San Antonio's North Star Mall

The original trademark of the Alamo City's first fully-enclosed shopping center. It was the fourth mall built by Maryland's James Rouse Company.

Graphic from the Community Research & Development Corporation

A color snapshot of the shopping hub's East Wing. As originally built, the complex featured Saltillo-tiled floors, wooden trellis ceiling treatments, a fountain and pool, children's sculpture garden, recirculating boat canal and 16-foot-high bird aviaries. 
Photo from the Clark Printing Company

The James W. Rouse Company's fourth shopping mall was developed in the northern environs of San Antonio. The center, which was America's seventh regional-class enclosed mall, featured a single anchor, San Antonio-based Wolff & Marx. The complex encompassed 339,000 leasable square feet and contained forty-eight stores and services. Its parking area could accommodate 2,000 autos.

NORTH STAR MALL TENANTS 1960:

WOLFF & MARX (with Beauty Salon) / H-E-B supermarket / S.S. KRESGE 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / Andes Candies / Ann & Tom Brown Toys / Carl's ladies' wear / Casual Manor ladies' sportswear / Community Hall / Elliott's Boy's & Students Styles / Federal Bake Shop / Guarantee Shoe Company / Holiday Shoes / J's Gift Shoppe / Karotkin Furniture / Lerner Shops / Luby's Cafeteria / Menier Hardware / Mode O'Day Frock Shop / National Shirt Shops / Nix Maternity Shops / North Star Barber Shop / North Star Key Shop / Opal Hall ladies' wear / Plaza Style-Beauty Salon / Rhealee ladies' wear / Robinson's Beauty Salon & Barber Shop / San Antonio Trunk Company / Siegel's ladies' wear / Singer Sewing Center / Sunshine Laundry & Dry Cleaning / Texaco service station (outparcel) / Texas State Optical / Texas Stores outdoor & hunting supplies / The Fox Company Cameras / The Pet Pantry / The Shoe Box / The Young Man's Shop / Thom McAn Shoes / Tom Oliver's Apparel for Men / Walgreen Drug (with luncheonette) / Wallace's Beauty Salon / Walsh Shoe Repair / Western Auto / Zales Jewelers 

In 1963, a new anchor store -the mall's second- is under construction. Work will soon get underway on a new "butterfly twin" cinema.
Photo from City-Data / "940"

The General Cinema Corporation opened Cinema I & II North Star Mall on Christmas Day 1964.

A mid-'60s physical layout of NORTH STAR MALL, with its Phase II expansion shown in shades of gray. The original anchor, San Antonio-based Wolff & Marx, has been joined by Frost Brothers, another Alamo City-based retailer. The complex now contains eighty-eight stores and services.

San Antonio's Joske's chain built their second branch at NORTH STAR MALL. The 4-floor store, which opened in March 1969, encompassed 204,000 square feet and included The Star of the North Dining Room, an upscale restaurant.
Photo from Allied Stores Corporation Annual Report 1968

In a circa-'75 layout, we see the Phase III-La Fuente Del Sol expansion in dark gray. This new wing, added to the east end of the mall, linked the existing twin cinema into the enclosed concourse. In the circa-1960 section, the Wolff Brothers department store has been rebranded by Rhodes.

The Giant Justins, which are the largest pair of cowboy boots in the world. The 40-foot-high sculpture, by local artist Bob "Daddy-O" Wade, was installed at the mall in 1980.
Photo from Wikipedia / "Clipper 471"

NORTH STAR MALL was renovated and expanded between 1981 and 1986. A Northwest Wing (medium gray) was anchored by Marshall Field's. The Northeast Wing (light gray) featured Saks Fifth Avenue. Foley's, on the west end of the complex, began business in 1981. The north end of the store was enlarged as the two new wings were being built.

In the year 2000, the shopping hub commemorated its 40th year in business. A new logo was created as part of the birthday festivities.

Graphic from https://www.northstarmall.com (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

Our most current NORTH STAR plan dates to 2025. By this time, three anchors have been rebranded. Joske's morphed into Dillard's in 1987. Macy's assumed a vacant Marshall Field's in 1997, closed in 2005 and returned -in the Foley's space- in 2006. J.C. Penney set up shop in the original Macy's in 2007. Frost Brothers became Mervyn's, which closed in 2008. Its space was divided into eight stores, with the largest being Forever 21.

A 2020s of the Macy's Court, in the western section of the circa-1960 mall.
Photo from http://elsarch.com / ELS Architecture & Urban Design

A snapshot of the main mallway, also in the circa-1960 structure.
Photo from http://elsarch.com / ELS Architecture & Urban Design

Here we see the seating area in the center's 10-bay Food Court. This culinary complex is on "L2" (the upper level) of the J.C. Penney Wing.
Photo from http://elsarch.com / ELS Architecture & Urban Design

NORTH STAR MALL
San Pedro Avenue and West Rector Road
San Antonio, Texas

NORTH STAR MALL was the fourth regional shopping complex built by Maryland's James W. Rouse Company and the third endeavor of its Community Research & Development Corporation subsidiary. The complex was developed on a 53.9-acre tract, located 9 miles north of downtown San Antonio. The site was adjacent to a newly-completed stretch of the "Loop 13" Expressway (later known as the "Loop I 410-Connally Loop").

Grand Rapids, Michigan's Daverman & Associates designed the Phase I structure. Its official dedication was held on September 23, 1960. Attending the grand opening were Claudia "Lady Bird" Johnson (wife of US Senator Lyndon Baines Johnson, future US President), and Idanell "Nellie" Connally (First Lady of Texas 1963-1969). A time capsule -to be opened in 1985- was laid as part of the festivities.

 

The fully-enclosed mall encompassed 339,000 leasable square feet and housed forty-two stores and services. The sole anchor was a 2-level (62,000 square foot), San Antonio-based Wolff & Marx department store.

Charter tenants included Walgreen Drug, Western Auto, Luby's Cafeteria, Lerner Shops, Singer Sewing Center, Pet Pantry, National Shirt Shops, an H-E-B (Howard E. Butt) supermarket and S.S. Kresge 5 & 10. The original mall featured wooden trellis ceiling treatments, fountains and a bird aviary.

Construction commenced on a Phase II expansion in February 1963. Designed by Katzman & Associates of Los Angeles, it added 160,000 square feet -and eighteen stores- to the east end of the complex. A large enclosed plaza, The Spanish Court, now fronted on the 1-level (44,000 square foot), San Antonio-based, Frost Brothers Fashion Square.

The addition was formally dedicated on October 28, 1963. New inline stores included The Vogue, Gildermeister Jewelers, The Branding Iron Restaurant, Gifts Unusual, Pants Parlour, the 1890 Sweet Shop and Halpern's Fabrics. Wolff & Marx had also been enlarged to 82,000 square feet. NORTH STAR MALL now encompassed approximately 543,000 leasable square feet, with a directory of eighty-eight stores and services.

On December 25, 1964, the General Cinema Corporation Cinema I & II North Star Mall showed first features. The theater extended from the new eastward addition, but was not accessible from the enclosed shopping concourse. 

CENTRAL PARK MALL became a primary competitor in 1968. This complex was built on a parcel directly west of NORTH STAR MALL. Other shopping hubs in the vicinity included WONDERLAND SHOPPING CITY (1961) {3.5 miles southwest, in Balcones Heights}, McCRELESS SHOPPING CITY (1962-2007) {9.4 miles south, in San Antonio}, INGRAM PARK MALL (1979) {8 miles southwest, in San Antonio} and ROLLING OAKS MALL (1988) {9.9 miles northeast, also in San Antonio}.

A Phase III addition to NORTH STAR MALL was also envisaged by Los Angeles' Katzman & Associates. The "La Fuente Del Sol" (fountain of the sun) expansion was completed in March 1969. It was centered around a large court area, with greenery and a stunning water feature.

Fourteen stores joined the tenant list, including Joan Bari, Chandler's shoes, The Courtyard Restaurant, Russell Stover Candies and a 4-level (204,000 square foot), San Antonio-based Joske's. The existing twin cinema was incorporated into the enclosed mall at this time and a 2-level (600-car) parking deck built in the southeast corner of the site. With these improvements, NORTH STAR MALL covered approximately 728,200 leasable square feet, with a total of 111 stores and services under its roof.

In 1970, Wolff & Marx came under the -Phoenix-based- Rhodes Southwest banner. The store was rebranded as Liberty House-Rhodes a few years later. It became a full-fledged Liberty House on August 8, 1977. Meanwhile, Frost Brothers Fashion Square had opened a second retail level in October 1972, which enlarged the store to 93,600 square feet.

The next mall renovation was done in the early '80s. The H-E-B supermarket and Walgreen Drug, on the west end, were razed and replaced with a 3-level (204,000 square foot), Houston-based Foley's. This store held its grand opening in March 1981.

In 1982, a vacant Liberty House space was reconfigured. A mall within a mall, known as the Star Court, occupied the building's main level and was flanked by stores such as Brook's Fashions, Montalvo's, Mission Jewelry and Jade Tree Oriental Furniture. Apparently, the mall's first Food Court was also situated in this area.

The basement level was reconfigured as the Music Court, which included a record store, musical instrument store, Expensive Toys for Big Boys and Oshman's Sporting Goods. A parking garage, at the northeast corner of the mall, was also completed in 1983.

A fifth addition to NORTH STAR MALL was undertaken in the mid-1980s. Designed by the HOK (Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum) firm, it added two 2-level concourses to the existing mall. A 2-level (104,000 square foot) Saks Fifth Avenue, anchoring a new Northeast Wing, opened for business on November 2, 1985.  

A 3-level (178,000 square foot) Marshall Field's stood at the end of a new Northwest Wing. This store welcomed first shoppers in October 1986. The Upper Level of the Northwest Wing included a 14-bay Food Court; which was the second culinary complex to operate in the mall. A third parking structure was built at the northwest corner of the complex. Moreover, Foley's was enlarged to 256,000 square feet in a northward extension. A shuttered twin cinema was also gutted and reconfigured as inline store space. 

With these modifications, the mall encompassed approximately 1,269,000 leasable square feet and contained 210 stores and services. A fourth parking structure was added to the southwest corner of the complex in the early 1990s, increasing the parking capacity of all lots and garages to 7,000 autos.

Joske's had been rebranded as a Dillard's in April 1987. In mid-1989, Frost Brothers was liquidated. Its former store space became a Mervyn's on October 25, 1992. January 1997 brought the shuttering of Marshall Field's, which re-opened, as a Macy's, on June 6, 1997. This store's liquidation sale commenced in July 2005.

Ownership of the mall also changed over the decades. The Rouse Company sold a 63 percent share to Rotterdam, Holland-based Rodamco in 1974. An additional 32 percent share was acquired by Rodamco Europe in the year 2000. In early 2002, the Rouse Company acquired the 95 percent share of the mall owned by Rodamco Europe and re-established full ownership. Chicago-based General Growth Properties acquired the Rouse Company in 2004 and assumed full ownership of NORTH STAR MALL.

In 2004, GGP announced a major face lift for the shopping center, which was completed in 2005. This project installed soft seating areas, tile flooring, landscaping and new ceiling treatments. Mall entrances were also rebuilt and the Food Court refurbished. Macy's returned to NORTH STAR MALL after a 14-month hiatus. They rebranded the Foley's chain on September 9, 2006. J.C. Penney opened a store, in the old Marshall Field's-Macy's building, on July 29, 2007.

The most recent anchor alteration at NORTH STAR MALL transpired after the shuttering of Mervyn's, in December 2008. The vacant building, and a strip of inline stores running along its north side, were rebuilt into eight new retail spaces. Los Angeles-based Forever 21 opened a 2-level (80,900 spare foot) store on August 28, 2010. The remaining slots were taken by Aldo Shoes, Guess Accessories, Vera Bradley, Guess by Marciano, Cache', Sunglass Hut and Marble Slab Creamery.

Brookfield Property Partners, based in Hamilton, Bermuda, acquired a share of General Growth Properties in 2016. In August 2018, Brookfield established 100 percent ownership of the corporation. Hence, NORTH STAR MALL became part of the Brookfield retail center portfolio.

Sources:

The San Antonio Express-News
"Dual Anchor Shopping Centers 1952-1965" / Richard Longstreth
Bexar County, Texas Tax Assessor website
http://www.therousecompany.com (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.cinematreasures.org
https://www.northstarmall.com (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.northstarmall.com
http://www.mysanantonio.com
http://www.ggp.com / General Growth Properties (Website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

San Antonio's Wonderland Shopping City

The Alamo City's second roofed retail center was built in its northwestern environs. WONDERLAND SHOPPING CITY was officially dedicated in September 1961.

Graphic from the Community Realty Company

The WONDERLAND mall followed San Antonio's NORTH STAR MALL, another climate-controlled complex, that had been dedicated in September 1960. The SHOPPING CITY was an addition to the Handy Andy supermarket seen in the foreground. This store welcomed first shoppers in 1959.

Photo from City-Data website / San Antonio Forum / "210"

Montgomery Ward anchored the north end of the SHOPPING CITY. The store opened, along with the mall, in September 1961.
Photo from Montgomery Ward Annual Report 1963

Rhodes joined the mall, as a second anchor, in February 1964. The two-level department store, which covered 131,000 square feet, was built over a single-level parking garage. Patrons ascended to sales floors in a glass-enclosed elevator.

Photo from Rhodes Western Annual Report 1963

WONDERLAND SHOPPING CITY, circa-1964. With the completion of its Rhodes department store, the mall spanned approximately 615,300 leasable square feet and housed sixty-three stores and services. Free parking was provided for 2,000 autos.

WONDERLAND SHOPPING CITY TENANTS 1964:

MONTGOMERY WARD (with Snack Bar and attached Auto Center) / RHODES (with Beauty Salon) / F.W. WOOLWORTH (with luncheonette) / HANDY ANDY supermarket / Alexander's ladies' wear / Alice of Wonderland information and lost & found center / American Handcraft / Andes Candies / Ann & Tom Browne Toys / Allen's Shoes / Atomic Stores / B & M Sleep Shop / Baker's Qualicraft Shoes / Barrett Interior Designs / Barton's Candy & Card / Bette & Glenn Studios / Bond Clothes / Nettie Brooks / Cinderella Cake Shoppe / Cinnemoppet Children's Theatre / Dr. J.W. McAllister, Optometrist / El Cafe Mexicano / Electra Jewelers / Fashion Cleaners / Fine Art Specialties / Frederick's Beauty Salon / Funfare House / German Hi-Fi Imports / Great Books of the Western World / Green Thumb Garden Center / Hutchins Brothers family apparel / Hyde's Sinclair Service Station (outparcel) / International Bazaar / Joseph's men's wear / Key Shop / Kinney Shoes / Lentz, Newton & Company / Maribee Knit Shop / Manolete Restaurant / Merritt Barbers / Michael's / Mr. Checkers Restaurant / Nettie Brooks ladies' wear / Open Sesame Room package check / Paris Hats / Piccadilly Cafeteria / Platter Palace records / Russell Stover Candies / San Antonio Trunk Company / Satel's / Shaw's Jewelers / The Shoe Box / Singer Sewing Center / Sommers Drug (with luncheonette) / Studer's of Texas Photo / Tandy Leather Company / Toy Mart / US Post Office / Village Casuals / Winn's / Wonderland Beauty Shop / Wonderland Town Hall (community room) / Wonderland Wig Shop / Zale's Jewelers

The SHOPPING CITY moniker was in use into the 1970s. By 1976, the official name had evolved into WONDERLAND MALL, which is what many locals had been calling it for years. In print and TV ads, it was often promoted as simply WONDERLAND.
Graphic from Lehndorff  USA  

By the mid-1980s, the mall was showing its age. It had been bested by NORTH STAR MALL, now firmly established as the preeminent San Antonio shopping hub. A major WONDERLAND renovation got underway in 1987. A vacant Woolworth became part of a new wing known as the Palm Pavilion. As part of the refurbishment, CROSSROADS OF SAN ANTONIO was officially adopted as the center's new name.

The main entry into the Palm Pavilion faced onto a reflecting pool and fountain. The new wing included a Food Court and 6-plex cinema.
Photo from http://southernretail.blogspot.com

The Palm Pavilion was anchored by Stein Mart. The single-level store encompassed 39,000 square feet.
Photo from www.labelscar.com / "Prange Way"

A view of the mall's Lower Level shopping concourse.
Photo from http://southernretail.blogspot.com

Several modifications have been made by 2008. A vacant Handy Andy space was expanded and re-opened as a Phar-Mor Drug. This store was replaced by Hobby Lobby. Burlington Coat Factory took over the old Rhodes-Frost Brothers space and eventually expanded into adjoining area. A Target SuperT, which did not connect into the shopping concourse, debuted in 2003.

The center was given a major face lift between 2010 and 2012. The interior was revamped, the exterior painted and new Alamo-motif entries built.
Photo from http://southernretail.blogspot.com

A new name came along with the 2010s renovation; WONDERLAND OF THE AMERICAS. This was -obviously- a homage to the original mall moniker. By 2025, the shopping hub contains forty-five stores and services.

WONDERLAND SHOPPING CITY
Interstate 410 / Loop 410 and Fredericksburg Road
Balcones Heights, Texas

 

San Antonio's first fully-enclosed shopping center, NORTH STAR MALL, opened for business in September 1960. The Alamo City's second enclosed retail center was dedicated one year later. WONDERLAND SHOPPING CITY was built on a 61-acre plot, located 8 miles northwest of the center city. The site, in suburban Balcones ["Bal-COHN-eez"] Heights, was adjacent to newly-opened sections of Interstates 10 and 410.

The bi-level complex was developed by a joint venture of the Handy Andy supermarket chain and San Antonio's Charles Lee Becker, under the auspices of the Community Realty Company. The mall was designed by Dallas' Jim Collier and the Chaix & Johnson firm of Los Angeles.

WONDERLAND SHOPPING CITY was an addition to an existing Handy Andy supermarket, which had opened in May 1959. A 3-day grand opening commenced on September 14, 1961. A 3,000-foot ribbon, which encircled the outside of the mall, was cut with the world's largest pair of shears. 

 

Prizes were awarded as part of the festivities. Winners of a "Words for Wonderland" contest received anywhere from 5 to 50 dollars. Two weekend get-aways, at the Sandy Shores Motel in Corpus Christi, were also given out. The grand prize was a year's worth of groceries, supplied by Handy Andy.

 

In its original state, the SHOPPING CITY spanned approximately 584,300 leasable square feet and housed forty-two stores and services. A 2-level (149,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward was the primary anchor. Other major stores were the aforementioned (66,000 square foot) Handy Andy, a (43,000 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10, (19,500 square foot) Winn's variety store and (12,000 square foot) Hutchins Brothers. 

 

Charter inline stores included Cinderella Cake Shoppe, Ann & Tom Browne Toys, El Cafe Mexicano, Frederick's Beauty Salon, German Hi-Fi Imports, Platter Palace records and Sommers Drugs.

In March 1963, ground was broken for a second anchor store. Rhodes added a 3-level (131,000 square foot) unit to the southeast corner of the complex. Its first floor housed a covered parking deck, with a glass-enclosed elevator -and escalators- transporting shoppers to the 2-level store above.

An official dedication was held on February 14, 1964. WONDERLAND SHOPPING CITY now encompassed approximately 615,300 leasable square feet. There were sixty-three stores. The Interstate Theatres Wonder Theater was built, as a northeast outparcel of the mall proper. It showed a first feature on November 23, 1966.

By the mid-1970s, Rhodes Wonderland was operating under a Liberty House-Rhodes banner. It received a bona fide Liberty House nameplate on August 8, 1977. It was rebranded, as a San Antonio-based Frost Brothers, in 1980.

Commercial competitors of the WONDERLAND mall included NORTH STAR MALL (1960) {3.5 miles northeast, in San Antonio} and INGRAM PARK MALL (1979) {6 miles southwest, also in San Antonio}. 

 

Dallas-based Lehndorff USA (a.k.a. the L & B Group) acquired WONDERLAND MALL in September 1977. A 7 million dollar, indoor-outdoor face lift was completed in 1980. In order to keep the complex competitive, a more involved renovation was being planned by 1985. RTKL Associates, of Dallas, were hired to draw up plans to reconfigure the shopping hub. Construction commenced in the spring of 1986.

 

During the 28 million dollar project, a vacant Woolworth was gutted. Its space became part of a new wing -known as the Palm Pavilion- that extended to a 1-level (38,800 square foot), Florida-based Stein Mart. Beneath Stein Mart were a 7-bay Food Court and Santikos Crossroads 6 multiplex. First features would be shown on December 18, 1987.

 

The mall-wide refurbishment included the installation of new lighting, graphics, skylights and tile flooring. Montgomery Ward was given a new facade and a parking garage was built in the mall's western periphery. The remodeling was completed in November 1987, when the official name was changed to CROSSROADS OF SAN ANTONIO. The complex had grown from 615,300 leasable square feet to 697,000. Pre-renovation, there had been 2,021 parking spaces. Now there were 3,063.

 

The new & improved mall was successful for a short time, but was nearly half vacant by 1990. Frost Brothers, a major trip generator, had pulled up stakes in 1989. The complex was -then- reinvented as a value-oriented facility. Burlington Coat Factory opened, in the old Rhodes-Frost Brothers space, in 1991. Other new CROSSROADS tenants included County Seat Outlet, 50 Off and Vantage Shoe Warehouse.

Phar-Mor Drug expanded a vacant Handy Andy space, adding 20,000 square feet. The pharmacy began business in 1990 but closed in 1992. Hobby Lobby filled the vacancy in early 1994. Montgomery Ward closed in March 2001. In February 2002, 75,000 square feet of the abandoned Wards was demolished. What remained of the store's lower level was reconfigured as the (25,000 square foot) Norris Convention Center, which was dedicated in November 2004.

A 1-level (175,000 square foot) Target "Super T" was built on a portion of the old Ward's space and was dedicated on March 9, 2003. This store, a "shadow anchor," was a part of the mall structure but did connect into its shopping concourse. As Target was being built, the mall's Lower Level 6-plex was renovated. The Santikos Bijou Cinema Bistro, a 6-screen venue with dine-in seating, showed first features on July 25, 2003.

The complex was acquired by an affiliate of Midland, Texas' Red Oak Realty in 1997. The Dallas-based Trammell Crow Company bought it in 2004. In early 2009 it was sold to Crossroads Mall Partners, Limited, a consortium of San Antonio-based investors. They initiated a 10 million dollar renovation in 2010.

This included installation of new "Alamo motif" entryways, painting of the mall's facade, and interior upgrades, such as soft seating areas, a children's play area, a (40,000 square foot) Mercado Marketplace and state-of-the-art video system. As part of this renovation and repositioning, the shopping center was given a new name on January 14, 2010. It would be known, henceforth, as WONDERLAND OF THE AMERICAS.

Sources:

The San Antonio Express & News

Rhodes Western Annual Report 1963

http://www.labelscar.com / "Prange Way"

City-Data Forum / "San Antonio Crossroads Mall"

http://www.mysanantonio.com

"Crossroads Mall (San Antonio) Slide show-1987" / Mark Langford

"Crossroads of San Antonio" Project Reference File / Urban Land Institute / January-March 1994

http://www.crossroadsofsanantonio.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

https://www.wonderlandamericas.com

https://www.cinematreasures.org

https://bexar.trueautomation.com / Bexar County, Texas CAD