Your town's first mall (was: Re: History of shopping malls (and freeways))
Brandon Gorte
center, and the significance of the roads around/leading to it?
Joliet, IL: Hillcrest Shopping Center.
This mall opened in late (Oct/Nov) 1959 at the corner of Larkin Av and
Plainfield Rd in unincorporated Lockport Township (just north of the
Joliet City Limits). Its original anchors were The Boston Store and
Goldblatt's. It also had a Jewel Food Store (just south of Theodore)
and a Walgreen's. Originally, it was an open air mall with parking
all around the mall. The anchors were at the north (Boston Store) and
south (Goldblatt's) ends of the mall. A two screen theatre was added
shortly after the mall was built in the SE corner of the parking lot
(out front). The Boston Store left in 1976-77, and the mall was
turned into a strip about that time. Service Merchandise then took up
residence in The Boston Store space. Goldblatt's left in 1983-84,
with Venture taking the space a year or two later. The mall was then
changed then with stores infront of the old Goldblatt's entrance, and
Venture's entrance further south, in another old Goldblatt's entrance.
A small strip was added north of Service Merchandise, between it and
Plainfield Rd in the mid '80s. The theatre closed in the mid '90s,
and it was replaced by a strip facing north towards the parking lot.
Venture went belly-up in 1998, and it was replaced by Ames a year
later. Now, Ames is gone. As for Service Merchandise, they left in
1985 to North Ridge Plaza, kitty-corner across Larkin and Theodore.
The space then became Highland Electronics, and now it houses Rand's
Hallmark, All-American Furniture (upstairs), and two other businesses.
The Jewel still exists with an Osco added on, and it has been
expanded a few times. Walgreen's left to a free-standing store at
Ingalls and Larkin, a half-mile south. Hillcrest can be found in
Crest Hill, incorporated in 1960. As for the Ames space, the owners
would like to see Goldblatt's back.... :-)
Brandon Gorte
bmg...@hotmail.com
Joliet, IL
stéphane dumas
"Brandon Gorte" <bmg...@hotmail.com> a écrit dans le message news:
a95282e7.02022...@posting.google.com...
> While we're on this topic, what was your town's first mall/shopping
> center, and the significance of the roads around/leading to it?
Sherbrooke
the first one are
Promenades King (located on King Street) opened in 1960, the Dominion
supermarket became a Provigo in the early 1980's
Place Belvedere (located at the corner of Galt and Belvedere Streets, the
Steinberg was replaced by a SuperC and the Miracle Mart closed) opened in
1966
the most important shopping center is the Carrefour de l'Estrie opened in
1974
>
> > Brandon Gorte
> bmg...@hotmail.com
> Joliet, IL
Stéphane Dumas steph...@videotron.ca
Jeff Kitsko
town:
Greengate Mall
Greensburg, PA
Opened in the 1960s on a then little developed area west of Greensburg near
the western end of the newly opened Greensburg Bypass (US 30). Original
anchors were JCPenny's, Montgomery Wards, and Horne's. The mall was
remodeled in the mid-1980s. In 1992, JCPennys moved down 30 to a new wing
Westmoreland Mall was building for them. In 1994, Horne's became Lazarus
and closed in 1999. The last anchor, Ward's, closed due to the company
filing Chapter 11. The only stores that remained were small retailers and
the JCPennys store space became an exhibition hall and is still used as that
today. The company who owns the mall evicted everyone in 2001, meanwhile
there are signs out front that state "Space Available - (###) ###-####"
which has angered the former tennants. There was talk that Wal-Mart is
interested in the land, why I don't know because they built a store at
Hempfield Plaza down the road in 1993. Perhaps they want to make a Super
Wal-Mart and Sam's Club in one area.
--
Jeff Kitsko
Pennsylvania Highways: http://www.pahighways.com/
Pittsburgh Highways: http://www.pahighways.com/pghhwys/
Philadelphia Highways: http://www.pahighways.com/phlhwys/
"Brandon Gorte" <bmg...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a95282e7.02022...@posting.google.com...
Exile on Market Street
bmg...@hotmail.com (Brandon Gorte) wrote:
> While we're on this topic, what was your town's first mall/shopping
> center, and the significance of the roads around/leading to it?
I've already mentioned the first shopping center in my hometown (and the
US) and the city where I live now. I believe the first shopping center in
the Boston area, where I attended college, is Shoppers' World in
Framingham, opened in 1950.
As for the roads:
The Plaza did play a role in the further development of Kansas City's
system of boulevards, as a new one -- Mill Creek Parkway (later renamed to
honor Nichols) -- was built to connect it to a major thoroughfare,
Broadway, that terminated in Westport at the time. It also sat at the
northern end of Ward Parkway, the showcase boulevard through Nichols'
Country Club District, and connected that boulevard with Brookside
Boulevard. Like many early-20th-century suburban developments, the Plaza
was also well-served by local transit, with the Country Club and Sunset
Hill streetcar lines running through or near the center.
--The closest major thoroughfares to Suburban Square are Lancaster Avenue
(US 30) and Montgomery Avenue, though neither one serves the center
directly (Montgomery Ave comes close). The shopping center, however, *is*
directly next to Ardmore station on SEPTA's R5 Paoli/Downingtown Regional
Rail line (the legendary "Main Line").
--
Sandy Smith, University Relations / 215.898.1423 / smi...@pobox.upenn.edu
Managing Editor, _Pennsylvania Current_ cur...@pobox.upenn.edu
Penn Web Team -- Web Editor webm...@isc.upenn.edu
I speak for myself here, not Penn http://pobox.upenn.edu/~smiths/
"It doesn't take so much effort. Find the words. Write it yourself."
--History Professor Thomas Childers, on the subject of writing (as
-----opposed to appropriating) good prose (_The New York Times_ 1/15/02)--
J.P. Kirby
Brandon Gorte wrote:
>
> While we're on this topic, what was your town's first mall/shopping
> center, and the significance of the roads around/leading to it?
>
Fredericton NB:
The first first shopping plaza was York Plaza (1957), which is very
small (15 stores at most), has always been a "strip" mall where all the
entrances are from the outside. The only anchor was a Sobeys
supermarket, which pulled out in the 1970s or 1980s. Sobey's immediately
put their bargain label, Lofood, in there, and it remains there today.
York Plaza is now nothing more than an afterthought in the local
mall/plaza scene.
As for the roads surrounding it, nothing special: it is located on Main
Street, then route 21, later route 105 and now with no number
whatsoever. Over a mile from anything resembling a freeway.
The first enclosed mall didn't open until 1971 - Fredericton Mall (nice
creative name, eh?). It's a rather long strip (only about 50 stores
though) sandwiched between Prospect Street and the 4-lane
then-Trans-Canada highway, which became route 8 last year. The mall is,
and has always been, anchored by Zellers at one end and Sobeys (again)
at the other end. There is also a big box slot in the middle, which was
originally a deep-discount chain (The Met) which closed in the late 80s
and converted into a food court. The food court vanished by 1996 or so
and was re-converted into a Staples, one of (if not the) only Staples
located in a shopping mall.
The trend in Canada, unlike in the USA, for small regional cities like
Fredericton, is not to build one big 200-store shopping mall with 4-5
anchors, but two or three smaller malls in different parts of the city
with 2 or 3 anchors each. (Two more malls have been constructed since in
Fredericton: Regent Mall, the largest in the city, in 1976, and
Brookside Mall in 1980.)
Another note: the first plaza in Saint John NB was Lansdowne Place in
1958, anchored by Simpson's (now Sears) and Sobeys (still there). It has
never been enclosed. Sears pulled out in 1976 or so and was replaced by
Zellers. The North End, the neighborhood surrounding the mall, has
passed it by - it's now one of the poorer parts of the city, and the
whole place looks forlorn except for the recently-remodeled Sobeys. (One
of the outlots has a KFC which still has "Kentucky Fried Chicken" on its
sign!) Way back when, when there were no freeways in Saint John, route 1
went past Lansdowne Place. Now it's five blocks from any numbered
highway at all.
--
J.P. Kirby - v5...@unb.ca jpk...@hotmail.com
Website returning soon.
------------
"The Americans had our flag on their floor in the dressing room, and now
I want to know if they want to come and sign it."
- Canadian women's hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser, after defeating
the USA in the gold medal game, 2/21/02
peacock
Center. It opened in ca. 1970. When it first opened, there was a
Cunningham's drugstore and an A & P. The A & P moved to the then-empty
south end, and the Cunningham's took over the old A & P. Essentially, all
the stores shifted southward. Then, the old Cunningham's became a carpet
shop, and the new Cunningham's became Perry. Then the carpet shop closed,
and the Perry became Rite Aid, resulting in two Rite Aids in Oscoda. In
ca. 1993, the A & P closed. Shortly afterward, it was rumored to be
converting to Farmer Jack. Instead, it opened as Big Valu. In 1996, the
Rite Aids moved to a new location, and the old carpet shop became a
health complex. At about the same time, Big Valu changed to Carter's. So
the entire plaza comprises just one dinky Carter's grocery store. The old
Rite Aid and the old health complex are empty.
(P. S. This is a really dingy Carter's. I know they can do better than
that!)
US-23, the route that runs by it, is still on the same route that
predecessor M-10 ran on in the 1920's, but that's about the only stretch
in the county that does.
--
from the iBook of Bobby Peacock
Unofficially Certified Roadgeek and Artist
Work in Progress
^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^
"Parts is parts." -- Dave Thomas
Dustin Carpenter
Growing up in Minnesota, the only malls I know well are Red Wing Mall (guess
where that is!), Apache Mall (Rochester), Burnsville Center, and Mall of
America. I've also been to the Augusta Mall off of the Bobby Jones Expy in
Georgia, no grocery store there either. Kroger across the street
(Wrightsboro Rd).
Did the majority of malls (open air of sheltered) first have grocery stores.
Do most malls still have them as anchors?
"Brandon Gorte" <bmg...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a95282e7.02022...@posting.google.com...
Matt
> center, and the significance of the roads around/leading to it?
Fond Du Lac WI:
~ First Shopping Plaza:
My information is real sketchy, partly because I wasn't born until 1978, and
from what I was told, most shopping was done downtown well into the mid
1960s. By the late 1960s, the city got its first plaza on S. Main St.
(about a mile away from U.S. Hyw 41) called SouthTown Shopping Center.
Original anchors were a department store called Tempo, and Ben Franklin.
Other tenants included a locally owned pharmacy, Radio Shack, hardware
store, and several other specialty stores. By the mid 1970s, Tempo shut,
and Red Owl (Supermarkets) moved into its space. An adjacent enclosed mall
(real small and anchorless) was built in the early 1980s, and is called
"Cobblestone Square". This however was a failure form the beginning, thanks
to high rents.
Red Owl ceased to exist in 1992, and 2 years later, re-opened as Super Fair
Foods (Local name, not a chain), only to close again a year and a half after
opening. Ben Franklin shut in early 1988, the pharmacy changed names in
1986 before shutting for good in 1988 as well. Soon the whole strip (sans
the grocery store) was empty.
Today it now hosts a Save-A-Lot foods and Family Dollar store (In the former
grocery/department store space), offices, and a pizza parlor (Mancino's)
The enclosed mall building is mostly vacant, but there's an excellent
steakhouse that was built into several former spaces.
As for road significance, it hasn't done nothing, unless the U.S. 41 exit
onto S. Main wasn't existing before the plaza was built.
~ First Enclosed Mall: (Again, this is all info I got from folks in the
city)
Forest Mall: Now originally, there was a PrangeWay / H.C.Prange Co. store
here, built in the late 1960s/early 70s. The mall was built onto these 2
stores and opened in 1973. Original anchors were the H.C.Prange's Dept.
Store, PrangeWay (Discount store), Penney's (w/ old logo) and Montgomery
Ward (because Sheboygan already had a Sears, and FDL's Sears was still
downtown until 1977). It also had 2 'junior anchors' by Wards, an A&P
grocery (front side of mall), and G.C. Murphys (Back side of mall) plus 40
other stores.
A timeline of changes follows...there were plenty of them:
- A&P shut pretty quickly and was sub-divided into a video game arcade, The
Id (apparel) K-B Toy, County Seat, and Lerner (Apparel),
- Murphy's hung in until late 1983, when they finally called it quits.
Their space was sub-divided in 1984 into a Regis Salon, Deb Shop (now under
renovation) and a vacancy (until 1988 when Dunhams Sports moved in)
- Wards also pulled out in early 1984, and was replaced by Kohls Dept. Store
(w/ new (current) logo).
- Mall renovation in 1985.
- H.C.Prange files Bankrupt in 1992, replaced by Younkers in Autumn of that
year.
- PrangeWay becomes independantly owned in WI, declares Bankrupt in 1995
(Blame Wal-Mart, they just love killing off all these old chains. :( ),
shutters in March 1996.
- Staples Office Supply gobbles up Id, Lerner, K-B, the arcade, and County
Seat, thus reverting the space back to its normal state when A&P was in the
mall. (early 1996)
- Sears takes over former PrangeWay space. Grand opening was August 1997.
- Mall is renovated again starting in late 1997 and throughout 1998 (I got
to witness this remodeling all the way through, going to the mall at least
once a week....it was really neat seeing the hall completely gutted out and
transformed.)
- Penney's remodels / expands (1998)
- Gap gobbles up 4 spaces and opens (1999)
- Kohls Remodels / expands (2001)
Today the mall seems to be struggling a bit finding tenants for several
smaller spaces. The only store remodeling right now is the Deb Shop, which
had that old mirrored facade and a fuschia-colored "DEB" sign. The anchors
now are Kohls, Sears, Younkers, Penneys, and Staples.
There's a plaza across the street (U.S. Hwy 23 / Johnson St.) which has a
Big K-mart (probably for not much longer) and a Pick 'n Save supermarket (WI
/ Northern IL chain).
Road significance.....well it's caused a major revamp of U.S. Hyw 23 to
occurr. They just finished up the western half. A bridge that goes over a
pair of railroad tracks in the city was erected, and the entire route is
widened to 4 lanes now, and 6 lanes at the mall. We get shoppers from
Washington, Sheboygan, Dodge, Green Lake, Calumet and Winnebago counties.
This year, they work on the east half (from Main St. to the corner of
National Ave.
-Matt
====
"Yeah, Lots of space in this mall"
Elwood - Blues Bros. (1980)
http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/shoppers_paradise
US71
> While we're on this topic, what was your town's first mall/shopping
> center, and the significance of the roads around/leading to it?
>
Fayetteville, AR: the first shopping center was Evelyn Hills anchored
on one end by Fairway Grocery (later IGA) and Montgomery Wards on the
other, built in the 1950's (I think). It had a variety of retail
stores and several doctor offices.
None of the original businesses remain... MW went bankrupt, but was
recently taken over by Ozark Natural Foods. IGA closed their store
there in the early 1990's and it was taken over by Anthony's which
later to become Stage. Stage closed this location 2 years ago when
they filed for bankruptcy.
There are still a few doctor offices, but all the original tenants
have left.
Matt
"US71" <us...@angelfire.com> wrote in message
news:95eeb882.02022...@posting.google.com...
Yeah, Stage really took a hit 2 years ago. I don't think they have many
stores left. Steven's Point WI, had a Stage store built onto the
CenterPoint Marketplace (Mall) in 1998 (When I went there it was still under
construction). They shut when Stage declaired bankruptcy (as you stated).
-Matt
=====
"Yeah, Lots of space in this mall"
Elwood - The Blues Bros.
http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/shoppers_paradise
peacock
It opened, IIRC, with a J C Penney and a K-Mart for anchors. The K-Mart was
supposed to have been a Target, but Target wimped out. Most of the stores
are pretty much the same. This mall doesn't really have a food court, but it
did have a family restaurant (now closed) and now has a little diner (Red
Apple Cafe). In ca. 1996, the K-Mart moved across the street. The old K-Mart
sat empty for a while. Later, it was bisected into a GFS bulk market and a
Stage. Stage went bankrupt, and the stage half is now a Glick's department
store. The newer K-Mart, however, is said to be going out of business soon.
Interestingly, the GFS isn't connected to the mall itself. You have to go
outside to get to it.
Very many stores exist in this mall; almost nothing is empty. But then
again, this mall wasn't planned well in the first place. Current tenants
include Waldenbooks, Claire's, Hallmark, Radio Shack, GNC, and Foot Locker.
However, Alpena's first *shopping center* --- who knows?! :-P It may have
been Bear Point, Neiman's, Ripley St. Station, or the downtown plaza.
TEXAS
"peacock" <pea...@voyager.net> wrote a bunch of off-topic garbage:
<snip>
I thought you promised to quit making all these off-topic posts....
LBracey
biggest mall for miles, and everyone flocked there. There was a
JCPenney, Gayfers, and Woolco. A combination of crime, and the
opening of Metrocenter in 1978 in south Jackson helped kill the mall.
Woolco closed in 1982, and JCPenney moved to the newer Northpark Mall
in Ridgeland in 1985. Gayfers moved there in 1987. As a result, the
mall stood there as a shell of it's former self for many years. There
were many proposed ideas for the mall, including converting it into a
prison (since a good deal of lowlifes live around the area, but many
black leaders shot that idea down quickly). In the mid-90s, they
decided to convert it into the Jackson Medical mall, with several
medical facilities inside the mall. It has really been a boost to the
area.
"Matt" <anime...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<u7dirld...@corp.supernews.com>...
peacock
right.
TEXAS wrote:
--
Matt
@ Yahoo. It's easy to sign up, just a few clicks, a short form to fill out,
and you're in.
I did it to keep most of the OT 'mall' this, 'downtown' that stuff as much
out of this NG as possible, so we don't get too many frequenters to this NG
mad at us.
http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/shoppers_paradise is the link. There we can
discuss any and every kind of retailing topics, be it mall histories, dead
chains, etc etc. I plan on having a featured topic every week or 2, and I
also plan on putting up images (pictures) and it also allows me to have
polls for members to vote on.
-Matt
"peacock" <pea...@voyager.net> wrote in message
news:3c786f68$0$35567$2c3e...@news.voyager.net...
peacock
Matt
> "Document not available" it says.
>
Ahh, I see where I made my mistake. Thanks for telling me.
the 'working' address is below.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shoppers_paradise
Now try that.
-Matt
M Boggus
> center, and the significance of the roads around/leading to it?
The first enclosed shopping mall in Chattanooga was Eastgate Mall on
Brainerd Rd. which is US 11/64 going out of town to the east. Built
in the early 60's next to an older shopping center it had 3 anchors:
Loveman's (which is now Proffitt's), Millers (which was bought by
Hess' before their problems) and J. C. Penney. Eastgate's problem was
that it was located right by the I-24/75 interchange and TDOT would
not built an exit for them in the middle of a interstate interchange.
You can easily see Eastgate from I-75 but you can't see how to get to
it. In 1987 a new mall (Hamilton Place) was built farther out on I-75
with more room and easier access so all of Eastgate's anchor's
eventually moved to new mall that had 6 anchors.
Eastgate is still there but is mostly an office complex except for
Goody's and a few outlet Shops
no-spam
build an unenclosed mall in a place with such nasty, cold winter weather ???
"M Boggus" <mc3...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:9ead82bf.0202...@posting.google.com...
Matt
"no-spam" <nos...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:C0ie8.12561$Im1.8...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> What is the deal with Old Orchard Mall in Skokie IL ?? Why would anyone
> build an unenclosed mall in a place with such nasty, cold winter weather
???
>
Tell that to the developers of some malls up here in WI. Oshkosh, which had
Park Plaza (Sears, Penney's & Younkers were anchors) is now nothing more
than offices, thanks to Appleton's shopping choices. Also West Bend WI,
which had 2 malls across from each other on the south end of the old Hyw. 45
routing, which went through the city. They were WestFair Mall (Opened 1970:
ShopKo / Sentry Foods were anchors when I first went there) & Washington
Square (Opened 1979: Washington Square later expanded and renamed Paradise
Mall in 1988. Kohls was the flagship anchor, expansion yeilded a new
ShopKo, and a small JCPenney This was really a nice mall with an upscale
look to it, yet it couldn't retain any tenants It was a failure from the
beginning, and I was disappointed to see it converted to a 'plaza'. I still
have a bunch of copies of it's directory though, so at least I've got
something to remember it by)
Today both cities are home to several strip malls (plazas) but nothing
enclosed anymore.
It hasn't been cold around here lately (the last few years) but when it gets
cold, it gets 'COLD'.
-Matt
=====
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shoppers_paradise
US71
> build an unenclosed mall in a place with such nasty, cold winter weather ???
>
You mean, like Park Forest South or Dixie Square? ;)
Pete Jenior
Atlanta, Lennox is still thriving and one of the most popular in the city.
---
-Pete Jenior - Cincinnati, Ohio
-Freshman Civil Engineering Major
Georgia Tech (downtown Atlanta)
~~~~
"You're on the road
But you've got no destination"
-U2, "Beautiful Day"
"Brandon Gorte" <bmg...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:a95282e7.02022...@posting.google.com...
Michael Boguslawski
> "Brandon Gorte" <bmg...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:a95282e7.02022...@posting.google.com...
> > While we're on this topic, what was your town's first mall/shopping
> > center, and the significance of the roads around/leading to it?
>
Might as well weigh in...
San Francisco, CA
First mall was the Stonestown Shopping Center, opened summer of 1952 on a
site adjacent to 19th Ave. (CA Route 1) and Lake Merced. Was part of a
larger development including residential townhouses and hi-rises (built c.
1950) as well as a medical/professional building. Open-air, single level and
anchored by Emporium-Capwell (north end) and Butler Brothers. (south end).
I've heard it referred to as the first shopping mall in U.S., but not sure
on what criteria that claim was based. Odd in that the south anchor (Butler
Bros.) wasn't connected to the mall, but was seperated from it by a street
(Winston Drive). An I. Magnin store was built just north of the Emporium and
opened about a year after the rest of the mall. By the time I moved to SF in
'83, the south anchor was Bullock's and building had been connected to the
rest of the mall via a pedestrian overcrossing. Bullock's closed in late
80's. In early 1990's, original mall was leveled and rebuilt as the
enclosed, two-story 'Stonestown Galleria', with Nordstrom becoming the south
anchor. I. Magnin closed in 1994 and building taken over by Tower Records &
The Good Guys. Emporium bought up by, and changed to, Macy's in 1995.
Fungus and Cheese
Rochester. The mall was owned by anchors McCurdy's and B Forman Co.
Sibley's flagship store was accross the street and the mall was the hub of
downtown for years. It is in decline now, hopefully something will happen
to bring it back.
--
-----
for more on fungus and cheese...
http://www.angelfire.com/ny3/fungusandcheese
"LBracey" <lbr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:39d2c94d.02022...@posting.google.com...
Daniel Dey
"Fungus and Cheese" <fungusa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:UiKf8.18857$V15.2...@typhoon.nyroc.rr.com...
> Dont forget, the first indoor downtown shopping mall was Midtown Plaza in
> Rochester. The mall was owned by anchors McCurdy's and B Forman Co.
> Sibley's flagship store was accross the street and the mall was the hub of
> downtown for years. It is in decline now, hopefully something will happen
> to bring it back.
>
> --
former home[?]) was built sometime in the late 1960's. Too bad NY 347 wasn't
turned into an expressway first.
Daniel Timothy Dey
Peter Rosa
A plaque on the outside of the Macy's at Smith Haven, I've noticed it
because it's near the entrance we always use, says "1968." That's
presumably the year the store, and the bulk of the mall as well, was
built.
--
Peter Rosa
pros...@yahoo.com
R32...@aol.com
Steve Anderson
>
> "Daniel Dey" <dtd1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<3u0j8.6790$P4.5...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...
> > I'm pretty sure the Smith Haven Mall, in Lake Grove NY(Steve Anderson's
> > former home[?]) was built sometime in the late 1960's. Too bad NY 347 wasn't
> > turned into an expressway first.
> >
about one-half mile south of the Smith Haven Mall.
> A plaque on the outside of the Macy's at Smith Haven, I've noticed it
> because it's near the entrance we always use, says "1968." That's
> presumably the year the store, and the bulk of the mall as well, was
> built.
>
The Smith Haven Mall opened (I belive) in October 1969; it was renovated
in 1986. Today, it looks like a museum piece from the mid-1980's.
-- Steve Anderson
http://www.nycroads.com
http://www.phillyroads.com
http://www.bostonroads.com
Exile on Market Street
pros...@yahoo.com (Peter Rosa) wrote:
> A plaque on the outside of the Macy's at Smith Haven, I've noticed it
> because it's near the entrance we always use, says "1968." That's
> presumably the year the store, and the bulk of the mall as well, was
> built.
Growing up in Kansas City when Macy's still had stores there, I noticed
that every Macy's store had a cornerstone or plaque with the date of
construction/opening on the building, from the first local Macy's (Downtown
KC, 1949, taking over the building built in 1881 as John Taylor Dry Goods,
also noted on the plaque) to the last (Independence Center, 1975), though I
couldn't find the one on the Mission Shopping Center store (the first
suburban KC Macy's, opened in 1955; there, I've just confessed to being a
cornerstone geek).
I knew of no other department store chain that did this, until I moved to
Philadelphia and saw cornerstones on every Strawbridge & Clothier store.
Are/were there any other chains that did this?
--
Sandy Smith, Univ of Pennsylvania / 215.898.1423 / smi...@pobox.upenn.edu
Managing Editor, _Pennsylvania Current_ cur...@pobox.upenn.edu
Penn Web Team -- Web Editor webm...@isc.upenn.edu
I speak for myself here, not Penn http://pobox.upenn.edu/~smiths/
"There is no biological basis for racism."
-----Ernst Mayr, "The biological basis of race," _Daedalus_, Winter 2002--
Peter Rosa
> Peter Rosa wrote:
> > A plaque on the outside of the Macy's at Smith Haven, I've noticed it
> > because it's near the entrance we always use, says "1968." That's
> > presumably the year the store, and the bulk of the mall as well, was
> > built.
> >
> The Smith Haven Mall opened (I belive) in October 1969; it was renovated
> in 1986. Today, it looks like a museum piece from the mid-1980's.
Dunno about the museum-piece part ... Smith Haven looks pretty much
like your generic, anywhere-in-America suburban mall. My only real
criticism of the place (which I usually go at least 2X per week) is
that the lighting is a bit dim in some corridors. Oh, and while this
may not be the mall's responsibility, there's some sort of sewage
pumping facility near the SE corner of the parking lot which,
depending on wind directon, can be a bit odiferous.
Lisa nor Jeff
though it had handsome plaques "Louis Bamberger & Co."
Bamberger's was sold to Macy's back in the 1930s, and kept its name
until not that long ago.
Bamberger donated the money from the sale to begin the Institute for
Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ.
Strawbridge & Clothier also put plaques on its Clover stores (discount
division). S&C was one of the first dept store chains to open suburban
branches, one was opened in Ardmore (near US 30), the other in
Jenkintown (near then US 611) in the 1920s. The Ardmore location is
still in business, though the Jekintown one closed and moved elsewhere,
the handsome building was rennovated for other uses.
Exile on Market Street
> Strawbridge & Clothier also put plaques on its Clover stores (discount
> division). S&C was one of the first dept store chains to open suburban
> branches, one was opened in Ardmore (near US 30), the other in
> Jenkintown (near then US 611) in the 1920s.
FWIW, the Ardmore store -- in Suburban Square -- was S&C's first branch
store, opened in 1932 (this I know not from having seen the building, but
seeing a photo of it with a caption bearing this information in the
customer service office of the now-shuttered Court at King of Prussia
store).
It and the now-closed Jenkintown store referred to above were miniature
versions of S&C's then-new downtown store at 8th and Market, built in 1928.
(The Jenkintown location relocated to a former Abraham and Straus store in
nearby Willow Grove Park Mall.)
A further aside on "Lisa nor Jeff's" comment above: An even earlier
suburban branch store was the Emery, Bird, Thayer department store in
Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, opened in 1925 and enlarged in 1963.
However, the local emporium did not open any other branches (aside from
purchasing the Bundschu department store on the courthouse square in
Independence) after that one, which probably sealed its ultimate fate. The
store, Kansas City's last locally-owned department store, whose
1885-vintage downtown building was a throwback to an earlier era of
retailing (and never had escalators or fluorescent lighting installed),
closed for good in 1971.
Dennis McClendon
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Dennis McClendon, Chicago CartoGraphics
dmccl...@21stcentury.net
Exile on Market Street
> Do you know when the Jenkintown Strawbridge opened?
Unfortunately, no.
The store building still stands, but it's been rehabbed into offices, and I
don't know whether or not they left the cornerstone untouched. From
passing by it on Old York Road prior to the relocation, I know it too was
an 8th and Market clone, which should put it in the pre-WW2 era, but it
also sported a metal-trimmed canopy and brown polished marble facing on
part of the street elevation that looked like it was late 1940s vintage.
Given that S&C's third suburban branch -- and its first in New Jersey --
was the Cherry Hill Mall store (1961), a store of contemporary design (and
built using the tan brick and stone that would distinguish all suburban S&C
branches the company built from that point on), the possibility of a
15-year lag between branches 1 and 2 is not out of the question; however,
the Jenkintown area was as well developed as the Ardmore area was in the
1930s -- the present Jenkintown/Wyncote station building, the northernmost
station served by all of the Reading commuter lines, dates from 1931 -- so
I'd also be more inclined to date Jenkintown closer to Ardmore than to
midway between it and Cherry Hill.
Bruce B. Reynolds
smi...@pobox.upenn.edu (Exile on Market Street) writes:
>however,
>the Jenkintown area was as well developed as the Ardmore area was in the
>1930s -- the present Jenkintown/Wyncote station building, the northernmost
>station served by all of the Reading commuter lines, dates from 1931
The northernmost station served by all the Reading commuter lines is
North Broad: Sandy has forgotten these lines: to Norristown, which leaves
the main stem at 16th Street Junction, to Germantown, which
leaves the main stem at Wayne Junction, and to Fox Chase/Newtown,
which leaves the main stem at Newtown Junction.
--
Bruce B. Reynolds, Trailing Edge Technologies, Glenside PA