Greater Denver's Cinderella City 

The original trademark of Greater Denver's million+ square foot mega mall.

Graphic from Gerri Von Frellick Associates

This image, and the two that follow, are renderings of the prospective CINDERELLA CITY mall. Above, we see a vista view of the complex.
Drawing from Englewood Public Library / Mall History / Joshua Goldstein

Here, we see the gargantuan Center Court, or Blue Mall.
Drawing from Englewood Public Library / Mall History / Joshua Goldstein

Neusteters, a Denver-based department store, anchored the west end of the mall. The store featured a Beauty Salon and Chit-Chat snack bar. 
Drawing from the Neusteter Company

The mall under construction, in 1967. The western section and center areas are nearing completion. The eastern Gold Mall, and Joslins anchor store, are taking shape.
Photo from Englewood Public Library / Mall History / Joshua Goldstein

The M-shaped layout of CINDERELLA CITY maximized the small 70-acre parcel that the structure was squeezed into. The complex comprised 3 levels; Lower, Main and Mezzanine. A 2-level parking deck provided free parking for 7,000 autos. 

CINDERELLA CITY TENANTS 1968:

MAIN LEVEL

 

F. W. WOOLWORTH (with Woolworth's Restaurant) / J.C. PENNEY (with Coffee Shop, Beauty Salon, Portrait Studio, Patio Shop, Home Furnishings Center and freestanding Auto Center), JOSLINS (with Beauty Salon and High Country Inn restaurant) / NEUSTETER'S (with Beauty Salon and Chit-Chat snack bar) / THE DENVER (with Beauty Salon and Tearoom-ette restaurant) / Ada Rankin Candle Shop / Allen's Shoes / American Family Insurance / American Gifts / Argenzio / Baker's Ladies Specialty Shoes / Bernina Sewing Chalet / Boettcher & Company / Bond's Clothes / Borg's / Bosworth-Sullivan financial services / Calandra's Cards & Gifts / Candy Shop / Carousel Snack Bar East / Carousel Snack Bar West / Cheese Shop / Christian Science Reading Room / Clair's Hats / Coach House / Community Finance / Cottage Bakery / Cricket Shop / Doctor Maken, Veterinarian / Dunbar Jewelry / E & M Specialties (tall girl fashions) / Elsen's House of Fabric / Evered-Field / Flagg Brothers Shoes / Florsheim Shoes / Fontius Shoes / Gano-Downs apparel / General Cinema Corporation Cinderella City Cinema (single-screen) / Guest Beds of America / Hatch's Book Store / Hatch's Cards & Gifts / Helzberg Jewelers / House of 9 ladies' wear / Hummel Delicatessen / Joan Bari handbags / K-G Bootery / K-G Men's Store / Kaplan Beauty Shop / Kinney's Family Shoes / Kinney's Juvenile Shoes / Lerner Shops ladies' wear / Karmelkorn / Lullie Rubin ladies' wear / McDonald's Fashions / McDermitt Super Drug Store / Miss K-G Shop / Mode O' Day Frock Shop / Musicland / National Shirt Shops / New Englewood Toys / Nino / Stuarts Ladies Ready-To-Wear / Specialty Foods / The Swiss Colony The Village East / Thom McAn Shoes / Thomas Key / Tobacco Inn / Veldkamp Florist / Village Inn restaurant / Pancake House / Vogue / Waldenbooks / Western Federal Savings & Loan / Wig Palace / World Wide Imports / Zales Jewelers

LOWER LEVEL

 

Ada Rankin Candle Shop / Corey's Jewel Box / Der Wienerschnitzel / Fashion Tree ladies' wear / McDonald's hamburgers / Memory Lane Gifts & Cards / New Englewood Arcade / New Englewood Pet Shop / Park Lane Hosiery / Patsy's Candy / Radio Shack / Sil La Trading Company (imports) / Taco Siesta Restaurant / Tandy Leather / Three Wishes / Tie Village West / Tray Angle / World Wide Imports

 

MEZZANINE LEVEL

 

Cora West Employment Office / Cottage Bakery / Fifth Avenue Coiffures / Professional Plaza Offices

 

OUTPARCELS

 

Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors Ice Cream / Columbia Savings & Loan Association / Englewood City Hall / First National Bank of Englewood / King Soopers supermarket / Penneys Auto Center / Republic National Bank / Sherwin-Williams Paints / Wyatt's Cafeteria

The sprawling, south Denver shopping complex, soon after its dedication in 1968. It was promoted as "the largest enclosed shopping center west of the Mississippi." At the time, the largest mall east of the Mississippi was Long Island's newly-enclosed ROOSEVELT FIELD.

Photo from Englewood Public Library / Mall History / Joshua Goldstein

THE LARGEST SHOPPING MALLS IN THE UNITED STATES, 1968:

1. ROOSEVELT FIELD MALL [1,485,000 sf], Nassau County, NY
2. CINDERELLA CITY [1,350,000 sf], Englewood, CO
3. GARDEN STATE PLAZA [1,340,000 sf], Paramus, NJ
4. YORKTOWN CENTER [1,300,000 sf], Lombard, IL
5. SUNVALLEY CENTER [1,255,000 sf], Concord & Pleasant Hill, CA

The dramatic fountain that graced the Center Court (Blue Mall) at CINDERELLA CITY.

Photo from Englewood Public Library / Mall History / Joshua Goldstein

The Sunflower Mall concourse in the original complex was remade into Cinder Alley. Promoted as an "Olde English artisans village," it eventually became the mall's hippie concourse.

Photo from Englewood Public Library / Mall History / Joshua Goldstein

In this view, we see the mall's western parking lot entrance off of Hampden Avenue. The sign for the Cinderella City Cinema announces the feature currently being shown; a 1969 re-release of Disney's "Swiss Family Robinson."
Photo from City of Englewood / Englewood Public Library

A closer view of the middle section and West Wing of CINDERELLA CITY, with the mall's 2-level F.W. Woolworth 5 & dime in prominent view.
Photo from City of Englewood / Englewood Public Library

Here we see another view of the mammoth mall's middle section and East Wing. A Joslins anchor store is seen on the right.
Photo from City of Englewood / Englewood Public Library

 

A circa-1988 site plan shows renovations done to the mall between 1983 and 1986. These modifications included a refurbished (sans fountain) Center Court, Lower Level Food Court and new southwest anchor. Opened as a Phoenix-based Broadway Southwest, the store was sporting a May D & F nameplate by the time of this depiction.

 

A 1990s-vintage snapshot of the Rose Mall concourse. By this time, structural problems with the mall, and competition from newer shopping hubs, was sending CINDERELLA CITY into a downward spiral.
Photo from Englewood Public Library / Mall History / Joshua Goldstein

With its proverbial carriage turned back into a pumpkin, the CINDERELLA CITY mall is demolished in the autumn of 1998.
Photo from Englewood Public Library / Mall History / Joshua Goldstein

A site plan of CITYCENTER ENGLEWOOD, the New Urbanism replacement for CINDERELLA CITY. The Civic Center structure (formerly an anchor store) and freestanding bank are the only remaining vestiges of the mall. These two buildings are surrounded in blue.
Original drawing from www.ci.englewood.co.us

That iconic Bentonville-based retailer anchored the CITYCENTER redevelopment. Their 135,000 square foot store was dedicated in September of the year 2000. It was expanded by 10,000 square feet in 2011.
Photo from www.weingartenrealty.com

Were CINDERELLA CITY still standing, it would now be one of America's rail transit-accessible malls. Denver's RTD extended light rail service to the shopping center site in July 2000.

Photo from Wikipedia / "Mobyll"

CINDERELLA CITY 
South Santa Fe Drive / US 85 and West Hampden Avenue / US 285
Englewood, Colorado

Greater Denver's tenth shopping mall had a rocky start and was plagued by problems over most of its 30-year existence. The venue was envisaged, by Denver mall maven Gerri von Frellick, as a new concept, Victorian-style shopping center. In August 1960, a site south of the Denver City-County line (and near the city of Englewood) was selected. The wheeling and dealing that would be necessary in order to build the shopping center was put in motion.

Von Frellick's proposal was met with friction from various political entities and citizen's groups, all steadfastly opposed to the project. 5 years of bitterly-fought litigation followed, which was finally resolved in July 1965.

By this time, an alternate location for the prospective mall had been agreed upon, which was 8.6 miles south of Colorado's Capitol and 1.3 miles west of the aforementioned site. The newly-selected, 70-acre tract had been a landfill and was presently serving as the Englewood City Park. Von Frellick had purchased the property in May of 1964.

Ground was broken for the "New Englewood Shopping Center" in March 1966. The fully-enclosed complex was designed by its developer, with additional work by James H. Johnson, Crowther, Kruse, Landlin & Associates, James Sudler Associates and other architects. It was built in an M-shaped configuration, with five counterparts being the Gold Mall, Rose Mall, Shamrock Mall and Sunflower Mall. 

These converged on a 2-level center atrium, or Blue Mall, which featured a 35-foot-high fountain. In all, the mall encompassed 3 levels. The Lower Level and Main Level had retail stores, restaurants and parking facilities. A Mezzanine Level, overlooking the Blue Mall, had 120,000 square feet of leased office space.

The first phase of the shopping hub, now known as CINDERELLA CITY ENGLEWOOD, featured 107 inline stores. The 1,350,000 square foot facility was dedicated on March 7, 1968. The auspicious event, hailed as an "Alice In Wonderland come true," was attended by a crowd of over 3,000. Two mall anchors were dedicated as part of the March 7 grand opening; a 3-level (206,800 square foot) J.C. Penney and 3-level (45,900 square foot), Denver-based Neusteters.

"Grand Opening II", held on July 25, 1968, heralded the opening of an additional thirty-five stores, including a 3-level (151,000 square foot) Denver Dry Goods. The 50 million dollar CINDERELLA CITY mall now housed 141 stores and services. Charter tenants included Gano-Downs apparel, McDonald Fashions, Stuarts Ready-To-Wear For Ladies, Flagg Brothers Shoes, Radio Shack, Randall's Formal Wear and 2-level (64,800 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. A 2-level (108,200 square foot), Denver-based Joslins made its debut on September 19, 1968.

The General Cinema Corporation Englewood Cinema was located at the west end of the mall. This venue opened for business on March 7, 1968. It was renamed Cinderella City Cinema in November 1968. The theater was divided and re-opened, as the Cinderella City Cinema I & II, on June 5, 1975. It was shuttered and demolished in 1983. The in-mall cinema was joined by a nearby outdoor venue on July 13, 1973. The Cinderella Twin 2 Drive-In was located .2 of a mile west of CINDERELLA CITY, in the city of Sheridan.

In 1971, the Sunflower Mall concourse was rebuilt as Cinder Alley, an Olde English-motif collection of specialty shoppes and boutiques. A routine inspection in December 1972 revealed structural problems with the mall's 2-level parking garage and J.C. Penney anchor store. It was possible that the ground beneath the mall, previously a landfill, had shifted, causing cracks in the concrete supporting the parking deck and retail buildings above. Problem areas were braced with steel scaffolding and shoring sets. 

Prime competitors of CINDERELLA CITY were SOUTHGLENN MALL (1974) {4.4 miles southeast, in Arapahoe County} and SOUTHWEST PLAZA (1982) {5.7 miles southwest, in Jefferson County}.
 

CINDERELLA CITY was acquired by Philadelphia's Kravco Corporation in 1978. A 23 million dollar renovation began in 1983 and was completed in 1986. During this project, the Center Court (Blue Mall) was altered. Its fountain was removed and columns given new surfaces. A 15-bay Food Court was installed in part of the Lower Level.

Moreover, a shuttered Neusteters and twin cinema were torn down. These were replaced by a 3-level (127,000 square foot), Phoenix-based Broadway Southwest. The store, dedicated on November 5, 1985, was rebranded, as a Denver-based May D & F, in 1987 and Houston-based Foley's in 1993. In the interim, Denver Dry Goods ("The Denver") had closed in April 1987. It re-opened as a Montgomery Ward Specialty Store late in the year. 

 

Unfortunately, the renovation and new anchor stores did not rejuvenate the mall, which, by the early 1990s, was starting to decline. To add insult to injury, a third commercial competitor had opened its doors. An enclosed mall at CHERRY CREEK CENTER {4.6 miles northeast, in Denver} was officially dedicated in August 1990.

The worsening structural problems at CINDERELLA CITY did not help the situation. Its anchor stores began closing. The first was Foley's, which shut down in January 1994. J.C. Penney went dark in May, with Joslins shutting its doors for good in October 1994. Montgomery Ward, which was the mall's final operational store, closed its doors in December 1997.

On August 18, 1998, former Englewood mayor, Elmer Schwab, who had presided at the mall's grand opening 30 years before, was joined by a small group of onlookers as a wrecking ball began demolishing the shopping center. A portion of a parking structure and the Foley's store were worked into a new mixed-use project. 

Known as CITYCENTER ENGLEWOOD, it was a joint venture between the City Of Englewood, Denver-based Miller Development, Trammel Crow Residential and Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors. CITYCENTER was officially dedicated in June of 2000. When fully completed, the power plaza encompassed 300,000 square feet of retail. Stores included a (22,800 square foot) Office Depot, (12,600 square foot) Petco and (30,100 square foot) Ross Dress For Less.

A 1-level (134,900 square foot) Wal-Mart opened for business on September 20, 2000. There were also 300,000 square feet of offices, 450 apartment units and a Civic Center and Library complex (in the old Foley's). In July 2000, the shopping facility became rail transit accessible. Revenue service commenced on the 8.7 route mile Southwest Corridor RTD Light Rail extension.

Sources:

 

The Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado)
http://www.mallhistorycom / Joshua Goldstein, webmaster
"The Tragic Fall of A Magic Mall - A Cinderella City History" / The Cinderella City Project / Brick Immortar

"Romanceme", a Colorado native "Cinderella City Mall / Englewood City Center" / By Kurt P. Schweigert
http://www.englewoodgov.org
http://www.rtd-denver.com
https://www.cinematreasures.org