A relic of retail
In north Phoenix along East Camelback Road, there is a collection of three different shopping malls within a short walk of each other. Anchoring the east end is the upscale Biltmore Fashion Park. To the west is Camelback Colonnade. And right in the middle is the seemingly forgotten The Shops at Town & Country.
1 to 3- The northern façade of The Shops at Town & Country including Nordstrom Rack. 4- The main entrance to the common area. 5 & 6- The Sonesta Hotel on the center’s east side.
If you’ve visited this site enough, you’ll know that it’s a good possibility that this forgotten complex was my favorite among the triplets, and you'd be correct. The few photos that I had found were intriguing enough that even without even a Wikipedia page to reference before my visit, I couldn’t wait to see what the old classic had in store for me.
The Shops at Town & Country lease plan ca. 2017. View the full PDF version here.
I strolled in toward The Shops at Town & Country’s north end from the busy thoroughfare to find a parking lot shaded by an abundance of mature greenery. Just barely visible through the foliage was one of the complex’s anchors, Nordstrom Rack, with its low slung and Spanish tile dressed roofline.
1 to 3- Just inside the southeastern entrance. 4- The western entrance to The Shops at Town & Country. 5 to 8- The common area.
From the Rack, I made my way down Town & Country’s east side past the Sonesta Select Hotel, with my trek bringing me to the southern entrance to the common corridor. At this point, other than the attractive water feature at the north entrance, there was little that was truly notable about the center. But that was about to change.
Just past the oversized and modernized entrance to LA Fitness, I started north along the main concourse. At my feet lay a carpet of perfectly battered red and brown bricks. At repeating intervals lay raised islands of stone filled with well-manicured greenery. And, punctuating the classic feel, antique style lamps were evenly placed to illuminate the way.
The quaint cobblestone walkway of The Shops at Town & Country.
Fortunately, the shops with their meager façades and wooden overhangs topped by the same Spanish tile seemed not to have been renovated in the recent past. Unfortunately, a number seemed to have been vacant for about the same amount of time.
The Shops at Town & Country Mallmanac ca. 2024. View the full PDF version here.
I meandered slowly up the Town & Country main corridor passing a handful of occupied storefronts. Medical offices and spas were joined by a couple of restaurants with their outdoor seating occupying close to half of the corridor, but there was very little actual retail. As the eateries had yet to open, the only other patrons I passed were several nurses and a patron or two.
1 to 7- Scenes of The Shops at Town & Country's common area. 8 to 10- Nordstrom Rack and the northern entranceway.
The further north I walked toward the main egress close to Nordstrom Rack, I was joined by an ever increasing number of shoppers. It was here where the entire passive and relaxing nature of Town & Country came to an immediate halt and was replaced by something much more recognizable.
The western face of Town & Country is definitely the side where the property owners make their money. Hosting retail giants such as Banana Republic, Trader Joe’s and Whole Market, nearly all of the storefronts abutting the carpark were spoken for. Though there was a small greenspace with its own water feature as well as the same Spanish tiled overhangs, it definitely felt like a different place altogether.
1 to 3- The northern portion of The Shops at Town & Country. 4 to 8- The narrow breezeway leading to the western car park.
The Shops at Town & Country opened in the early sixties, just a couple of years before and after its neighbors to both the east and the west, Biltmore Fashion Park and East Camelback Mall, respectively. Originally known as Camelback Town & Country Village, it was never one of the major players in the market, though it seemed to cater to its own niche merely by being different from other retail developments at the time.
The Shops at Town & Country Mallmanac ca. 2026. View the full PDF version here.
Eschewing major national brands, Town & Country was tailored toward locally owned labels such as craft store Jutenhoops in addition to restaurants Rancho Pinot and Pizzeria Bianco. Over the years, as both of its neighbors morphed into the over bloated monuments to spending that exist today, the center stayed the course with few changes.
1 to 4- The fountain courtyard on The Shops at Town & Country's western face. 5 to 7- The cobblestone walkway in front of the exterior facing shops. 8- The middle western entrance.
Over the decades, the movie theater on the mall’s east side was closed and eventually replaced by LA Fitness. An additional and expansive greenspace just to its north was used as the pad for Nordstrom Rack. And the west side was eventually transformed into the “lifestyle center” we see today. But the heart of Town & Country, fortunately, has seen few changes.
1 to 3- The western facing shops and Trader Joe’s. 4 & 5- Just inside The Shops at Town & Country's southwestern entrance. 6- The Whole Foods store.
At the end of my walk before crossing North 20th Street toward Camelback Colonnade, it was obvious to me that the sparse patronage of the interior concourse versus the well trafficked western face would one day seal the fate of the former. In my opinion, this really is one relic of retail that should be enjoyed before the most endearing part of it has been completely eliminated.
References
No comments:
Post a Comment