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Non-original photos and images used on this site are given source credit, with links often provided to the original sources. ...

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On our website,  you'll find illustrated histories and other ephemera  about America's first regional shopping centers and m...

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Four MHoF articles  provide a glimpse of our retail heritage. First, we have a nineteen-photo spread  taken inside...

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Some may deride the contemporary American shopping mall as a shop till you drop, cathedral of conspicuous consumption; a manifestation of o...

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In the 1950s and '60s, the shopping mall was an " everything in one place place. " There would be one, or even two, 5 &...

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A circa-1963 plan of Atlanta's LENOX SQUARE, which was one of the first major malls in the Southeast. In its original incarnation, ...

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Trademarks of stores and services that were found in the typical mid-century shopping mall. The focus then was to provide a wide array of...

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Back in the day -before we all became so jaded- a new shopping mall would open with much fanfare. It was not uncommon for a dedicatio...

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By the late 20th century, the typical mall was being derided for its generic looks, sameness and predictability. A center in Maine would inv...

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A contemporary view of Greater Pittsburgh's SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE. As has been the case with nearly every mid-20th century mall, the in...

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In the here and now! Over the years, LENOX SQUARE has grown from a modest 800,000 square feet into a whopping 1,545,000! There are now over...

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A collection of logos from the typical "Grade A" shopping mall of the recent past. As its classification would imply, this type...

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Barneys New York, a so-called "luxury department store," originated in Manhattan in 1923. Above, we have the chain's ill-fa...

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The typical Grade B mall might have several of the stores depicted above, but it is not uncommon to see a few of these nameplates at a high...

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The very first Sunglass Hut, a kiosk-type store, was located in Miami's DADELAND MALL and began business in 1971. Today, the chain, a...

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The Finish Line chain originated, in 1976, with a franchised Athlete's Foot store in Downtown Indianapolis. In 1981, the first Finish...

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During the 1970s and '80s, America was in a full-throttle shopping mall building boom. New retail square footage hit its peak position i...

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After some 20 years of over development and market saturation, "Grade C" and "D" shopping malls in America were dead ...

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As mentioned, the standard American mall went through various changes during the 1980s, with a marked shift toward more upscale stores and ...

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A  site plan of Memphis' THE SHOPS OF SADDLE CREEK shows the typical layout of a lifestyle-type complex. Inline stores are small (in...

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No, we didn't mess up and post a blank image, lol. Amidst all of the hooplah and hyperbole surrounding the lifestyle center fad, one as...

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The evolution of the retail industry during the 1980s brought forth another new concept in shopping facilities; the "power center....

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Stores in Greater San Francisco's 280 METRO CENTER surround its central parking area. In essence, the typical mall in a sea of park...

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A collection of logos for some of the best-known big box stores. All are still in business, except for Sports Authority, which shut down ...

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WESTGATE, a power center outside of Cleveland, was built from the remains of a demolished WESTGATE MALL. Stores in the 618,900 square ...

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As it turns out, the retail industry's zeal to promote the lifestyle center as the "new & improved" thing, while dismissi...

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Since the mid-1990s, some have opined that all shopping malls in America are dead or dying. This half-fact has been repeated by the cluel...

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Lathrop Douglass (1907-1981) was one of the founding fathers of the American shopping mall. His first mall-type complex opened in 1954. By 1...

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DOUGLASS-DESIGNED MALLS: A list of  shopping malls designed by Lathrop Douglass, Senior between the early 1950s and mid-1970s. Those indicat...