San Mateo Fashion Island opened in 1981 at the height of the American mall boom. Anchored by JCPenney, Montgomery Ward, Bullock's, and Liberty House, the project represented decades of retail thinking: build a bigger mall, add more department stores, and shoppers would come.
But Fashion Island arrived at a turning point. Within just a few years of opening, two of its four anchors had abandoned the Northern California market entirely. Meanwhile, nearby Hillsdale Mall reinvented itself and captured much of the attention Fashion Island had hoped to command.
The result was one of the Bay Area's earliest major mall failures—a shopping center that opened at the peak of department-store dominance only to discover that the retail landscape was already changing beneath its feet.
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| Annotated Apple Maps view of San Mateo showing the location of Fashion Island mall, positioned off Highway 92, and near Hillsdale Mall. |
1970s origins: from Bay Meadows to high fashion
The concept for what would become Fashion Island mall in San Mateo began in 1972, when Bay Meadows Jockey Club prepared to sell 40 acres near the racetrack. The project was initially proposed as “Bay Meadows High Fashion Mall,” with Nordstrom planned as an anchor tenant.
The original plan did not move forward by 1974, but the idea resurfaced later in the decade under developer Ernest W. Hahn, with a revised design and a new site closer to the burgeoning Foster City.
Ironically, Nordstrom never joined the project. Instead, the retailer eventually opened at nearby Hillsdale Mall, helping cement Fashion Island's strongest competitor.
Grand opening in 1981: Fashion Island debuts in San Mateo
San Mateo Fashion Island mall opened on September 24, 1981. Several architectural firms contributed to the project, including Millard Archuleta for JCPenney, Environmental Planning & Research for Bullock's and Montgomery Ward, Chaix and Johnson for Liberty House, and Charles Kober Associates for the mall structure.
The mall was considered one of the more prominent retail developments in the Bay Area. Advertisements used the slogan “Look to us,” supported by radio promotions during the early 1980s.
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| Grand opening ad from September 1981 for San Mateo Fashion Island mall with the slogan "look to us." |
While Hillsdale Mall was nearby, Fashion Island offered a newer and more experimental retail environment at the time.
Like the mall itself, Bullock's was designed to project a more upscale and fashion-oriented image than many regional shopping centers of the era. Its distinctive tent roof became the most recognizable visual feature of Fashion Island, symbolizing the mall's ambition to stand apart from its competitors on the Peninsula.
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| From a newspaper photo—The tent roof on Bullock's San Mateo Fashion Island. |
1983 Fashion Island mall directory: a vintage snapshot
An early 1983 directory shows Fashion Island at a strong point in its early years. Alongside the four department store anchors were national and regional retailers including The Limited, Miller’s Outpost, Thom McAn, Waldenbooks, Walgreens, The Wherehouse, Oshman’s Sporting Goods, and Things Remembered.
The mall also included Ice Capades Chalet and Red Robin Restaurant, along with a food court featuring tenants such as Pups on a Pole, Great Hot Dog Experience, 1 Potato 2, and Greek Island Delights.
See the full 1983 and 1987 directories here: San Mateo Fashion Island directories (1983 & 1987)
The decline begins: Bullock’s and Liberty House close
By the mid-1980s, department store closures began to reshape the mall. Bullock’s (1986) and Liberty House (1987) both closed during this period, reflecting broader changes in the regional retail landscape.
At the same time, competition from nearby centers such as Hillsdale Mall affected long-term tenant stability.
1987 Fashion Island mall directory: signs of transition
A 1987 directory shows a more changed environment. Whole Earth Access had replaced Liberty House, and the former Bullock’s space was labeled “Future Department Store.” Several vacant storefronts appeared, particularly in that wing of the mall.
Despite these changes, several tenants remained, including JCPenney, Montgomery Ward, Ice Capades Chalet, House of Fabrics, See’s Candies, and Kay Bee Toy & Hobby.
See the full 1983 and 1987 directories here: San Mateo Fashion Island directories (1983 & 1987)
Rebranding as “The Island” in 1989
With the loss of Bullock's, all the stores in its wing closed and it was ultimately sealed off. Whole Earth Access had replaced Liberty House, but it didn't generate the same interest. Sales and foot traffic at the mall continued to decline. In 1989, the mall was rebranded as “The Island” and repositioned to attract a new customer base. Instead of just shopping, The Island offered entertainment, festivals, and a recurring farmers' market. Yet, the mall ultimately returned to its original name by '91.
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| From a 1989 newspaper ad—When San Mateo Fashion Island rebranded the mall as "The Island." |
The end of Fashion Island in 1996
By the mid-1990s, Fashion Island's experiment had come to an end. JCPenney closed in 1991. Then, citing a "virtually closed" shopping center, Whole Earth Access closed its store in early 1994. With just one anchor store, there wasn't much left.
Sand Hill Property Co. and Nikko Capital Corp. bought the mall and closed it in 1996. Demolition began immediately and in the mall's place would rise Bridgepointe, a power center anchored by big-box retailers that reflected the changing direction of American shopping.
Determining what went wrong with the mall earned a position as a case study. It cited the region as being unable to support two malls, difficult freeway access, loss of anchor stores, and "unfavorable comparisons" to Hillsdale.
Fashion Island's story is notable not because it failed, but because of when it failed. Opened at the height of the enclosed mall era, it embodied many of the assumptions that had guided retail development for decades: more department stores, more enclosed space, and more regional draw. Yet almost immediately, those assumptions began to unravel.
In that sense, Fashion Island was less a victim of poor planning than of timing. It arrived just as the retail landscape was shifting beneath its feet, making it one of the Bay Area's earliest examples of a mall built for a market that was already disappearing.
Comments
Ironically, the access to the site is pretty much the same as before -- it just seems more traffic friendly now that there is a street that goes through rather than a mall ring road.
I remember walking through the mall from Whole Earth Access to Montogomery Ward once and pretty much only seeing the Walden Books and the Food Court open. It's funny I don't remember seeing Penney's open. That entire section felt like desolation bend....very wierd feeling walking in a dead mall.
But think about it. Fashion Island was new, indoor, had great freeway access, a cimema, an ice rink, and room to expand. Hillsdale was thirty years old, still outdoor, had poor freeway visibility, was separated from two of its anchors by city streets, and no entertainment choices unless you counted the underground Cost Plus.
Excuse my french, but what the fuck happened? In ANY other market Fashion Island would have taken over, or at the very least found enough tenants to carry on even with a revitalized Hillsdale. But not only did it die, it died fast.
Did Fashion Island have internal, management, or financing problems? Was it backed by one of those "bad old S&L's" from the 80's? Were Liberty House and Bullocks already in trouble before they even opened their doors at Fashion Island?
Its no secret that Montgomery Ward had been playing catch up with Sears since the late '50s and didn't have the same financial resources(was this when Mobil owned them?) Still, Wards replaced a freestanding store on Delaware Street that had been only open for ten years with a store at Fashion Island. Did Wards get a deal they couldn't pass up from desperate developers at Fashion Island?
Did Penneys go into this blind, too? They DID have a small store in downtown San Mateo prevously, as well as downtown Redwood City. But after they pulled out of Fashion Island, JCPenney did not replace it, and with the demise of the Mountain View and Sunnyvale stores, there is to this day no Penney store from San Bruno to Cupertino. Doesn't say much about the Peninsula, does it?
In short, was Fashion Island doomed from day one and was Bohannon(the owners of Hillsdale)smart enough to see that and go full speed ahead with a renovation?
It would make for a great book.
It's hard to imagine what it'd be like if Hillsdale closed and Fashion Island stayed open; but it sure is fun trying!
Scott
Again, I go back to Nordstrom. They didn't just come out of nowhere, they'd been an established player in the Pacific Northwest for some time by 1980, and I'm sure every mall developer knew they were looking at Northern California. Why didn't Fashion Island go after them? If you look at the layout, they easily could have added two more anchors had they wanted, even if Liberty House and Bullocks not had their problems.
Remember, even with an outdated layout Hillsdale still had Macys and Emporium and easily could have stood pat. But they didn't wait a second, they jumped right in, renovated, and got Nordstrom. I guess we'll never know.
Had Fashion Island hung on long enough for the dot-com boom, perhaps Saks, Bloomingdales, or even a Dillards or Gottschalks might have come in to save it. Then again, the dot-com bust might have still killed it.
And what about JCPenney, who opted not to replace the Fashion Island store after it closed? Even had just THEY stuck around the story might have been different. If Target had moved into the old Wards(like they did elsewhere), Penneys stayed and someone like Kohls took over the Liberty House, you might have gotten a multiplex in place of the old Bullocks, and VOILA! a revitalized Fashion Island.
Problem is that type of mall would attract stores like Old Navy and Bed Bath & Beyond, not Abercrombie and Ann Taylor. So essentially what you'd have is a replication of what was done to Tanforan. But could that region support two of them?
Bottom line is that Fashion Island never should have been built. But as I said, that's a mistake you normally don't see in the Bay Area.
I still say it would make for a great book.
It brought back many memories of hanging out in Games & Things and the Gold Mine. I worked at the Round Table Pizza Parlour and General Cinema back in the day. I was wondering if anyone has an old directory for Hillsdale from the eighties?
I wish I lived nearer to the malls when I was younger. I have very vague memories of Bay City Mall (which isn't all that old anyway) and Fashion Square Mall (which is old, but I only remember two stores because they're the only ones we ever went into).
Then again, I am only 19... But still, why didn't I pick up any directories even five years ago?!
Seeing the guide is great as I have most every one in California.
I would like to see one from the old La Jolla Village which is no longer a super regional mall.
That mall was "dead" when it opened, but was plenty of fun for kids with nowhere else to go.
good times, good times.
the gold mine was quite the hang out back then...
still looking for an old directory for hillsdale mall, back when mcdonald's was near mervyns and that lame record store was close by...rainbow records? i can't recall...
Our store was between Red Robin and Bullock's, and it was obvious that fewer and fewer people were coming to that end of the mall. All the activity was at the skating rink/food court/arcade. As you would expect it was mostly younger people. I think it was around March of '86 when our store closed up, but we were not the first, and it just went down hill from that point.
The Gold Mine Arcade was awesome. It was nice and dark inside, so all the lighting from the machines really stood out, once it was changed to Tilt, it was not the same. They expanded and had a wider opening for an entrance which killed the atmosphere.
I remember going to the video store and seeing VHS and Beta tapes for movies like Star Wars behind glass counters for like $119.99! Blank takes like $20.00-$30.00 each!
I did some ice skating a few times and they even had arcade machines by the lockers. I remember they would play that song "believe it or not, I'm walking on air" for the ice skaters. lol
The food was good. I liked the Greek and Chinese place. They made the best egg rolls!
I remember seeing a ton of movies at the theater over the years: Beverly Hills Cop, Rambo II, Jurassic Park, Etc..
On Halloweens kids would trick or treat in the mall.
I remember when a huge Sporting Good store opened around 1987 where Bullock's was. They charged a membership fee like Costco. They closed down pretty quick. Maybe 1-2 years tops.
I used to work at the Red Robin from 1989 until 1991 and it was VERY BUSY, but the rest of the mall was dead (like everyone else has been saying) except the food court, ice rink, and theater. It was sad seeing this great mall going down the tubes.
I bet the mall would be here to this day if they just had a few big name stores and big name fast food places. All the kids at school liked Hillsdale because it had McDonald's. If Fashion Island would have added McDonald's or Burger King it would have made a huge difference and stupid as it sounds.
Also the mall should have been a two story mall. All the walking killed peoples feet!
I also think the mall was built at the wrong time. If it was build in 1990 or so, I'm sure it would have been a big success. with more people living in this area.
By the way, I ate at the all you can eat Asian buffet yesterday located at the last standing building that was part of Fashion Island. To enter the restaurant you have to enter the door to the ice rink. The place is the same! The same tile floors, the same entrance to the ice rink. Man, I just sat on the floor of the place and just looked around. I think a tear even rolled down my cheek. :(
Great memories of this place that I wont forget!
I believe it was late 1995 or early 1996.
Anyone know?
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I think it was around 1995 when Fashion Island had that rude meeting with a wrecking ball. A part of me died that day. ;(
Tilt....oh what memories. (thank God for MAME so I can play all of those old games that I remember....especially Elevator Action [to this day, I have never seen another EA machine since Tilt])
I was a computer geek even back in those days before computers were cool and NO ONE (including me) heaqrd of the Internet. I used to hang out at Radio Shack and the managers were ALL cool to me. I remember when a friend got his 300 baud modem ($89.95) and we needed terminal software, the manger, Ed, gave me a 5 1/4" diskette and said to me (and I remember this like he told me 5 minutes ago) "Don't fuck it up". I brought it home, copied it and returned it the VERY next day.
WHy did FI die??????? *tears in eyes* I still, once in a while, think about going there, but, like the old saying goes, "You can't go `home' again". Yes, this waqs my home away from home for me. To this day, wheneever I hear The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", I think of all the time wasted.....er....creating fond memories there.
*looking up* Rest in peace, Fashion Island.
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Mall opened in late 1981 and closed down in November of 1996. Only the ice rink, Tilt and the food court were still open until the last day.
The theater closed down Sept. 1995.
Some nice photos of the theater. Grand opening pics too! http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/2963.html
News articles regarding Fashion Island from the 1990's.
Discount Theater to Close At Fashion Island Mall
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/08/29/MN24829.DTL&hw=fashion+island+mall+san+mateo&sn=013&sc=185
Fashion Island to get make over
San Mateo accepts developer's plans;
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1996/09/18/BUSINESS2880.dtl&hw=fashion+island+mall+san+mateo&sn=021&sc=133
Council OKs Development At Fashion Island Site
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1996/09/18/MN73074.DTL&hw=fashion+island+mall+san+mateo&sn=019&sc=153
New Plan For Old Fashion Island
Developer hopes to revive complex
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1996/08/03/MN52257.DTL&hw=fashion+island+mall+san+mateo&sn=008&sc=196
Developer's Plans for Ward's Site
Fashion Island purchase deal believed to be near
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1996/03/12/MN6102.DTL&hw=fashion+island+mall+san+mateo&sn=025&sc=127
Building on Fashion Island Failure
San Mateo's Bridgepointe attracts host of major stores
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1997/12/01/MN43164.DTL&hw=fashion+island+mall+san+mateo&sn=011&sc=187
Fate in doubt for Peninsula ice skating rink
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1998/01/12/NEWS4615.dtl&hw=fashion+island+mall+san+mateo&sn=028&sc=118
Cheers,
Misha
Nevertheless, I have good memories of that mall. Wish it had stayed open.
Into this comes Bullock's and Liberty House thinking they can position themselves between Macy's and Magnin. Bullock's was at least consistent, building beautiful (except for Fashion Island) stores in upmarket areas. But they did very little advertising. Liberty House never knew what they wanted to be. They merged with the dowdy Rhodes stores and confused the customer. Their San Francisco and Mountain View stores could sell the better goods, but Eastridge, Oakland, Southland, and Concord never could.
So you take the two weakest anchors, join them with two lackluster mass-market stores (Penney's and Wards), put them in an ugly, hard-to-get-to, meandering mall on the wrong side of the freeway, and it was doomed to failure from the start.
And to drive the nail in the coffin, Hillsdale woos the new guy in town, Nordstrom, which unilke Bullock's and Liberty House, sweeps into town with a great publicity machine, a shoe department to end all shoe departments, and a service level unseen in 20 years. Fashion Island didn't stand a chance.
Good times, good times. Will be missed
ONLY THING LEFT, THE ICE SKATING RINK, EXACTLY EXACTLY THE SAME YOU CAN CLOSE YOUR EYES AND GO BACK,THE SAME LITTLE STORE IN THE CORNER, THE TICKET BOTH, THE BENCHES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CORK FLOOR, THE 2 WINDOWS WHERE THEY USE TO DISPATCH THE SKATES, THE LOCKERS, THE BATHROOMS AT THE END. OMG...TEARS CAME OUT OF MY EYES, I WAS SO MOVED,HOPE YOU ALL GET A CHANCE TO GO BACK, THOSE MEMORIES ARE PRICELESS.
There is a Facebook group to share memories or photos:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/34100394205/