THE LARGEST ENCLOSED SHOPPING
MALLS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1973:
1. WOODFIELD MALL, Schaumburg, IL
2. ROOSEVELT FIELD MALL, Town of Hempstead, NY
3. METROCENTER MALL, Phoenix, AZ
4. CINDERELLA CITY MALL, Englewood, CO
AND
4. YORKTOWN CENTER, Lombard, IL
5. SUNVALLEY MALL, Concord & Pleasant Hill, CA
METROCENTER
West Peoria and North 35th Avenues
Phoenix, Arizona
Plans for the first megamall in Arizona were announced in November 1970. Construction on the METROCENTER project, a joint venture between Phoenix-based Westcor and Chicago-based Homart Development Company (a Sears subsidiary), got underway in June 1972.
The 1,391,000 square foot complex was the first 2-level, 5-anchor mall in the United States. It was situated on a 107 acre tract, 13 miles northwest of the Phoenix Central Business District and had its grand opening on October 1, 1973.
Anchors of the original -100 million dollar- shopping center were a 3-level (156,000 square foot), Tacoma-based) Rhodes, 2-level (180,000 square foot), Phoenix-based Diamond's, 2-level (106,000 square foot), Phoenix-based Goldwater's, 2-level (156,000 square foot), Los Angeles-based The Broadway and a 2-level (241,200 square foot) Sears.
The mall also featured See's Candies, Lerner Shops, Rozenweigs Jewelers, Toys By Roy, Butterfield Station, Judy's ladies' apparel, Waldenbooks, Guggy's Coffee Shop, Florsheim Shoes and a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor. A small "Hippie" concourse, referred to as "The Alley", was on the Upper Level of the mall, near Sears.
Competing malls in the vacinity of METROCENTER included CHRIS-TOWN MALL (1961) [December 2006 archive], SCOTTSDALE FASHION SQUARE (1961) [October 2007 archive], BILTMORE FASHION PARK (1963), PARADISE VALLEY MALL (1979) and DESERT SKY MALL (1981).
At the southwest corner of METROCENTER -on the Lower Level- was an ice rink which had the full-sized body of an airliner suspended above. Inside the plane was the AeroLounge, where patrons could look down upon the skaters below as they sipped on a martini. Over the years, this cocktail lounge was known by a succession of different names...some of these being MetroPort and Round The Corner.
The ice rink and aviation themed cocktail lounge were removed during an early 1990s renovation. The lower level space became Metro Midway, a large video arcade with amusement rides. The level above was, by then, a Food Court.
General Cinemas had opened the Metrocenter Cinemas I-II-III in 1980. The 3-plex was located south of the Food Court, on the mall's Upper Level. It was acquired by Harkins Theatres in 1993, who expanded it into a 12-screen venue around 1998.
This expansion took the first level space of the former ice rink / Metro Midway arcade. The open area between it and the Food Court above was sealed off, with additional seating provided for the Food Court.
The first of many anchor store rebrandings at METROCENTER took place only one year after the opening of the mall. The Rhodes retail chain was acquired by Honolulu-based Liberty House. In 1978. the store was placed under the San Antonio-based Joske's nameplate. It became a Dillard's Men's store in 1986 and a J.C. Penney in 1997. Penney's pulled out of the mall in late 2007.
Diamond's stores were absorbed by Dillard's in 1984. Goldwater's went defunct in 1989, with the METROCENTER location being rebranded as a Los Angeles-based Robinson's. This, in turn, became a Robinsons-May in 1993 and Macy's in 2006.
The Broadway -which had come under the newly-formed (Phoenix-based) Broadway Southwest division in 1979- was "Macy-ated" in 1996 and shuttered in 2005. It remains vacant to this day. The METROCENTER Sears is the only anchor that has retained its original nameplate over the years.
In January 2004, the mall was purchased -in a joint venture- by Phoenix-based Westcor and Boston-based AEW Capital Management. Westcor, one of the mall's original developers, became a subsidiary of the Santa Monica-based Macerich Company in 2002.
A major overhaul of METROCENTER was completed late in 2005, which included facelifts of its interior and exterior, a refashioned Food Court, installation of a family lounge and rocket ship-themed children's play area and new, full-service Community Room.
Changing demographics in the surrounding area, and the opening of new lifestyle centers, such as ARROWHEAD TOWN CENTER in Glendale, in 1993, have had a negative impact on METROCENTER.
At present, the megamall has two vacant anchor stores (The Broadway and J.C. Penney). There are, however, three in operation (Sears, Dillard's and Macy's) as well as one hundred and fifty-four inline stores.
Sources:
Mitch Glaser' METROCENTER memories
John Bueker's METROCENTER memories
Comment post by Jonah Norason
"Metrocenter" article on Wikipedia
Comment post by "Anonymous"
http://www.metrocentermall.com/
http://www.cinematreasures.com/
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MALL HALL OF FAME CURATOR
A self-confessed mall-o-phile since 1969
35 comments:
Like the Curator of this blog, I am obsessed with malls. My obsession began as a child in the Valley of the Sun, where oppressive heat and the lack of other public spaces made malls "the place to be." Metrocenter impressed me more than any other mall of that era, with its two levels, five department stores, a movie theatre, an ice rink, a food court, and the groovy decor depicted in the photographs above.
One of my favorite "classic" movies, "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure," was shot there, showcasing the mall's many pleasures in the late 1980's. It is sad to see Metrocenter's decline, as it was the predominate mall in the Valley for nearly two decades. Perhaps Phoenix has grown too large, as Metrocenter now a "central city" location, or perhaps shopping habits have changed enough to make the mall irrelevant, as shoppers gravitate towards "power centers" like Desert Ridge and Tempe Marketplace. Whatever the case, I'll always have fond memories of Metrocenter and its old slogan, "if it isn't here, it's nowhere."
Metrocenter was the first "megamall" by Westcor, a company that is now the premier regional shopping center developer in Arizona, maintaining its unique identity within the Macerich organization. In 7th grade, we were asked to write a "business letter" to a company we knew, and I chose to write to Westcor. I recieved a response containing blueprints for several malls and an invitation to a "business lunch." I was pleasantly surprised.
Westcor made the brilliant move of acquiring much more land than was needed to host Metrocenter. The company built two loop roads around the mall and sold parcels to restaurants, banks, and other ancillary businesses, including an amusement park (Golf 'N Stuff, later Castles 'N Coasters). Westcor developed other parcels into shopping centers and a hotel. In subsequent mall developments, Westcor always acquired additional land in order to control development around its projects. In recent years, it has built "power centers" next to Chandler Fashion Center and the (nearly complete) SanTan Village. The company has been able to reap all of the economic benefits of its malls through this strategy.
Does anyone remember a big arcade at Metrocenter in the early-mid 1990s? (Perhaps 1992 or 1993?) I remember going to a big arcade type thing there but I can't figure out where it was when I go there now.
Wow... another great post! I loved it! The first 5 anchor mall. Liberty House and Goldwaters? I'm there. I sure miss the days where department stores were limited to particular regions. With the homogenization of department stores, you could be anywhere and still be in Macy's. Ugh.
Awesome mall!
Sscott
Yeppers on that Scott. I cannot gripe enough about the homogenization of America's old, regional department stores.
I'm glad that Macy's is saving $$ on advertising...by absorbing and "Macy-ating" Marshall Field's, Lazarus, Burdines, Bon Marche', May Co., Rich's, Jordan Marsh and the like.....
However, this process has stripped away civic pride, leaving another segment of American pop culture merely memories.
I still think that these stores should have been absorbed, with their regional nameplates left intact.....
Cheers, regardless,
Just reread it. I have no idea how I missed the Metro Midway arcade! I loved visiting that arcade in junior high and went back to Metrocenter to find it about six months ago. Thanks for the mention about where it was - I can envision it now!
Thanks for perusing & posting, Sarah,
The primary reason that I work so very hard in putting together (and maintaining) this "Mid-Mod Mall Museum" is to read comments such as yours. As you might imagine, I am VERY VERY retro-nostalgic (I just spent a fortune to buy a vintage, early 60's, aluminum X-mas tree, hee hee).
I fondly recall going to the DAYTON MALL [March '07 archive] and SALEM MALL [also March '07 archive], in my native Dayton, back in the time frame now falling under the "Classic Mall Era". I never got over my wonderment at these huge, "shopopolises".
I'm delighted to know that an article here has created the same fond mall memories for you. I sure wish that I could have seen METROCENTER back in its glory days. It would have put the DAYTON MALL (which we all thought was so enormous in 1970) to shame!
By the way.....a lion's share of your gratitude should really be directed toward fellow mall fans Mitch Glaser and John Bueker. They sent me most all the info I have about the early-days METROCENTER....including details about the Metro Midway Arcade and Metro Port.
Cheers,
The ice rink...how did it connect to the mall interior?
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure was indeed here, and has much cleaner shots of the mall interior. In the movie, The Broadway and Sears are mentioned and the "historical dudes" are caught in the ice rink. There's also an excellent early Casual Corner façade and an elevator near the exercise place.
The food court also apparently sold ICEEs (based on the blue and red drinks Bill gave them). There's a store in the "Sigmund Frued is a geek" scene selling various things "on a bat" including "zuchhini on a bat". The store was called Batter Up. Despite the bizarre food choice, the store seemed to be a legit food court store (either that or a masterpiece created by the filmmakers in a vacant space).
Can anyone confirm this?
Jonah,
Thanks for perusing and posting on the "mid-mod mall museum" here.
The ice rink at the original METROCENTER was on the lower level. It was in an area unto itself....and did not connect into the main corridor/Goldwater's/J.W. Robinson Court area to the east.
A block of stores (across from Goldwater's/J.W. Robinsons) was between the mall corridor and ice rink, as seen on the circa-'74 site plan.
To access the ice rink, one apparently had to enter on the upper level, at the entrance in the food court....or enter elsewhere and head over to the food court(which was above the ice rink), and take stairs, ecalators or an elevator down to the ice rink below.
Cheers,
Thanks for answering. I found a video of the mall scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2a3nbTrO_c
The "Batter Up" store is at roughly :38
A County Seat facade at 4:22
At about 3:40, the cops point downward to the ice rink, making me wonder about the ice rink. There appears to be no stores on the ice rink level and no access either.
One more question on the Metrocenter...your map is fairly accurate, Waldenbooks is still there, Old Navy is directly across from Goldwater's (now Macy's), Diamond's is Dillard's, and Liberty House and The Broadway are vacant. The new mall map shows a cinema and a food court on the upper level near the ice rink area (accessible through a hallway on the second floor of Macy's, directly above Old Navy).
Reading "Bryan C."'s entry on this mall's Yelp! page:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/metrocenter-mall-phoenix
confirms a few things about the mall, such as Batter Up, an "Alley" area (think Cinder Alley in CINDERELLA CITY MALL or the French Quarter in TANGLEWOOD MALL), and a depressing suicide. The Alley area, a new map, the lower level of the ice rink area today, and the entrance to the old ice rink are things I'd like to see if you ever update this.
Jonah,
Yup, it would be best if I were to include a circa-2008 site plan of METROCENTER. It wouldn't be that hard to do...just copy and paste the current plan and "renovate" it, ala the present-day.
However, the mall has not physically changed since 1973. They have done a lot of interior changes to the Ice Rink/Food Court/Cinema area....but have not actually expanded -or built on- to the existing complex....far as I know.
I guess that this is why I have never done a 2008 plan.
I suppose that the Batter Up" / "Alley" area should be mentioned. I believe that it was directly southeast of Sears?
An exterior entrance to the Ice Rink was nonexistent. The rink was situated on the lower level, beneath where the Food Court is now.
To get in or out of the Ice Rink, you would have entered the mall...preferably via the southwest (second level) entrance and gone down stairs -or escalators- to the Ice Rink below.
It couldn't have had an entrance from the sw parking area....the ice rink was underground from there.
Mitch Glaser tells that the Ice Rink was also not accessible from the first level court area in front of the Goldwater's store. Wierd, huh?
Thanks for perusing and posting...as always.
Batter Up is just a restaurant in the food court, not related the Alley. Just clearing that up.
After rewatching the Bill & Ted video, the cops point to the ice rink from an upper level concourse that has stores. No escalators are seen down to the rink, but there is a sign that reads "Metro Ice Palace".
This is another cool video that shows a concourse looking to the rink from the second floor. It's not mine, but it does show everything ~1990: the ice rink, Goldwater's, and a large area over the ice rink...could it be the plane?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6xFA5uE-XE
Jonah,
Yup..I do believe that the airliner cocktail lounge is in the video.
But haven't both Bill&Ted and the 1990 video proved that the ice rink was viewable from the main concourse? I'd say a map modification would be in serious order.
Jonah...
Naw..as far as I know (and I consulted "Phoenicians when doing this article) the mall map here is correct....no modifications necessary.
The Ice Rink was a part of the mall's Lower Level....but was not accessible from the LOWER LEVEL main concourse (the mall map here is of the Lower Level).
You could go over to the area overlooking the Rink from the Upper Level Main Concourse...but -from the Lower Level- you could not.
You would have had to go up a level and then walk over to the Ice Rink area.
On the present-day site plan for the Lower Level, there is a hallway that cuts through from the Main Concourse over to the multiplex cinema that occupies the Ice Rink space.
This is, however, a service corridor...closed off to the public.
Sorry about the confusion.......
I can remember being very saddened when the mall was first renovated in 1993, probably for the mall's 20th anniversary. Everything looked 'different' and the mall was much brighter due to new skylights, etc. Also, about two years prior to that the ice rink was converted to the Metro Midway arcade. The mall has gone through yet another renovation. One place many people may not remember was the large McDonald's in the mall that was on the upper level next to The Broadway at the mall's south end. There was sort of another little 'cove' in the mall (not the Alley, that was at the other end) that contained a store that attracted the 'Goth' crowd and the Grunge crowd, etc. There may have been like one or two other stores as well. I believe the area of the mall was called "Bourbon Street" or something of that nature.
Anon,
I've been wondering exactly where this "Alley" was.....in the north end near Sears?
Anon: The McDonald's was next to the goth store (according to Yelp) if that helps
Curator: The YouTube video shows the restaurant above the ice rink being Round the Corner. A check on Malls of America suggests that the restaurant changed hands several times before it was demolished for a food court.
Jonah,
The existing article has been renovated to include mention of Round the Corner.
Sorry for the delay.....
The ice rink was not visible from the ground floor of the main mall. You could only see it from the second floor once you entered the branch of the mall that contained the theater, Farrell's and food court. You looked down to see it. The parking lot entrance was right onto this second floor. You drove your car up a slope to get there. The other entrances were to the lower level. I didn't ever ice skate there so don't remember how you actually got down into it but I know there was no way to see the rink from the main mall.
The Alley was on the ground floor by Sears. There was a cobblestone walkway. The walls and ceilings were dark. There were multiple small shops in there. Lotions and Potions, a photo studio where you dressed up in old Western saloon type costumes, I think a tee shirt shop and I can't remember what else.
I'm not sure I explained very clearly. When you entered the mall from the upper level entrance on your right was Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour then the movie theater entrance which wasn't very wide. Then there were several fast food stores before you get to the actual mall. On the left was a walkway to the airplane bar, then a railing where you looked down onto the ice rink. About opposite of the first fast food on the left there was a foot court of about five fast food restaurants that extended left along the long side of the rink. There was a railing all along where you could look over, tables and chairs and such. Leaving the food court, facing the movie theater there were then three or four more fast food spots before the actual mall entrance. I remember Hot Dog On A Stick and a baked potato place where you could choose from dozens of toppings. I don't remember what stores were the "corners" but might have been a Foot Locker, the "corners" were open on two sides both to the "corridor" that led to the rink/food court exit and to the main mall.
Love this website by the way. Enjoy remembering the malls of my youth. MetroCenter and Chris-Town.
The Alley was created inside a retail space, not an extension of the mall. Not as big as an anchor but bigger than your average shoe store.
There may have only been one or two food "stands" between the "corner" stores and the food court/theater instead of the three or four I said earlier. It's been a long time.
There was nothing down by the ice rink other than the place to rent the skates and perhaps they had a small "pro shop" and sold ice skates and ice skating apparel, No food or other retail.
I believe Round The Corner went into Farrell's spot.
I moved from Phoenix in 1984
Watched the clip from Bill & Ted. Lincoln gets his picture taken in The Alley, when he runs out you can see he has to turn and run to get the actual mall.
I think Batter Up was faked for the movie. Hot Dog on a Stick was out in the corridor not in the actual food court. The ice rink would be directly behind the girls, and down of course.
I think the sporting goods store was also faked for the movie I don't remember one being there.
The music store was there.
Watched the other You Tube video. All those "stores" above the ice rink are the food court. Not stores in the mall.
The shot where people are walking across a "bridge" above the rink is as you walked into the mall from the parking lot. That restaurant on the right was Farrell's then Round The Corner the walkway you see straight ahead going to the right went to the theater. The main viewing of the ice rink and the food court was to the left.
I don't see the airplane bar.
Anon,
Thanks for relating the METROCENTER memories. NEVER having been to this mall, either then or now, it took some studying (of plans) and a lot of commentary (by those who had been to the mall) to grasp how the ice rink was situated.
I'm glad that you've confirmed what I thought....that it was rather off to itself (in a corner of the structure) and was not visable from the "main (The B'way-to-Sears) mallway".
So many of the other "Mid-mod mall" ice rinks were more prominently featured in the structures they were in.
The rink in the middle of Milwaukee's MAYFAIR MALL (1973 to 1986 or so) comes to mind....as does the rinks STILL at the center of Oregon's LLOYD CENTER (1960) or GALLERIA I in Houston (1970).
However, like the ice skating feature at METROCENTER, rinks at NYC's ROOSEVELT FIELD (1956) or The Bay Area's SOUTHLAND (1972) were seperated off from the main mall.
I also think (not entirely certain) that the rink at Chicago's WOODFIELD (1973...to...)was kind of off in a cubby hole type thing (on a lower/basement level).
I also wanted to thank you for confirming where "The Alley" was, in the olden days METROCENTER. I had figured that it was just south of Sears, off to the left...if you were going toward The Broadway.
Here, again, is another feature found in a lot of malls of the period......in Denver you had "Cinder Alley" (at CINDERELLA CITY) or Peacock Alley" (at Chicago's FORD CITY).
Thanks again for the memories.
No, Batter Up could be seen with other stands, and it looked like the others...why would they fake it?
And Oshman's was in the mall. In the Bill & Ted video, where he says "I gotta live one here", you can see the mall in the background.
The food court does indeed overlook the ice rink...an overhead neon sign (3:38) says "food court".
But that raises a question. Why would they remove the ice rink for a food court if there was already one there?
From the way it is described to me, the ice rink became a video arcade, with the Food Court being on the level above since sometime in the 1980s (hence, it was there in 1988-89 when "Bill & Ted's" was filmed).
The removal of the ice rink -and creation of the video arcade- was done in the early 1990s. The cinema was expanded -taking out the video arcade- in 1998.
Maybe I missed it in the article, but I seem to remember that one of the department stores was actually 3 levels (I remember it as being Joskies). Also, at one point, two of the department stores were filled by Dillards (one being the men's store and one the women')
Hi to Gina that worked at Mrs. Field's cookies! You were such a cuite!
The Alley really freaked me out as a kid. Don't know why. I sure miss Mr. Sam's pretzels!
Anon,
Thanks much for posting.
Comparing the square footages and physical sizes of the anchor stores at METROCENTER....you have to be correct in remembering the Liberty House / Joske's as being 3 levels (with the other 4 anchors being 2).
I rectified the article to cite Lib House/Joske's, etcetera, as being 3-levels.
Moreover, I added two more site plans. The first, from around 1990, shows the double Dillard's you mention. The second, from 2009, shows all the vacant anchor stores.
Thanks again,
While I'm always on the lookout for rare interior shots of my favorite dead malls of Texas (MANOR EAST MALL, GREENSPOINT MALL, etc.) I did run across two black and white photos of the Alley.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/8094401-post5.html
The first one reminds me of DORT MALL (Labelscar) or the Chicken Oil Co. restaurant (a tasty local restaurant a few miles away from the modern-day Tejas Center)
That does look like some of the "objets d'art" in Dort, hee hee.
Thanks for posting.
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