BIGMallrat

Easily the darling of all malls in the Bay Area, Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto arrived with Roos Brothers in 1955. The mall wasn't complete until 1956 when The Emporium opened. Like so many malls of the time, it was designed by Welton Becket & Associates with landscaping by Lawrence Halprin. Here's a picture of how the mall looked just after opening in the late 50s. The back of the postcard reads: "One of the San Francisco Peninsula's newest and most modern shopping centers adjacent to the Stanford University Campus." The center is flanked with overhangs, tropical landscaping, and unique circular patterns in the concrete.  Here's one for the history buffs. Woolworth's at one of the Bay Area's most chic shopping malls. In fact, Woolworth's survived well into the late Eighties (maybe even the early Nineties). It was the only place one could buy an Aspirin for your aching feet. Woolworth's at Stanford. The back of the card re...

Stoneridge mall in Pleasanton, built by Taubman, opened in 1980 with JC Penney, Emporium-Capwell, and Macy's as anchors. Nordstrom and an expansion came in 1990 and finally Sears joined in 1996. The only minor remodel since opening occurred in 2007, bringing with it new flooring inlays and plush seating areas. Right out of 1985, here is a promotional picture of the center court. It always looked like the sculpture was hanging a little low—like it was trying to get a better view of the shoppers below. When I worked at the mall, I used to sneak glances at it from the second floor, watching as it was raised or lowered depending on the mood or maintenance of the day. But the real thrill? Earthquake days. That sculpture would sway, slow and ghostly, like it was dancing to some invisible rhythm only California could provide. For the trivia lovers among us: a nearly identical sculpture floats above the atrium at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero 5. Same style, same quiet grandeur. 1989 St...

Southland Mall in Hayward will always be the mall that defined my "mall senses." The swoosh of air as you opened the doors, the sound of birds chirping and water trickling, and the smell of popcorn with a hint of chlorine.  Before it became Southland Mall, it almost had a different identity—“Palma Ceia” was the original name for this shopping destination in Hayward. But by the time the doors officially opened on October 22, 1964, the center had taken on a new name, one more fitting for the suburban sprawl it was set to serve. Southland wasn’t built from scratch—it was stitched together. The original Sears store had already been anchoring the area since November 6, 1958. With the addition of a new JCPenney and an enclosed corridor of shops, Southland Mall came to life as one of the East Bay’s most modern shopping experiences. The future had no doors Featured in the May 1965 edition of Architectural Record, Southland Mall was celebrated for a novel idea: an enclosed mall wit...

NewPark Mall opened on August 6, 1980, with Macy's and Sears. It was developed by Homart Development Company (a division of Sears) and Calmart (a division of Macy's). Mervyn's and a new wing opened on October 18, 1985, moving from Fremont. Emporim-Capwell, also moving from Fremont, came to the mall February 7, 1987. The last anchor to joint the mall was JCPenney, opening November 6, 1991. Grand opening ad from July 1980. I’ve always thought of NewPark Mall as Stoneridge’s fraternal twin—born just weeks apart in the summer of 1980. NewPark opened its doors on August 6th, and Stoneridge followed fashionably late on September 4th. Naturally, we had to compare. Stoneridge was sleek and radiant, all white-on-white with crisp blue accents—like stepping into a very stylish cloud. NewPark, on the other hand, leaned into its earth tones. Brown, taupe, and a sort of brooding 1980s sophistication. It was moody. It was grounded. It was very brown. But credit where it’s due—NewPark had...

In the early 1970s, Federated Department Stores, owners of Bullock's of Southern California, decided the Bay Area was missing something. Not sunshine. Not warmer weather. But Fashion. They quickly unfurled plans to dazzle the region by bringing Bullock's north. Bullock's opened its first store at Palo Alto's Stanford Shopping Center in 1972—polished, posh, and perhaps a bit puzzled. They brought SoCal's easy-breezy fashion vibe north, but Palo Alto wasn't quite ready for casual Fridays. Yet the ambition didn’t end there. In came Walnut Creek (1973), then Vallco (1975), Stonestown (1977), and Oakridge (1978), like a runway of retail hope. At Oakridge, we saw the latest in fashion, natural light in a department store. The fiberglass roof debuted at Bullock's Oakridge, from 1981 Progressive Architecture. The stores were well-dressed, well-placed, and well… not very well visited. Despite fancy in-store restaurants and enough chrome racks to make Studio...