the '60s (not the best quality but you get the idea). The store on the left is called Bernie's (which appears to be a men's clothing store), and you can also just barely make out the mall's JCPenney anchor way down at the far end (see the beginning of the Penneys sign?). Speaking of which, here's the caption off another Southcenter postcard:

"The distinctive architecture of Southcenter is highlighted by the beautiful J.C. Penney store, largest in the Penney chain. Penneys is one of the four major department stores in Southcenter which along with 110 other stores makes it the largest shopping center in the Northwest and one of the largest in the world.

The main building covers 30 acres of the total 116 acre site. The center is 8 minutes south of Seattle at Tukwila and the Junction of Interstates 5 and 405."

Mall history: 1968 - present
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4

Fountian At The Landing Shopping Center

Kansas City, Missouri - 1960's

Wonderful sixties postcard photo of children playing around the brightly-colored "Noah's Ark" fountain in an open-air court at The Landing mall (or shopping center, whichever you prefer) in Kansas City, Missouri. Stuff like this is what magical childhood mall memories are made of!

Mall history: 1960 - present
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view
Previous entries: 1, 2

Sharpstown Center (aka Sharpstown Mall)

Houston, Texas - July, 1967

Interior photo of Sharpstown Center (or Sharpstown Mall), taken in July of 1967. Here's some past and more recent history from its Wikipedia entry:

"This is the second mall to be built in Houston after Gulfgate Mall opened in 1956. Sharpstown Center was the first air-conditioned, enclosed shopping mall in the Houston area. Because it was Houston's first air conditioned mall, many Houston residents residing in the central part of the city wanted to experience the 'mall of the future.'

In the early-1980s, a second floor was added and the mall extensively renovated from its original 1950s appearance. In the mid-1990s, the mall was branded as the 'Sharpstown Center.' In 1998, neighboring Westwood Mall with the area's Dillard's and Sears stores closed. National tenants have left Sharpstown Center in droves since the opening of First Colony Mall in nearby Sugar Land, and the mall is now nearly 25 percent vacant."

Mall history: 1961 - present
Developer: Frank Sharp
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: none

(study image courtesy of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries)

Sunrise Shopping Center (aka The Galleria Mall)

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida - 1960s

Here's a vibrant color postcard photo of the Jordan Marsh store looming high in the distance, above and anchoring a portion of the venerable Sunrise Shopping Center (as it was originally known) complex, along with a sweeping view of the beautiful surrounding areas. This shot looks West towards the shopping center, from the Intracoastal Waterway seen in the foreground.

In 1980 the Sunrise Shopping Center was fully enclosed, redeveloped and renamed The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale. I still prefer "Sunrise Shopping Center" myself, though.

Mall history: 1959 - present
Current aerial view
Current website: here
Previous entries: 1

Ala Moana Shopping Center

Honolulu, Hawaii - circa 196os

Gorgeous vintage postcard photo of a dazzling and colorful fountain in an outdoor court area at the Ala Moana Shopping Center. I believe this dates to sometime in the '60s. Caption on the back reads:

"Ala Moana Shopping Center - Pictured is a small portion of the fascinating array of fountains, trees, flowers, sculpture and art work found in this vast complex in Honolulu."

Mall history: 1959 - present
Architect: John Graham Jr.
Current aerial view
Current website: here
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

MOA Galleria - Downtown Shopping Park

Grand Junction, Colorado - circa 1960s

A beautiful and sunny '60s view of the Downtown Shopping Park (or Main Street Shopping Park), at the heart of the historic (and pedestrian-friendly) downtown shopping district in Grand Junction, CO.

Pleasantville, here we come!

International Malls: Place Ste-Foy Shopping Centre

Quebec, Canada - 1965

Old multi-view postcard of the positively retro-beautiful Place Ste-Foy Shopping Centre in Quebec, Canada, back in the mid-sixties--when it still looked this Swinging (it doesn't today, in case you were wondering), before its many makeovers and modernizing over the ensuing years. Check the huge birdcage there in the bottom picture!

Below are links to my previous entries on this cool Canadian mall (or Shopping Centre, as they like to refer to it), which was originally built in 1958. Here's Place Ste-Foy's current website (which I can't read).

More Place Ste-Foy: 1, 2

Winter Park Mall (now Winter Park Village)

Winter Park, Florida - circa 1960

Vintage postcard view (shot dates to around 1960) of Winter Park Mall, with it's incredible spilling chalice fountain--this was the way it originally looked when it first opened. It's since been completely redeveloped and transformed into a sprawling open-air lifestyle center dubbed, Winter Park Village. Below is a quote on the original mall's demise, from the website of Dover, Kohl & Partners, one of the firms involved in the redevelopment of Winter Park Mall in the late-'90s:

"Winter Park Mall, located in the heart of Winter Park, Florida, was hailed in the 1960s as a symbol of progress. The Mall was designed to compete directly for customers with nearby Park Avenue, the City's traditional Main Street. Starting in the 1980s, however, Winter Park Mall steadily declined in sales and lost tenants, while Park Avenue maintained its vitality and grew stronger. Park Avenue is now known as 'the Main Street that killed the Mall'."

Mall history: 1950s - late '90s (redeveloped)
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

JCPenney Store At Fremont Mall

Fremont, Nebraska - circa 1960s

Greetings from Fremont, Nebraska and the Fremont Mall... where shopping in the mall is a family affair! I know that because it says so on this cool vintage postcard, which shows not only the exterior of the Penney's (or JCPenney if you prefer) store at the mall, but also a good portion of its sign (the mall's).

I don't know a heck of a lot about Fremont Mall, but I don't have to, because Labelscar has my back on this one. They have both a great post on the mall with lots of info and contemporary photos, as well as a more recent shot taken from almost the same spot as this vintage one (and it still looks surprisingly similar!). Check it out.

Mall history: 1967 - present
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Previous entries: none

Winrock Shopping Center

Albuquerque, New Mexico - circa 1960s

Winrock Shopping Center interior in the sixties--before falling on hard retail times in more recent years. This classic, but now-defunct shopping mall's ultimate fate seems to be in limbo these days according to a December 2, 2006 user submitted entry on DeadMalls.com:

"About two years ago stores started closing up in Winrock. It seems the owners had decided to redevelop it as an open sky, town center style mall so they were not allowing tenants to renew their leases. One by one all the stores closed (except for Dillard's who owned their space).

Unfortunately, during this time another developer created a third open air mall across the street. Now the Winrock owners have decided not to redevelop their mall. Winrock now sits empty, rotting in the sun."

Mall history: 1961 - present
Architect: Victor Gruen
Current website: n/a
Current aerial view
Resource articles: 1, 2. 3. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Previous entries: 1, 2, 3

MOA Galleria - Sixties Retro Store Logos

House Beautiful - October 1969

From the October 1969 issue of House Beautiful magazine comes this cool retro ad heralding House Beautiful's alliance with 17 of "America's Great Stores", to help with all your various decorating and decor needs. There's some nifty vintage store names and logos here, from The Bon Marche, B Altman Co., and Jordan Marsh, to Gimbels, Rich's, and Bullock's. Thanks, Jay, for another great submission!

See more Galleria 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

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!

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)

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

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.

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

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.