History
Chris-Town Mall, was originally named after the farmer Chris Harri who sold a large portion of his farm land to the mall's developer in the late 1950s. The mall's north-central location, about 7 miles directly north of the state Capitol, eventually became a well-known landmark. The surrounding neighborhoods are now commonly referred to by locals as the Chris-Town area of Phoenix.
Construction was completed in mid 1961. It is said that the construction didn't go as well as planned, the town would later find out why. Chris-Town Mall opened with much fanfare on August 24 advertised as the first indoor mall in Arizona. Another first for an Arizona mall was the air-conditioned interior, which may have led to competing Maryvale Mall converting to an indoor mall to stay competitive. The mall's original anchors included Montgomery Ward, JCPenney, and local department store Korrick's, other major tenants included S. S. Kresge, & Woolworth. Themed Courtyards served as focal points in front of each of the three major department stores. The main courtyard at the center entrance that buffered J.C. Penny's was named the Court of Fountains, another named the Court of Flowers ended the east wing near Korrick's and the Montgomery Wards opened to the final one named the Court of Birds in the west wing.
By 1966 the mall had already begun the first of many significant changes due to the buyout of Korrick's whose conversion saw the loss of one of the three originals anchors to The Broadway. Also that year the mall's first of two movie theatres broke ground on the southwest side of the main parking lot, and a new subterranean tavern called The Janitor's closet opened near The Broadway end of the mall. The second significant change began in 1974 in reaction to Metro Center, the new mega mall that opened just a few miles away. Woolworth's was demolished to make way for the new southwestern wing anchored by a Bullock's department store. While a second new wing on the southwestern side of the mall opened to a United Artists Cinemas 6 on the upper level making it Chris-Town's second movie theatre. Changes were already underway again by the mid-1980s when Diamond's which quickly became Dillard's moved into the southwestern anchor spot vacated by Bullock's short stay at the mall, at this point the mall still remained strong but it would not be for long.
The next decade would not be kind to Chris-Town Mall following the rapid closure of many anchor stores beginning with The Broadway in 1994, JCPenney in 1997, the bankruptcy of Wards in 2001 and the closing of the final anchor, Dillard's in 2004. The closures of the major department stores also brought about the permanent closure of the life sized sand sculptures exhibit that adorned the mall for many years.
Read more about this topic: Christown Spectrum Mall
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