Before Valley Fair became the dominant retail center of the South Bay, Stevens Creek Plaza helped define the Stevens Creek Boulevard corridor as one of the earliest concentrations of modern suburban retail in Santa Clara. Beginning in 1957 with The Emporium’s landmark department store, the site evolved into a mid-century open-air shopping plaza that later became part of a larger regional retail system. Its eventual merger with Valley Fair marked not just the end of a standalone center, but the consolidation of an entire retail district into a single mega-mall.
The origins: The Emporium Stevens Creek (1957)
The story begins on March 8, 1957, when The Emporium unveiled a striking three-story, 230,000-square-foot department store on a 24-acre site along Stevens Creek Boulevard in Santa Clara. Designed to serve the rapidly growing South Bay suburbs, it was the largest department store in Central California at the time. Its exterior featured off-white Zolotone panels accented by brown pilasters, giving it a clean, modernist look. While only two floors were dedicated to retail, the third housed maintenance and mechanical operations.
The Emporium was joined by a Safeway supermarket and Stickney’s Hick’ry House, creating a well-rounded shopping and dining destination in a then-emerging retail corridor.
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| Artist’s rendering of The Emporium Stevens Creek, 1957. The illustration shows the newly constructed department store with Safeway on the left and Stickney’s Hick’ry House restaurant attached on the right—a snapshot of Santa Clara’s evolving retail landscape in the late 1950s. |
The birth of Stevens Creek Plaza (1963)
In late 1962, The Emporium announced plans to expand its Santa Clara site into a full-fledged shopping destination. The vision included high-end retailers like I. Magnin, Roos/Atkins, and a curated mix of smaller specialty shops. To bring this vision to life, the project once again enlisted Welton Becket & Associates, the same architectural firm behind the original Emporium store. The result was a stylish, mid-sized open-air shopping center that reflected the sleek modernism of the early 1960s.
By 1964, Stevens Creek Plaza officially opened with a blend of fashion, finance, and convenience. The center included about 14 stores, with early tenants such as Marcus, Burk's Luggage, Mark Fenwick, and Granat Brothers Jewelers.
Its strategic location—just west of the original Valley Fair mall (opened in 1956) and near the newly completed California Route 17 freeway (now I-880)—made the plaza easily accessible and well-positioned to serve the growing South Bay population.
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| Vintage 1964 grand opening ad for I. Magnin at Stevens Creek Plaza, featuring the iconic Stevens Creek Plaza sign and celebrating the arrival of this upscale department store to the shopping center. |
Rising competition in the 1970s
The 1970s marked a structural shift in South Bay retail. Enclosed regional malls began to replace open-air centers as the dominant format, reshaping how shoppers moved through the region.
In response, the neighboring open-air centers—Valley Fair, Town & Country Village, and Stevens Creek Plaza—joined forces under a marketing campaign called the "Stevens Creek Village Fair." Promoted as a unified shopping district, the area boasted over 166 stores and services, stretching across the three adjacent properties.
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| One vintage ad from 1972 promotes “Stevens Creek Village Fair Days,” a three-day sale event celebrating the combined strength of the area’s retail offerings. |
Despite this united front, competition continued to intensify throughout the 1970s. New enclosed malls popped up across the region, including:
Oakridge Mall in San Jose – Opened in 1973
Vallco Fashion Park in Cupertino – Opened in 1976
Sunnyvale Town Center – Opened in 1979
These modern centers, with their air-conditioned interiors and growing anchor lineups, began pulling shoppers away from traditional open-air venues like Stevens Creek Plaza. Of the newcomers, Vallco quickly became the regional heavyweight—capturing significant market share and contributing to a notable decline in sales at both Valley Fair and Stevens Creek Plaza.
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| In 1980, Stevens Creek Plaza was still marketing itself as the place "where Peninsula people love to shop,” highlighting its central location in the heart of Santa Clara County. But the retail winds were clearly changing. |
Transformation and merger with Valley Fair (1986)
By the mid-1980s, Stevens Creek Plaza and Valley Fair were no longer functioning as separate retail environments. Under redevelopment led by Ernest W. Hahn, the two centers were physically and operationally integrated into a single enclosed complex. When the new Valley Fair opened in 1986, Stevens Creek Plaza ceased to exist as an independent destination and became part of a unified regional super-mall.
While most of the original plaza structures were demolished in 1985, The Emporium building was retained and continued operating until Macy’s acquired the chain in the mid-1990s. In 1996, it was rebranded as Macy’s Men’s and Home. Meanwhile, I. Magnin closed in 1992, a casualty of the wider Federated Department Stores consolidation.
The legacy of Stevens Creek Plaza
Though its original open-air footprint no longer exists, Stevens Creek Plaza’s legacy lives on. Its location, infrastructure, and foundational tenants were instrumental in creating what is now one of Northern California’s most successful retail destinations—Westfield Valley Fair.
From its mid-century department store roots to its transformation into a modern retail hub, Stevens Creek Plaza played a quiet but pivotal role in the evolution of Santa Clara’s retail history.
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