Originally published in 2007; expanded and updated in 2026. Opened on September 1, 1976, Vallco Mall (originally "Vallco Fashion Park") was no ordinary shopping center. Set high atop a parking level, the entire retail experience floated above the ground—complete with six themed "parks" honoring Cupertino's past and future. Shoppers crossed Wolfe Road on a 130-foot skybridge, wandered through indoor gardens, and explored futuristic spaces like Electronics Park. At a pivotal moment when Cupertino was transforming from orchards and light industry into the heart of Silicon Valley, Vallco was designed not for the present, but for the future. Grand opening ad for Vallco Mall in 1976, promising a future of fun shopping. View of Vallco Mall's pedestrian skybridge over Wolfe Road. Cupertino's mall of tomorrow Anchored by Sears, which had opened in October 28, 1970, Bullock’s, and I. Magnin (with JCPenney and an ice rink joining in 1977), the mall was a design...
Discover the malls, department stores, and shopping centers that shaped postwar Northern California and the communities that grew around them.