BIGMallrat | Retail history of Northern California

Postcards from Broadway Plaza capture the center during its early years as a regional shopping destination. These images reflect its original design, early tenants, and the architectural style that defined its opening era. Postcard 1 —Broadway Plaza sign and street view 1950s postcard of Broadway Plaza. On the right, Broadway sign at Main Street and Broadway Plaza with JCPenney on the left. On the left, looking north up South Broadway. The back of the postcard reads: "Broadway Shopping Center. This view shows only a portion of this rapidly expanding business district. The city is situated in the shadow of famed Mt. Diablo and has grown in less than a score of years from a peaceful farming area to a friendly bustling shipping center. Predictions have the county population to half a million by 1960 and over a million by 1990." Postcard 2 —Walnut Creek aerial with Capwell’s Aerial postcard of Broadway Plaza and Capwell's in downtown Walnut Creek, circa 1965. The back o...

Before regional malls transformed suburban shopping, Broadway Plaza offered a different model. Built along the southern edge of downtown Walnut Creek, it wasn't designed to replace Main Street—it extended it.  Over the next seventy years, Broadway Plaza evolved from a modest open-air shopping center into Northern California's premier luxury retail destination, attracting department stores once found only in downtown Oakland and San Francisco.  Its success showed that suburban retail didn't always have to move away from downtown. Sometimes, it could become downtown. Broadway Plaza arrives Broadway Plaza, originally called Broadway Shopping Center, opened on November 8, 1951. Built by MacDonald Products Company, featuring Sears, JCPenney, Woolworths, Joseph Magnin, and Lucky Stores. The opening ceremonies included none other than the legendary Harpo Marx and Mary Fenn in two stage performances. Broadway Plaza originally referred to a short street that connected Main Street...