Two views of classic Sears stores from the early nineteen-sixties - the Anchorage, Alaska store, which opened in 1966, and a Phoenix, Arizona store which opened four years earlier. Sears took a backseat to no one in terms of architectural design, variety and quality of construction during the postwar go-go years (or in many pre-war examples, for that matter). Fortunately, a decent number of these stores still stand, through the original signage long ago disappeared on nearly all of them. I’d love to know the fate of these two stores.
Would you trudge through the snow to visit the first one or brave the desert to visit the second? If they still looked like this, I might consider it!
14 comments:
The one in Phoenix (which was somewhere near or may even be a small part of the Camelback Colonnade) is long gone. Sorry :(
The Sears store in Phoenix was opened in the early 60s on East Camelback Rd (Sears moved there from its downtown Phx store) until the opening of their Metro Center store in 1974,it was the only full-line Sears in the Phoenix area. Later in the 60s the Rhodes dept store chain (part of the Amfac operation) built a store to the West of the Sears. An enclosed mall was built between the two stores which became "Sears-Rhodes Mall". When Rhodes became Liberty House (and later closed) the mall was renamed "Colonnade Mall". The Colonnade began to decline in the late 80s-early 90s. In the early 90s the mall was razed, the ex-Rhodes site became a call center for MCI but Sears remained in operation until the late 90s when they moved to Paradise Valley Mall. The Camelback store-which looked almost the same as when it opened-was torn down and the site is now a big-box center.
That Phoenix Sears looks very similar to the ones in Mountain View, CA and Concord, CA, both still standing BTW.
As a kid, I didn't much like those Saturday trips to Sears with Dad since they were all on one floor and hence no escalators or elevators to ride on. I much preferred the Sears on Geary Blvd, in San Francisco, which was on 3 floors plus a rooftop restaurant. Sadly, it was carved up into Mervyn's/Best Buy/etc/etc a few years ago.
Does anyone else remember the smell of popcorn that hit you as soon as you walked into a Sears store?
"Sears took a backseat to no one in terms of architectural design, variety"
It has always seemed to me that Sears, in that era, was the prototype of the Big Box of today. Sure, they'd fiddle with the details and the treatments - but at the end of the day it was still a box.
I would trudge through snow any day to get to that lovely script. I would also brave the desert to get a look at those palm trees with the script logo!
Sarah and Anonymous - Thanks for the update and history on the Phoenix store. Sad but not surprising it's gone, what with the tremendous growth of the Phoenix area.
Hushpuppy3 - Sears had a number of stores in the West with the palm trees through the awning and script logo. Great look! I have a picture of a store that I think is the SF Geary Blvd. one. I'll have to post it soon.
I loved the popcorn smell. The one I remember best, Woodfield Mall in suburban Chicago, had a full candy counter as well. Great memories!
DerekL - Some of their boxes were more interesting than others, as I hope to show -
Didi - Sounds good to me! Wait - oh crap, the Phoenix store is gone. Guess we can skip the desert part!
Well, we'll just pretend it is still there. :o)
The Phoenix Sears is reminiscent of the old Key West Sears, except the exterior was Florida turquoise blue, but warm weather friendly nonetheless. Sadly, the only example of the script Sears label anywhere remotely familiar to me by the late 80's. The 1960's Penney's logo seemed to survive into the 80's with more numerous examples, it seems at least every major metro had at least one example of the Penney's logo through the 80's.
Like a mirage, right, Didi?
Anonymous - It appears that Sears used variants of the Key West store look in a number of Florida and CA/AZ locations. Really nice looking stores, in my opinion.
I remember the script on the Memphis,TN Poplar avenue store existed until around 1996. Why they changed it after all of the that time is a mystery to me.
The 60's Penneys logo is one of my all time mega-favorites and was only in primary use for a short time - around 1962 to 1970. One example that I know of(on an awning light)survived until last year, believe it or not. The Penneys at the University Mall in Little Rock, AR, which was featured on www.labelscar.com last year. The entire store has since been replaced.
The Concord, California store is almost identical to the store in the photo. Even the stone used on the walls is the same. The flag pole is in the same place and the palm trees are still there, except that they are really tall today. The store has new Sears logos today. The old Sears logos were removed around 1990. You can see the birdseye 3D views at http://maps.live.com/ It is at 1001 Sunvalley Blvd, Concord, CA. The west side of the building matches your photo.
The San Francisco store kept the classic Sears logos until the day it closed in the 90's. It had a tall tower that had an S that could be seen from far away.
These photos also kind of remind me of this store http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/5883/1181/1600/249443/Sears%20shopping%20center%2C%20San%20Juan%2C%20Puerto%20Rico%201972.jpg
The Sears store at Colonnade Mall was carved up into smaller stores. Of the division, it is mostly a Best Buy location. In the backside it's an indoor receiving area for the stores. The original terrazzo flooring Sears mostly featured is still intact. As trucks pull into this building you drive right onto this floor!
Sarah & anonymous - thanks for the info on the Phoenix stores, I'm a desert rat as well and it's been sad to see all the classic stores demolished in the last 20 years!
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