Ala Moana Shopping Center Interior 1971

Following up on yesterday's Ala Moana entry, MOA reader, T.C., kindly submitted these great family photos. Many thanks, T.C.! I really appreciate you taking the time to share these with us here on the blog! The following are T.C.'s snapshots (nice views of the Koi fish pond), as well as the memories that go with them:

Hello, Keith,

I enjoy your "Malls of America" blog and thought you might like to have these three interior shots of Ala Moana shopping Center, Honolulu, taken in 1971.


When we lived in Hawaii, it was still the largest shopping mall in the United States...it still claims to be the largest open-air shopping center...when we were there, the anchor stores were Liberty House (now Macy's, it looks like from the directory on their current website) and Sears. Another favorite for clothes & such was McInerny's. (I hope I spelled that right!)

There was a store called Indian Imports on the lower level that was really popular for posters, black lights, etc., and all the wannabe hippies hung out there. And there was a two-story Woolworth's store, with a cafeteria that served the best strawberry shortcake on the planet. The year before we moved, they opened one of the island's first McDonald's...they had one of those "voice boxes" at each table where you could place your order.


I also remember that at Christmas they always brought in all of Santa's reindeer for a couple of weeks, which was a real novelty! And they always put a giant inflatable surfing Santa on top of Liberty House.

Take care,
T.C.

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