Six suburban shopping malls were built in Greater Sacramento during the mid-20th century. These are indicated with black squares on the map below.

DOWNTOWN PLAZA, a center city urban renewal project, was completed in 1971. It is indicated by a gray square. The eighth major mall in the region, WESTFIELD GALLERIA AT ROSEVILLE (nee' GALLERIA AT ROSEVILLE) opened in the year 2000.

The focus of this section will be on Greater Sacramento's mid-20th century, suburban-type malls. Six Sac-Town Centers will be discussed...

1. COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE [1952]
2. SOUTHGATE CENTER [1960]
3. ARDEN FAIR CENTER [1961]
4. COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA [1961]
5. FLORIN CENTER [1968]
6. SUNRISE MALL [1972]

The region's first expressway, originally known as the Elvas Freeway (now The Capital City Freeway-Business Route I-80) opened in May 1955. By the mid-1980s, Greater Sacramento's current expressway network was in place. This was joined, in March 1987, by an 18.3 route mile light rail line, known -at the time- as RT Metro. This network was extended between 1993 and 2015. In the mid-2020s, the SacRT stretches for 42.9 route miles and serves fifty-three station stops.

COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE, originally a strip-type complex, was the Capital's first regional-class shopping hub. An open-air mall section was completed in November 1960. In the previous month, the first stores in SOUTHGATE CENTER opened their doors.

Greater Sacramento's first fully-enclosed mall was dedicated in early 1968, with three of the region's open-air shopping centers having been roofed-in by 1971. Only two of these complexes still operate with covered concourses.

SOUTHGATE CENTER, was given one of the first demallings in the nation; this done between 1984 and 1986. COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE was demalled in 1991-1992. The Capital's first fully-enclosed retail complex, FLORIN CENTER, endured two decades of decline before being given a wrecking ball renovation in the summer of 2006. It was redeveloped as an open-air "towne centre."

Sacramento's Country Club Centre

One of Sac-Town's first post-war shopping plazas was developed in the city's northern hinterlands. Original COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE stores opened for business between August 1952 and November 1954.

Graphic from the James J. Cordano Company

COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE started out as a strip-type complex. In this mid-1950s snapshot, we see its west end and Rhodes anchor department store. 

Photo from W.C. Spangler News Agency

A second vintage view shows the shopping strip from a different angle. Going right-to-left, stores include Rhodes, Hart's Restaurant, Joseph Magnin, Leeds Qualicraft Shoes, Hartfield's, Singer Sewing Center, Foreman & Clark and Woolworth's.
Photo from W.C. Spangler News Agency

Western Department Stores' first suburban branch opened at COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE in November 1954. The 3-level Rhodes originally encompassed 110,000 square feet and included a beauty salon.

Drawing from Rhodes Western Annual Report 1962

An 80' by 450' shopping concourse was built on the rear side of the existing strip center. Stores opened for business between October 1956 and November 1960. One of the fifteen new "Back Mall" tenants was a 2-level Roos-Atkins (a San Francisco-based men's clothier).
Drawing from Country Club Realty, Incorporated

The original incarnation of Sacramento's ever-changing shopping venue. Its construction phases are shown in four different colors. In 1961, the CENTRE houses forty-six stores and services, with free parking provided for over 1,000 autos.

COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE TENANTS 1961:

RHODES (with Beauty Salon and Shoe Repair Clinic) / LUCKY STORES supermarket / F.W. WOOLWORTH (with luncheonette) / J.C. PENNEY (dry goods only) /  W.T. GRANT / JOSEPH MAGNIN / Al's Shoe Repair / Ameritrust Company / Anita Shops ladies' wear / Burger Kitchen Restaurant / Buster Brown Shoes / Butler Shoes / Casual Corner ladies' wear / Centre Office & Medical Center (Upper Level) / Country Club Centre Laundromat & Swanson's Dry Cleaners / Eagleson's men's wear / Emigh Hardware / Fashion Fabrics / Foreman & Clark apparel / Harger's Jewelers / Heintz Bakery / Kid-E-Korral children's wear / Kirby Shoes / George's Barber Shop / Grebitus & Sons Jewelers / Green & Heyden Shoes / Grodins / Hank's Shoe Repair / Hartfield's ladies' wear / Hart's Restaurant / House of Fabrics / Jay Vee ladies' & children's wear / Kay Jewelers / Kirby Shoes / Leed's Qualicraft Shoes / McCurry Photo & Gifts / Meril Photo Supplies / Mode O'Day Frock Shop / O'Neil Brothers Service Station (outparcel) / Pandora's Gift Shop / PayLess Drug (with luncheonette) / Roos-Atkins men's wear / See's Candies / Singer Sewing Center / The Beauty Center / The Moss Store / The Toy Shop / Thom McAn Shoes / Walgreen Drug  (with Walgreen Grill)

A second department store, to anchor the east end of the complex, was originally planned as a Macy's San Francisco. This never came to fruition. By 1975, work was underway on a new Montgomery Ward, which welcomed first shoppers in March 1976.
Drawing from Montgomery Ward & Company

A newly-enclosed shopping venue opened in October 1970. Stores in the original 1950s strip center had been extended 40 feet to connect with the new south side shopping concourse. As "Monkey Wards" was being built, the enclosed mall was extended eastward 300 feet to connect with it. By 1976, COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE spanned approximately 680,000 leasable square feet, housed fifty-two tenant spaces, and provided free parking for 2,500 autos.

The CENTRE was on the skids by the mid-1980s. Owners came and went, each with grandiose remodeling plans that were never carried out. The complex was demalled in 1991-'92. Its West Wing was demolished, with the remaining structure reconfigured as retail and office space. A Pace Warehouse, in the southwest parking area, was rebranded as a Sam's Club in 1994. Outparcel store strips were added to the north parking area between 2000 and 2008.

The Wal-Mart at COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE was a remodel of an abandoned Montgomery Ward. The Bentonville-based retailer opened for business in July 2004 and closed for good in February 2018.
Photo from www.costar.com / Costar Group

A 2010s view of the main retail structure at COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE. See's Candies has been in operation at the complex since 1953.
Photo from www.costar.com / Costar Group

COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE
El Camino and Watt Avenues
Sacramento County, California

Plans for the first regional shopping center in Greater Sacramento were announced in June 1948. A small plaza, known as MANOR VILLAGE, would house a supermarket, pharmacy, clothing stores and a 1,000-seat movie theater.

The project was being developed by a joint venture of Sacramento's James J. Cordano Company and San Francisco's Blumenfeld Enterprises. Designing the prospective plaza was San Francisco's William B. David. Construction was underway by June 1951. By this time, the name of the up-and-coming complex had been changed to COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE.

Built on a 37.3-acre plot, located 7 miles north of the center city, the CENTRE was officially dedicated on August 21, 1952. Twelve stores and services opened for business. These included Emigh Hardware, Kid-E-Korral, a (15,300 square foot) Lucky Stores supermarket and 3-level (40,000 square foot) J.C. Penney. On hand for the official dedication were Billy Jack Wills & His Western Swing Band, The Kramers juggling act and clowns. Free pony rides were given to tots.  

The shopping hub was implemented in four stages over the following 8 years. The next group of grand openings commenced on December 2, 1953, when Casual Corner, Fashion Fabrics, Hartfield's, Mode O'Day Frock Shop, See's Candies and Singer Sewing Center were dedicated. Next came F.W. Woolworth and Joseph Magnin stores . A 3-level (110-,000 square foot), Tacoma-based Rhodes welcomed first shoppers on November 12, 1954.

The original strip complex was expanded further with an open-air mall in the late 1950s. This was built onto the southwest corner of the existing structure. This "Back Mall" encompassed 155,000 square feet and added fourteen stores. The first operational tenants, House of Fabrics and PayLess Drug, opened their doors in October 1956.

A formal dedication was held on November 17, 1960, inaugurating Grebitus & Sons Jewelers, The Toy Shop, Jay Vee ladies' wear, a  2-level (25,200 square foot) Grodin's and 2-level (18,000 square foot) Roos-Atkins. J.C. Penney, in the original strip complex, had also added a full third floor.

In November 1969, the Rhodes parent company was bought by Honolulu-based American Factors, Limited (AMFAC), who owned Hawaii's Liberty House chain. Soon after the merger, stores were being promoted to as Liberty House-Rhodes. The COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE store was branded, as a bona fide Liberty House, on May 9, 1975.

Meanwhile, a mall-enclosing project was completed in two stages. The first roofed the existing open-air mall. Stores in the original strip center, which faced the new concourse, were extended 40 feet southward. When fully-realized, the air-conditioned concourse featured terrazzo floors, carpeted seating areas and tropical plantings. A grand opening was held on December 3, 1970.

A few years later, three inline stores on the east end of of the structure were demolished and replaced by a 2-level (147,200 square foot) Montgomery Ward. This store, which included a freestanding, 16-bay Auto Center, opened for business on March 24, 1976. The new Wards was built along with a 300-foot extension of the enclosed mall and a covered parking deck. When construction dust settled, COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE encompassed approximately 680,000 leasable square feet.

By this time, the CENTRE had two major competitors. ARDEN FAIR CENTER {2 miles southwest, in Sacramento} had opened for business in 1961. COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA, built across Watt Avenue from COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE, also opened during 1961. The three malls coexisted peaceably until July 1971, when COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA snatched the 19-year-old J.C. PENNEY from COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE.

In spite of several renovations, the CENTRE was in a downward spiral by the early 1980s. Liberty House was shuttered in the summer of 1984, followed by Joseph Magnin, which ceased operation September 17 of the same year. Ownership of the shopping venue had changed twice since 1983. It was acquired by a joint venture of the MaceRich Company and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company in January 1985.

A 5 million dollar renovation was announced. This project was to rebuild the mall, with its name being changed to SACRAMENTO PLACE. The prospective refurbishment never materialized, so mall -and moniker- remained as is. The center was sold to a consortium of investors, headed by Sacramento's Marvin "Buzz" Oates, in June 1987.

After a few false starts, a renovation of the virtually vacant complex got underway in early 1991. Inline store space on the west end was demolished, leaving the Rhodes-Liberty House structure standing. It was gutted and reconfigured as the Liberty Center office building. The remaining shopping concourse was also gutted and refashioned into office space. The project was finished in mid-1992.

Late in the year, an outparcel Pace Membership Warehouse opened for business at the southwest corner of the site. It was rebranded as a Sam's Club in early 1994. The reconstituted shopping and office complex now spanned approximately 594,500 leasable square feet.

An exterior face lift was completed in December 2002; this done in anticipation of a renovation of the Montgomery Ward, which had been shuttered in March 2001. The store was rebuilt into a 2-level Wal-Mart, which was dedicated on July 22, 2004.

COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE now featured the aforementioned Sam's Club and Wal-Mart, along with Anna's Linens, See's Candies, Michaels and offices for the State of California Department of Water Resources. Freestanding strip structures housed Chipotle Mexican Grill, Panera Bread, SuperCuts, The UPS Store and Wells Fargo Bank.

The complex was sold to Tourmaline Capital Management, a San Diego-based investment company, in March 2015. 3 years later, a store exodus was underway. Sam's Club went dark on January 26, 2018, followed by WalMart, on February 9th. Michaels shuttered their COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE store soon after.

Sam's Club was retenanted by a Costco Business Center, which opened on June 4, 2020. A vacant WalMart was razed in 2021. The building was replaced by a (41,500 square foot) junior anchor. Planned as an Amazon Fresh grocery, the opening of the store was delayed indefinitely in September 2022. 

At this time, operational stores at COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE included See's Candies, Raising Cane's, Bank of America, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Supercuts, Wingstop and the aforementioned Costco Business Center.  

Sources:

The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Business Journal
http://www.valcomnews.com / Lance Armstrong
http://www.buzzoates.com
http://www.costar.com
https://www.retailwatchers.com
"Country Club Centre" article on Wikipedia

Sacramento's Arden Fair Center

Sacramento's Hale Brothers was one of two department stores anchoring the original ARDEN FAIR CENTER. The Hale's store, which encompassed 3 floors and 205,000 square feet, opened for business in August 1961.
Drawing from Broadway-Hale Stores, Incorporated

A forerunner of today's shopping mall food courts, the Food Circus "restaurant arcade" at ARDEN FAIR CENTER featured sixteen eateries in a cafeteria-type setting.
Graphic from the Kassis Investment Company

The 27,000 square food facility debuted in March 1965.
Photo from the Henry McGrew Printing 

Two Sac-Town malls opened during 1961; ARDEN FAIR CENTER and COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA. ARDEN FAIR was implemented in three phases. The first, consisting of a freestanding Sears, was dedicated in 1957. An open-air mall and Hale's opened in 1961. A freestanding convenience center (in medium gray) debuted in 1964 and '65. NOTE: The Hale's store was rebranded as a Weinstock's in 1967.

ARDEN FAIR TENANTS 1969:

ON THE MALL
SEARS (with Optical Shop, Garden Center, Snackette and freestanding Auto Center) / WEINSTOCK'S (with Beauty Salon, Public Auditorium and freestanding Tire Center) / S.S. KRESS 5 & 10 (with The Hearthside Restaurant) / F.W. WOOLWORTH 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / Arden Fair 4 Cinemas / Arden Fair Martinizing / Arden Fair Pastry / Bob's Smoke Shop / Carousel Restaurant (including Coffee Shop, The Trotter restaurant & cocktail lounge and the Steamboat Room restaurant) / Dinsmore Book Store / Fireside Thrift / Gallenkamp Shoes / General Electric Service Station / Hastings Clothiers / House of Raquel / Karmelkorn / Kay-Ross Fashions / Kneeland's / Lane Bryant / La Vann Shops / Loads Shoes / Mister "G" Fashions / Thom McAn Shoes / McCurry Photo & Gifts / Rogers Jewelry / Sally Shops / See's Candies / Smith's clothiers for men / Standard Beauty Supply / The Surrey Shop ladies' wear / The Toy Shop / Imperial Barber Shop / Union Home Loans / Viva La Wigs / Watch Repair Shop    

IN CONVENIENCE CENTER
STOP -n- SHOP supermarket / Anthony Schools / Arden Fair Shoe Repair / Cork -n- Bottle Liquors / Corti Brothers Delicatessen / Dave's Diet & Nutrition / Household Finance Corporation / Jim's Key Shop / Thrifty Drugs / Sacramento Savings & Loan / S & H Green Stamps Redemption Center / Union Home Loans / Wells Fargo Bank

IN FOOD CIRCUS
Carnation Ice Cream / Chicken Bar-B-Que / Country Candies / Die Rhinelander / Franks Fats Number 4 / Franks Fisherman's Wharf / Health Juice Bar / Hofbauer / Hot Dog on a Stick / Jumbo Coffee Shop / La Plaza Mexican Kitchen / Pagluica's / Steak Pit / Taste Donut Parlor Number 2 / The Nut Shop 

The ARDEN FAIR mall was less than 10 years old before its enclosure got underway. An April 1971 advert proclaims the grand re-opening of a "brand new all-weather" shopping center.
Photo from the Kassis Investment Company / John Todd

A freestanding Best Products store opened at ARDEN FAIR in April 1977. Nicknamed "The Notch," it was designed by New York City's SITE (Sculpture In The Environment). In the morning, its corner entryway would slide open and- then- slide back shut at night.
Photo from Tom Spaulding

The grand opening promotion for the United Artists Arden Fair 6, which was part of the second cinematic venue to operate in -or around- ARDEN FAIR mall. This 2-screen segment of the UA complex opened for business in March 1982.
Advert from United Artists Theatres

In a circa-1982 site plan, the mall's second cinema is shown in medium gray. It was linked -via hallway- to the original 4-plex inside the mall. Both theaters were marketed a single entity; the UA Arden Fair 6. The mall and its freestanding convenience center now contained seventy-three stores, services and entertainment venues.

Sacramento's light rail system inaugurated revenue service on an 18.3 route mile starter line in March 1987. A station stop at ARDEN-DEL PASO was -and is- .7 mile west of ARDEN FAIR.
Photo from Wikipedia / "Griffin"

The third cinematic venue at ARDEN FAIR was the United Artists Market Square at Arden Fair. This second six-plex was located in the convenience center strip plaza -or MARKET SQUARE- adjacent to the southeast section of the mall. The gala premier was held in November 1992. Eventually rebranded as the Regal Arden Fair 6, the venue was in business for over 26 years.
Advert from United Artists Theatres