BIGMallrat | lost malls, department stores, and Bay Area retail history

Town Center Corte Madera, originally known as Corte Madera Center, officially opened its doors on July 17, 1958, bringing the suburban shopping boom to Marin County. Just a few months later, JCPenney joined the growing lineup, followed by Montgomery Ward, which opened on March 16, 1960. Like many mid-century shopping centers across the Bay Area, Corte Madera Center arrived with ambition and architectural flair. Designed for easy access just off U.S. Route 101, it featured large department stores alongside specialty retailers, a format that would become a standard in American retail. Today, Town Center Corte Madera stands as a revitalized open-air shopping hub, blending its historic roots with modern lifestyle and community-focused retail. A vintage postcard glimpse of Town Center Corte Madera One of the best glimpses we have of the center’s early years is a 1960s postcard, most likely taken not long after Montgomery Ward arrived. The scene is carefully staged—photographer Mike Robe...

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. 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. Early newspaper rendering of Sacram...

Macy’s placed roots in the Bay Area long before suburban malls existed. Its San Francisco presence began in 1945 when it acquired O’Connor, Moffatt & Co., later expanding by absorbing I. Magnin and the original Liberty House, making it a foundational retail icon in downtown San Francisco. In the postwar suburban boom, Macy's didn’t just lease space—it often helped build shopping centers. That’s why malls with “Fair” in their names—Bay Fair, Valley Fair—bore Macy's branding pride, each opening alongside or shortly after their Macy’s anchor store. Department stores are a tough breed. By the mid-90s, industry experts reported we had nearly 50% more retail than we needed. We already had lost Bullock's and Liberty House by then, so it felt like the end in 1995 when Federated Department Stores (owner of Macy's) acquired Emporium-Capwell. A year later, they merged it with Macy's, and the Emporium-Capwell name would disappear forever. Yet, almost 22 of the former Empo...

Once a quiet dairy farm on the edge of San Mateo, California, the site of Hillsdale Shopping Center would grow into one of the most recognizable shopping destinations on the San Francisco Peninsula. From its sun-soaked, open-air roots in the 1950s to its glossy, two-story expansion in the 1980s, Hillsdale mirrored the rise of suburbia, mall culture, and regional retail identity. Today, we look back at Hillsdale’s transformation—through archival detail and a classic 1950s postcard—with a few personal glimpses of what it was like to experience the center during its retail heyday. Inside Hillsdale Shopping Center in the 2010s, a decorative “H” pole near Macy’s serves as a subtle wayfinding landmark—part of the mall’s refreshed signage system enhancing navigation and brand identity. 1954: A mall grows in San Mateo When Hillsdale Shopping Center officially opened in November 1954, it marked more than the debut of a shopping plaza—it reflected California’s postwar suburban boom. Developed ...

You know what I miss? Emporium-Capwell. Not just for the prices, though I could swear a decent Arrow shirt once cost twelve bucks. No, I miss the whole production. The drama of the escalators, the hush of the fitting rooms, and—oh—the culinary treasure hunt that was the Market on Market downstairs. A trip to “The City” wasn’t complete without ducking into the old Emporium on Market Street. You'd pass under that grand rotunda and feel like royalty. But downstairs? That’s where the real magic happened. Fancy cheeses. Glazed fruit tarts. Baskets of imported crackers with names you couldn’t pronounce but definitely had to try. Everything smelled like international sophistication and fresh bread. I was a kid with a paper bag full of croissants and the feeling that I’d somehow stepped into a European train station from the future. The other day I found an ad from 1984—Emporium-Capwell's big splash at Vallco Fashion Park in Cupertino. You could tell the year by the shoulder pads al...