A circa-1976 layout shows the original orientation of the four anchor stores and various peripheral structures. The retail facility encompassed 746,300 leasable square feet and (at the time of this depiction) contained around seventy-five stores and services. In later years, the mall would house around ninety. The bi-level parking lot had room for 4,050 autos.
CENTURY PLAZA TENANTS 1976:
SEARS (with Coffee Shop and freestanding Auto Center) / LOVEMAN'S OF ALABAMA (with Beauty Salon) / J.C. PENNEY (with Coffee Shop, Beauty Salon & freestanding Auto Center) / RICH'S / Alabama Outdoors / Aladdin's Castle video arcade / Anderson-Little men's wear / B. Dalton Bookseller / Baker's Shoes / Baskin-Robbins ice cream / Bathique / Body Shop / Bookland / Bromberg's / Brook's Fashion Store / Butler's Shoes / Camelot Music / Carousel Snack Bar / Casual Corner ladies' wear / Central Bank / Chess King / Chick-Fil-A / City Federal / County Seat / Fashion Post / First National Bank / Florsheim Shoes / Foxmoor Casuals / General Nutrition Center / Gifts By Bess / Giftwick / Gingiss Formal Wear / Gordon's Jewelers / Hanover Shoes / Hardy Shoes / Hickory Farms of Ohio / Hot Sam pretzels / J.T. Morley / Jarman Shoes / Jeans West / Jewelry Jungle / Jobe-Rose / Kalso Earth Shoe / Karmelkorn / Kinney Shoes / Lynn's Hallmark / McDonald's / McMillan's Big & Tall men's wear / Merry-Go-Round ladies' wear / Morrison's Cafeteria / Morrow's Nut House / Mother-To-Be ladies' wear / Pearle Vision Center / Radio Shack / Dick Reese's Hammond Organ / Sandwich Shop / Shoney's Coffee Shop / Size 5-7-9 Shops ladies' wear / Spencer Gifts / Sports Edition / Stag Shop men's wear / Stride-Rite Shoes / Stuarts Ready-To-Wear For Ladies / Tinder Box Tobacconist / Tricks N Treats / Ups 'N Downs / Thom McAn Shoes / Toy City / Village Bootery / Webster Men's Wear / Wide World of Music / York Steakhouse (outparcel) / Zales Jewelers
Another vintage interior view of CENTURY PLAZA.
Photo from https://www.bhamwiki.com / Rolf Hans Müller
In this drawing we see the close proximity of B'ham's two Across the Street malls. This too-close-for-comfort configuration was not unique to the Magic City. It was also seen in locales such as Mobile (the SPRINGDALE and BEL AIR malls), Atlanta (LENOX SQUARE and PHIPPS PLAZA) and Greater Los Angeles (DEL AMO CENTER and BULLOCK'S FASHION SQUARE).
CENTURY PLAZA peaked during the 1980s. By the time of this circa-2003 layout, the complex was on its last legs. Rich's-Macy's would bow out in mid-2004. McRae's (formerly Loveman's and then Pizitz) would be "Belked" and then close for good in mid-2006. Penney's would pull their proverbial plug soon after.
