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)

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

Valley Plaza Shopping Center (Valley Plaza Mall)

Bakersfield, California - circa late '60s

Housing more than 140 retail stores, the Valley Plaza Shopping Center (now called Valley Plaza Mall and also referred to as Valley Plaza Center) opened in 1967 in Bakersfield, California, and is currently owned and managed by General Growth Properties, Inc. In the photo above you can see the original Sears anchor which is still there today. Here's the postcard's caption:

"The Valley Plaza Shopping Center, a 900,000 square foot enclosed mall shopping complex at Ming Avenue and New Freeway 99, was opened in February 1967. Seventy tenants occupy the mall, with Sears, The Broadway, and Brock's at terminal points of the enclosure. The huge parking area surrounding the main building also serves adjacent pavilion shopping facilities. Interior decor reflects the Spanish influence on Southern California in a contemporary manner."

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

Dinosaurs at Roebuck Shopping City!

Birmingham, Alabama - March, 1967

In March of 1967, a traveling dinosaur display sponsored by the Sinclair Oil Corporation (the dinos were originally from the 1964 Worlds Fair), made a stop at Roebuck Shopping City, one of Birmingham's earliest shopping centers. And we have the pictures to prove it! (courtesy of Birmingham Rewound)

I'm not real up on Roebuck Shopping City, so I have no idea whether or not it's still there and all that other good stuff (or where those dinosaurs may have stomped off to). A quick cursory web search turned up little. Please comment if you know anything about this shopping center today, or what it's fate ultimately was. I'm just curious.

Also see this: Jurassic Shopping Center!