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!

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

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."

Michigan Mall in Downtown Battle Creek

Battle Creek, Michigan - circa 1970s

Great vintage view of a stylish and welcoming court area on the Michigan Mall (pedestrian shopping strip) in downtown Battle Creek, Michigan. You can make out part of a Kresge store sign on the left, and you just gotta love that retro clock sculpture in the center--though I'm not so sure "retro" quite describes its design, as it actually looks quite futuristic now that I think about it!

More Michigan Mall

(Study image courtesy of the Willard Public Library, Battle Creek)

Lincoln Road Mall Night Shopping

Miami Beach, Florida - circa 1960s(?)

Not an enclosed shopping mall photo, but an outdoor one that I had to post, just because it looks so darn nice. Here's a beautiful nighttime view of the historic Sterling Building and storefront, on the famous Lincoln Mall pedestrian shopping district, in Miami Florida. And dig that nifty looking lighted sculpture thingie! I'd give anything to have one of those for my front lawn, wouldn't you?

I believe this photograph dates to somewhere in the mid to late '60s or so, but I'm not positive of the exact year. See the previous entry below for another nice Lincoln Road Mall picture.

Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1

Burbank's Golden Mall

Burbank, California - circa 1970s

Field trip time outside! Here's the famous Golden Mall, an outdoor pedestrian shopping mall district that was located in downtown Burbank, and looking ever the place to be, here in this nifty early '70s vintage postcard I just couldn't resist posting. That's the Bur-Cal clothing store you see on the end with the cool script logo above the entrance.

Alas, the beautiful mall was completely removed and the area reopened to traffic in 1989 (the mall having originally opened in 1967). But if you're interested in learning more about The Golden Mall and would dig seeing lots more great pictures of it, be sure and visit the nice photo essay at Burbankia, by Wes Clark, of the fabulous Avocado Memories website (which I've loved for years), and Mike McDaniel. Tell 'em Malls of America sent ya! ;)