Popeyes Closes at Cupertino Square - Food Court in Peril

The food court at Cupertino Square mall in Cupertino slides a little closer to oblivion with the closure of the Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant franchise. No word on why the restaurant closed, but it's a fair assumption that the lack of foot traffic may have played a pivotal role.

The food court was remodeled in 2008 and a number of eateries have opened and closed. Currently, five restaurants occupy the food court: Subway Sandwiches, Burger King, Chiaramonte Deli, Teriyaki Experience, and Tutti Frutti. A number of "coming soon" signs alert customers to new eateries, such as a Thai restaurant. However, after a year of waiting, there is no reason to believe they are coming.

Son Son Company, the Vietnamese food processing entity that owns the mall, has a lot of work ahead to turn around the beleaguered shopping center. Changes may be ahead. The TVs no longer blare political debates on CNN; instead showing ESPN, Cartoon Network, and even Cupertino Square's own commercial.

The pictures above were taken today and show the old Popeyes and a view of the deserted mall at noon on a Monday.

Enjoy!
Scott

Southland Mall Expansion and Ice Arena - 1972

I get a lot of activity regarding the former ice arena at Southland Mall, so I was happy to find this article from the Daily Review newspaper. Dated March 24, 1972, the article is about the grand opening of the "fabulous Southland Ice Arena." The foremost picture shows a giant four-foot high, 100 pound ice sculpture of an ice skate.

On the bottom of the page is a picture of the north mall entrance and the Ice Arena doors... near the present Macy's. The caption reads "Phase Four of the Southland Mall expansion program took a giant step forward as the Southland Ice Arena opened its doors March 1. The million dollar ice sports facility will soon be followed by 29 more businesses including Liberty House Department Store in late summer. This is the North Mall entrance with the Ice Arena doors shown to the left."

Here is the aerial showing the location of the Ice Arena, which housed CompUSA at the time the aerial was taken.

Share your memories of the Southland Ice Arena here!

Scott

Vintage Postcards: Sunvalley Mall Center Court Redux

Yet another postcard showing the center court of Sunvalley Mall in Concord, California. Unlike the earlier postcard of this same scene, the camera placement allows the viewer to see all the way down to Sears at the far end of the mall.

The postcard's coloring is mostly intact and you can better appreciate the gold-roofed information booth, as well as the early-Seventies inspired flowered mural on the wall above the mall walkway.

The back of the postcard reads: "Over 120 stores are located on the two levels of the mammoth mall at SunValley, the world's largest enclosed, air conditioned shopping center."

Enjoy!
Scott

Read my guide to Sunvalley Mall

See the current aerial view.