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.
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| Woolworth's at Stanford. |
The back of the card reads "The Mall of Stanford Shopping Center. Leisurely shopping in ultra modern department stores and a large variety of the best specialty shops. Located on west side of El Camino Real, Calif." Macy's, ultimately sitting between and behind those two buildings, didn't arrive until 1961.
Does anyone else remember that bizarre entrance to the parking lot from El Camino? If you were heading north and the mall was on your left, logic would suggest a simple left turn. But no—this was a puzzle only the truly mall-committed could solve. You had to turn right into what felt like an off-ramp, loop around, and hope for the best. Eventually, they straightened it out (probably after enough confused drivers missed their turn and ended up halfway to Redwood City). But for those of us who are directionally challenged, it was peak 1950s suburban planning: to go left, first you had to go right.
1970s remodeling
In the early '70s, Bullock's joined the shopping center adjacent to Saks (opened 1963). Yet, the rest of the mall was starting to show its age—just a little mall wrinkle here, a dated detail there. So the owners called in Field Paoli Architects to work some retail magic. And magic they delivered. The remodel wasn’t just a facelift—it was a statement. So much so, it landed in the pages of Architectural Record in June of 1977.
What made it such a standout? In an age when malls everywhere were rushing to enclose themselves in climate-controlled cocoons, this one proudly stayed open-air. The thinking was simple: who needs a roof when the weather’s practically perfect year-round?
While they really wanted to connect the mall to Bullock's and Saks, that part never happened. Nevertheless, I love that one of the photos shows "The Company" store, which was similar to a Spencer Gifts. I used to shop there in 1988. Unfortunately, it's gone now. At that time, the mall featured some independent and mid-market stores, much like a neighborhood center. Now, though, it's strictly upscale with many fashion-forward stores. And with distinctive mall architectural and atmosphere, Stanford Shopping Center still reigns supreme in the Bay Area.
Comments
Interestingly, the Fremont Hub did a remodel similar to what was done at Stanford and it actually turned out very nice. The unfortunate side of it is that they cut corners so the results were a bit on the cheap-looking side. They used a lot of 4x4 square tubes for the columns and it came off looking insubstantial. There is much to be said for having appropriately scaled architectural elements in urban environment...a lesson straight out of A Pattern Language.
As I've said before, Stanford better be worried about what's going on at Valley Fair. If Westfield plans to start matching Stanford's upscale offerings, it may be hard to overcome. Ironically, Valley Fair's biggest weapon against Stanford may be Santana Row; which isn't even a PART of it.
Santana Row has proven that upscale shoppers don't mind being outside and on the street if the selection and design is compelling enough. And frankly, Stanford may want to consider demolishing half its strucutres and emulating that model. And while they're at it, tying Nordstrom into the project better.
Problem is, it's easy to talk about how to revive a dying mall. But Stanford has more life than it knows what to do with.
As long as Stanford can continue to attract the wealthy locals, they've got it in the bag.
Scott
And somewhere along that strip, you could build a new Nordstrom. The former Saks which is now Crate & Barrell/Andronicos could easily be relocated as well. Then that entire space across Arboretum Drive could be devoted soley to parking with bridges leading to the main center.
That way, Stanford would get its extra square footage, the old mall wouldn't be touched, you don't need to reconfigure streets(much) and there'd be one less reason to go to Santana Row.
However, anything more ambitious really requires the wrecking ball big time. But whatever they do, they need to build UP, not out. And isn't it about time they tried to incorporate more "College Town" elements into the center? After all it's Stanford, not Berkeley; and there shouldn't be a risk of scaring Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell away from their weekly trip to Neiman Marcus.
Do you think people shop at Santana Row for the atmosphere?
Scott
Personally, I'd love to walk into the fanciest store and ask where Wal-Mart is.
From what I've read, one guy who's not crazy at all about Santana Row is Lew Wolff, the Oakland A's managing partner and owner of a lot of property in San Jose including the Fairmont Hotel. Needless to say he's furious at the SJ city council for supporting the Valley Fair expansion as it essentially kills any chance of bringing retail downtown.
Looks like Santana Row made number 1. You may have seen the earlier post.
Scott