A modest beginning in 1955
Country Club Plaza, located in Sacramento, California, opened on June 23, 1955. Initially, it was a simple strip of shops fronting Watt Avenue, directly across from the earlier Country Club Centre, which had debuted in August 1952 with a JCPenney anchor.
At the time, the Watt Avenue corridor was rapidly transforming into Sacramento’s premier retail zone, competing closely with the newly built Arden Fair, where Hale’s had just opened weeks earlier.
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| 1952 grand opening advertisement for Country Club Plaza, featuring a bird's-eye rendering of the original layout—including an auto parts store and early storefronts along Watt Avenue. |
Expansion and a boost from Weinstock’s
In 1961, Country Club Plaza expanded significantly with the opening of a Weinstock-Lubin department store (later renamed Weinstock’s). The addition helped transform the plaza from a neighborhood shopping center into a major regional retail destination.
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| Early newspaper rendering of Sacramento’s Country Club Plaza in 1961, featuring the newly announced Weinstock-Lubin department store. Still an open-air center, the plaza was on the cusp of becoming a true regional shopping destination. |
The Weinstock's building was designed by Charles Luckman & Associates, the prominent Los Angeles architecture firm known for mall developments across California. Eventually, the Weinstock’s store was converted into Macy’s, reflecting broader retail shifts in the 1990s and early 2000s.
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| Original Weinstock’s at Country Club Plaza, designed by Charles Luckman & Associates. |
1970s: enclosure & JCPenney addition
By 1970, Country Club Plaza embraced the booming trend of enclosed malls—transforming from an open-air promenade into a climate-controlled retail destination. This wasn't just a renovation; it was a refuge from Sacramento’s scorching summers.
In 1971, a brand-new JCPenney anchor store opened its doors, boosting the mall's stature. With that addition, Country Club Plaza had grown to an impressive 500,000 square feet of retail space—joining the national wave of modern malls that promised year-round comfort, curated shopping experiences, and a hint of suburban glamour.
Mid-2000s renovation and expansion
In the mid-2000s, Country Club Plaza was eventually renovated and expanded, reaching a footprint of around 600,000 square feet. The new interior layout retained traditional mall features—wide corridors, centralized retail spaces, and anchor department stores.
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| Interior view of Country Club Plaza Mall and the Macy's entrance. |
Unlike many retail redevelopments, Country Club Plaza remained fully enclosed, even after remodeling. This decision was somewhat uncommon among mid-tier malls in Northern California, where open-air "lifestyle centers" had become the trend.
Gottschalks and the changing anchor landscape
Country Club Plaza became the only Sacramento-area location of Gottschalks, a California-based department store chain that played a vital role in regional mall culture. After Gottschalks closed in 2009, its departure left a significant anchor vacancy at the center.
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| Gottschalks and former JCPenney at Country Club Plaza. |
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| Gottschalks inside Country Club Plaza in 2006—the only one in the Sacramento region. |
Occupancy challenges in the late 2000s
By 2009, Country Club Plaza was experiencing the highest vacancy rate of any mall in the Sacramento metro area. Despite refreshed interiors and infrastructure, the mall struggled to compete with regional giants like Arden Fair and Roseville Galleria.
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| 2009 mall map showing vacant units in red. |
According to the 2009 mall directory:
49 retail units were counted.
15 of those were vacant, yielding a 30.6% vacancy rate.
Exterior pad buildings were not included in the calculation.
Although occupancy briefly rebounded to 51% after the remodel, long-term stability remained uncertain. Still, the fact that investors were willing to fund such an enclosed redevelopment made Country Club Plaza something of a regional retail anomaly. Once Macy's closed in 2016, calls for rejuvenation once again began. WinCo Foods, a regional grocery store, joined the mall that year in the former Gottschalks, then a cinema in 2019.
A unique mall in the Sacramento landscape
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| Exterior of Country Club Plaza Mall. |
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| Interior during a busier day at Country Club Plaza. |
Despite ups and downs, Country Club Plaza remains a rare example of a traditional enclosed mall still operating in Northern California. With its mid-century roots, history of local department stores, and a distinctive architectural identity, the plaza occupies a unique place in Sacramento’s shopping story.
Related posts
- Lost department stores: Weinstock’s (1874—1996)
- Lost department stores: Gottschalks (1904—2009)
- The history of Macy's in Sacramento and the Central Valley
- Lost malls of Sacramento: Florin Mall (1968—2006)
- Lost malls of Sacramento: Downtown Plaza (1993—2014)
- The history of Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights — shopping icon since 1972
Comments
If I recall, Country Club's in a pretty affluent part of Sacramento, otherwise I'm sure it wouldn't have lasted being so far away from a freeway and so close to Arden Fair. Both malls had Weinstocks and now both have Macys.
But as affluent as the area is, it sounds as if Country Club doesn't position itself as too upscale. (Arden and Roseville do that) Therefore, you end up with big box retailers that are better suited for auto traffic, not mall-walkers.
The Macy's at Arden Fair doesn't sell much of anything besides clothing (i.e., no housewares, domestics, etc.) since it's such a small store, so Country Club is a much better option for finding a full line of Macy's merchandise with better parking and smaller crowds.
Country Club Centre was once an enclosed mall with Wards at one end and Liberty House at the other. IN the middle was a Longs Drugs. The Wards location is now Wal-Mart, and the Liberty House end is offices. The enclosed mall was torn down after Wards went under.
If the owners of the two malls had been smart, they'd have connected the two malls into a mega-mall (see Del Amo, King of Prussia, Valley Fair) before Arden became the mega-mall for the area.
Again, the lack of freeway access is Country Club's biggest drawback, and it's proximity to affluent neighborhoods like Carmichael is what kept this place afloat. Despite the fact that it has Macys and Gottschalks, all the other tenants are what you'd find in a power center. Because it's a smaller mall, it works.
Sunrise is going to be interesting to watch as it's also miles from a freeway. The Roseville Galleria has to be a threat to their market area, and if any real competition were to ever emerge on the Hwy 50 corridor towards Folsom, they might be in trouble
There's not much of a food court left as only Panda Express and Subway serve up actual meals. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Mrs. Fields are pretty much just dessert.
Back in the day when I used to work there in 1999 (4 years before the renovation), there was a Claire's, Footaction, Hallmark, Lane Bryant, MasterCuts, Orange Julius, Payless ShoeSource, RadioShack, Ritz Camera, Sbarro and Vitamin World. Only Claire's, Hallmark, MasterCuts and Vitamin World returned after the mall renovation. Payless ShoeSource also returned, but located their store outside.
Yes, with the affluent area nearby, it should've attracted some upscale stores.
Side Note: Vans Skatepark was originally going to open as part of the renovation, but instead, Sport Chalet opened.
When Country Club Plaza was built Penney's moved into what became the Gottchalk's building. Although I never really understood why. I mean that building is not all that much larger than the Longs was.
I personally wish they had kept Country Club Centre and torn down the Plaza..but fond memories of walking out into the mall from Longs to sit on Santa's Lap aside.........
The Macy's (former Weinstok's) IS the best in Sacramento, although not billed as a men's or kids store, it seem's they ALWAYS have my size and style in stock. It's also a beautiful building in it's own right.