They were the anchors of neighborhoods and parts of town. If you said you lived near a specific one then your conversant probably knew about where you lived and how to get to your house. Each had its own collection of stores. Usually anchored by a grocery store and a drug store, they may have included a dime store and a shoe store. A unique sign out front named the strip of stores. Some even had restaurants or coffee shops and a full-service gas station at the curb near the entrance. Most centers were on corner lots with lots of parking.
Who remembers:
- Amphi Plaza. All that is left of this once-proud center at Fort Lowell road and North 1st Avenue is the sign. A WalMart now occupies the east end of the lot.
- Oxford Plaza. 22nd and Wilmot. Featured an El Rancho supermarket, SS Kresge, Dunlap’s Department Store, Skagg’s Drug and Woody’s Toys. A Sambo’s restaurant and a Chevron gas station anchored the corner.
- Southgate. I know little of this southside set of stores. Anybody?
- Eastgate. Speedway east of Craycroft. Not a stellar shopping place. However, I remember my mom redeeming her S&H Green Stamps at a Redemption Center near the west end of the strip.
- County Fair. Craycroft and 22nd had a huge parking lot sign. Anchored by a Goodman’s (later Lucky’s) grocery store, the other end featured Craycroft Drug and a mural on the side wall facing Cryacroft. In between were a Ben Franklin variety store and a hobby store we all coveted.
- El Con Mall. On Broadway between Alvernon and Country Club across from Randolph (Reid) Park. Became the go-to shopping space in the 1960s as retailers fled downtown. Built on the site of the classic El Conquistador Resort. I beleive a water tower from the original buuldings still remains. The JC Penny store is the o/nly remaining building from the Mall.
- Frontier Plaza. Pima and Alvernon. Home to Frontier Drug and AJ Bayless grocery. A military recruiting station fills most of the space today. A high school friend bagged groceries at Bayless.
- Campbell Plaza at Glenn and Campbell is pretty much intact with a hardware store and an Albertson’s supermarket.
- St Phillips Plaza. On North Oracle Road the architecture and signage still survive.
- Swanway Plaza was home to a Goodmans grocery and another drug store. At the corner of Broadway and Swan, it was close to Rincon High, Lucky Wishbone and Kon tiki.
- Casas Adobas was the north end’s shopping plaza. The architecture survives. Not sure of the tenants. On north Oracle.
- Wilmot Plaza. Broadway and Wilmot. Featured a drug store at one end (with an end-cap mural) and Myerson’s Whitehouse department store.
I am sure to have left out many corners and places. Let me know if you want to see more on this topic. Shopping sure has changed in the Old Pueblo.
Relentless
