Malls of America

Park City Center Mall Kiosk

2007-08-28T03:55:00.001-04:00

Lancaster, Pennsylvania - circa 1970sHere's a fun postcard shot taken inside the ever-moody Park City Center Mall in the 1970s (back when it was still dark and moody). In this photo we see a small kiosk store in the middle of the mall proper, but I need a little help with this one's name.It obviously sells nuts, but it's a store I'm not familiar with at all, and the back of the postcard is no

MOA Galleria - Spider-Man At Korvettes In Sunrise Mall, 1977

2007-08-28T03:47:00.001-04:00

Massapequa, New York - 1977Spider-Man makes a promotional appearance at the Korvettes store in Sunrise Mall in 1977! This image is courtesy of my friends at the fantastic Mego Museum, the website devoted to vintage Mego toys (thanks especially to Brian over there, for alerting me to these!). Here's a description from their page (where there's more shots!):"We've all heard of Mego Store

Southcenter Mall

2007-08-28T03:41:00.001-04:00

Tukwila, Washington - circa 1960sHere'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

Fountian At The Landing Shopping Center

2007-08-21T05:54:00.001-04:00

Kansas City, Missouri - 1960'sWonderful 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 - presentCurrent website: n/aCurrent aerial viewPrevious entries: 1, 2

Mystery Mall (Columbia Mall?)

2007-08-21T05:44:00.001-04:00

Columbia, Maryland - circa early '80sI recently received the following e-mail (with the above photo attached) from MOA reader, Jeanine Long:"Found this photo while going through old pictures. It is a lovely shot of an indoor fountain in a two story mall. The whole family tried to remember what mall it was but we are coming up short. We live in Northern Ohio in the Cleveland area but it may have

The Daily Mall Reader: Shopping Malls Grow With Suburbs

2007-08-21T05:39:00.001-04:00

A daily dose of mall-related reading..."Flight To The Suburbs"Business Must Follow The DollarTIME Magazine - Monday, Mar. 22, 1954(Excerpt) The enormous growth of the U.S. population has meant vast new markets in everything from baby carriages to washing machines and wrist watches. Will every retailer cash in on the bonanza? Not at all. The reason is that since 1940,

Mall Sign: Lakewood Shopping Center

2007-08-21T05:27:00.000-04:00

Lakewood, California - circa 1950sThe very bold and distinctive looking entrance sign at the Lakewood Shopping Center (or just Lakewood Center) as seen in the 1950s. This photo find comes courtesy of Brian Neuroth. Thanks, Brian! This is a great sign design to study, where less (in this case anyway), is obviously more.Mall history: 1952 - presentCurrent website: hereCurrent aerial viewInfo from

Sharpstown Center (aka Sharpstown Mall)

2007-08-14T03:46:00.000-04:00

Houston, Texas - July, 1967Interior 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 Sign: Vineland Shopping Center

2007-08-14T03:40:00.000-04:00

Vineland, New Jersey - 1973The Vineland Shopping Center and its swanky signage, in this fantastic vintage snapshot taken back in 1973. Photo is courtesy of this flickr photoset, which also contains an interesting side-by-side shot of this image, along with an updated one of the same sign (yes, it's still there) at the Vineland Shopping Center, taken much more recently. (Surprise! Though similar,

The Daily Mall Reader: Kresge & Kmart, Woolworth & Woolco, And Grant Too

2007-08-14T03:39:00.000-04:00

A daily dose of mall-related reading..."Strength in Variety"TIME Magazine - Friday, Nov. 20, 1964(Excerpt) S.S. Kresge is a man as well as a variety store, and, at 97, he was recently called out of retirement to address the annual meeting of the chain that he forged. While stockholders applauded, old S.S. (for Sebastian Spering) got up and exhorted them to make

Sunrise Shopping Center (aka The Galleria Mall)

2007-08-14T03:38:00.000-04:00

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida - 1960sHere'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

Ala Moana Shopping Center

2007-08-07T04:30:00.000-04:00

Honolulu, Hawaii - circa 196osGorgeous 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

The Daily Mall Reader: Tanforan Mall Redevelopment

2007-08-07T04:24:00.000-04:00

A daily dose of mall-related reading..."CASE STUDY: Tanforan Turnaround"Retail Traffic - September 1, 2005(Excerpt) The site of the new Shops at Tanforan in San Bruno, Calif. was a retail developer's dream.Located five miles south of San Francisco, in an area where the average household income is $90,000, it housed an underused mall known as the Tanforan Shopping

MOA Galleria - Lora Lee Dress Shop Window

2007-08-07T04:19:00.000-04:00

New York - circa 1950sNighttime in 1950s New York. And here's the posh and fashionable window display (complete with Mannequins) at the Lora Lee Dress Shop, just oozing charm and retro swank!See more MOA Galleria here!

Retro Mall Video: Wausau Center Mall Commercial

2007-08-07T04:15:00.000-04:00

Wausau Center Mall commercial (1983)Here's a fun 1983 TV commercial for the grand opening of the Wausau Center Mall in downtown Wausau, Wisconsin. This shopping mall (which underwent a mall-wide, multi-million dollar renovation in 2006) is currently anchored by JCPenney, Sears, and Younkers stores.Watch more Retro Mall videos here!

Tanforan Shopping Center (aka The Shops At Tanforan)

2007-08-07T04:13:00.000-04:00

San Bruno, California - circa 1970sNow called The Shops At Tanforan, the Tanforan Shopping Center (or Tanforan Park Mall) originally opened in 1971, and then was rebuilt and updated in 2003. Current anchors include Sears, Barnes & Noble, Target, and JCPenney. The vintage interior photo above is from one of the mall's 1970s postcards.Apparently it's a pretty swanky place to shop today. Here's a

Stonestown Shopping Center (aka Stonestown Galleria)

2007-08-01T02:55:00.000-04:00

San Francisco, California - circa 1950sA very moody old newspaper photograph of the Stonestown Shopping Center (now Stonestown Galleria) back in its 1950s heyday. Once again, there's that distinctive Emporium store facade design looming high over the mall, which can also be seen more clearly in one of my past entries on this classic San Francisco shopping center. A few Wikipedia notes on its

The Daily Mall Reader: Vintage Shopping Malls Out Of Fashion?

2007-08-01T02:51:00.000-04:00

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

Retro Mall Video: Mays Department Store Commercial

2007-08-01T02:49:00.000-04:00

Mays store TV commercial (1979)Retro 1979 TV commercial for the popular New York-area Mays department store chain. From everything I've read, Mays sounds like it was a pretty cool department store with lots of colorful character. And I really dig their commercials and catchy jingle! "Every day's a sale day at Mays!"Best of all, this ad features the ubiquitous Proctor-Silex coffee makers, which

MOA Galleria - Downtown Shopping Park

2007-08-01T02:47:00.000-04:00

Grand Junction, Colorado - circa 1960sA 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!

Crossroads Center Mall 1970s

2007-07-30T03:51:00.000-04:00

Waterloo, Iowa - circa early '70sFour vintage seventies photos of the Crossroads Center mall on one postcard, with exterior views of Sears, JCPenney, and Osco Drug all visible here, as well as a couple really groovy interior mall shots, too!Some of Crossroads Center mall's current anchors and stores include Dillard's, Gordmans, the aforementioned JCPenney and Sears, Old Navy, and Younkers.Mall

The Daily Mall Reader: Fall Of The Mall

2007-07-30T03:35:00.000-04:00

A daily dose of mall-related reading..."The fall of the mall: We are still shopping, but the citadels of retail are fast becoming irrelevant"The National Post - June 15, 2004(Excerpt) My first and last visit to the gigantic West Edmonton Mall, around 1990, compressed into two hours the feelings that people have been reporting since the original enclosed shopping mall

Retro Mall Video: Slim Jeans Commercial

2007-07-30T03:20:00.000-04:00

Slim Jeans commercial (early '80s)Behold, it's Slim Jeans! "The uncommon jeans for people with a common problem!" :DWow, I remember seeing these commercials on late night TV back in the day, and even remember seeing these, uh, "jeans" in stores and at the malls. They're actually still sold today in one form or another, especially in the backs of magazines and in gift catalogs and whatnot. Can't

Stonestown Shopping Center (aka Stonestown Galleria)

2007-07-30T03:13:00.000-04:00

San Francisco, California - circa 1950sSwanky '50s postcard photo of the Stonestown Shopping Center (now Stonestown Galleria) in San Francisco, California. Lots of vintage store signage on display in this shot, including Walgreens, JM (was this the clothing store?), and The Emporium department store (with the distinctive "E" logo) in the background.Thanks very much to, Brian Neuroth, for

Northway Mall: Mountain of Merchandise Auto Show

2007-07-23T04:01:00.000-04:00

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - circa 1960sVintage photo of an auto show underway at Northway Mall in the 1960s (most likely around 1964, I believe). Judging by the pic's label, I'm guessing this was taken during a "Mountain of Merchandise" promotional sales event at the mall. And in fact, if you look real close, you can actually make out what appears to be a literal mountain of merchandise in the