Greater San Diego's second shopping mall was decorated with an array of tropical plantings, as this 1965 photo attests. In this vintage view, we see the southwest end of the COLLEGE GROVE CENTER concourse. Bond Clothes is on the right, with a Woolworth 5 & 10 off in the distance.
Photo from IIvintage
For the record, the very first mall-type shopping hub in -or around- San Diego had been built in the suburb of National City. A Mayfair Market grocery became the first operational SOUTH BAY PLAZA store, in February 1954.
Graphic from the R.A. Rowan Company
