A relic of retail
Christown Spectrum in Phoenix has always been high on my list of malls to visit. Why? Well, because we both share the same name, of course. Also, it’s a relic of its time; a first generation enclosed center whose interior retains much of the same elements as it did when it opened.
1 to 4- Christown Spectrum’s main mall entrance and front façade. 5- A small piece of the building’s original exterior and brickwork. 6 to 8- The eastern mall entrance.
Located just off of the city’s light rail B-Line, I actually chose to take a Lyft to Christown Spectrum. On the way, I had a nice conversation with my driver who grew up in the area. He commented that he wasn’t even aware that the place was still even open, though he had spent plenty of time there growing up.
Chris-Town Center Mallmanac ca. 1961. View the full PDF version here.
I was dropped off at the main entrance to find that the doors to the interior corridors were still locked. I was a little disappointed with the front facing façade of Christown Spectrum. Much like the main entrances to peers such as Country Club Plaza in Sacramento or Kingsway Mall in Edmonton, it was no longer an architectural focal point aimed at pulling shoppers in but had become a billboard displaying the labels of the tenants within.
1- Christown Spectrum really leans into its vintage theme with fifties googie logos placed all around the facility. 2- Wal-Mart. 3- The mall’s eastern flanking exterior. 4 to 10- Harkins Theaters and the empty spaces just outside of the eastern rear mall entrance.
As the interior had not yet opened, I continued north along the exterior until reaching the northwestern mall entrance. It was here where I was able to get my first glance of the original Chris-Town Mall. Located next to a hulking Wal-Mart Supercenter, the layered roofline with its line of windows just below the eaves put a smile on my face.
Chris-Town Center Mallmanac ca. 1965. View the full PDF version here.
Just inside the glass doors of this entrance, however, I was able to see what made this development truly memorable. Rather than trying to modernize every aspect of its décor, it leaned into the whole retro fifties vibe with a googie styled logo just above the words A local classic! Est 1961.
1- The rear of Christown Spectrum between Harkins Theaters and American Furniture Warehouse. 2 to 5- The Warehouse store, which originally opened as the first Costco to be located inside a mall, and its abutting entrance to the common areas. 6- Montgomery Ward’s label scar still visible on what remains of their 1961 building. 7 & 8- The rear façades of Target and the mall.
Unfortunately, for the exterior at least, this was where the mid-twentieth century feel ended. I traversed the entire exterior of Christown Spectrum only to find the balance of the façade to be no different from any recently constructed strip mall or power center.
Chris-Town Mall lease plan ca. 1980. View the full PDF version here.
By the time I had returned to the main entrance, the appearance of exiting patrons clued me in that the interior had finally opened. I passed through the doorways and instantly felt a growing smile on my face as I felt like I was instantly transported to the decade of Chris-Town Mall’s debut.
1- The Target store. 2 to 7- The front facing façade of Christown Spectrum is a set of newer buildings constructed where the western main concourse and Montgomery Ward once stood. 8- The mall’s main entrance.
Above my head were vaulted, flat ceilings, still speckled with their brightness faded by decades of dust and grime. With no skylights in the central area to let in any of Phoenix’s relentless desert sun, only a few box shaped pendant lights pierced the darkness. And although it was a dimly lit interior it wasn't uninvitingly so.
On either side of me were a set or staircases allowing access to what seemed to be a disused second level. The narrow mezzanines didn’t allow much room for shoppers, so I assume that these upper spaces were meant to be occupied by offices rather than retail. Their narrow walkways radiated from Christown Spectrum’s center court down the main concourse, barely visible from below, until they abruptly ended after a few yards where the ceiling lowered.
Phoenix Spectrum Mall lease plan ca. 2001. View the full PDF version here.
I was thrilled to see that, from then on, the ceilings looked to be original as well. The canopy above my head became curved with small, box skylights piercing their worn skin allowing a limited amount of natural light into the main concourse. That the ceilings had not been renovated with anachronistic chrome and stone elements absolutely thrilled me.
Christown Spectrum's double tiered center court.
At the eastern end of the main concourse was another rarity found in today’s shopping malls, a still open interior egress to a Wal-Mart. The abutting court, originally built for a Korricks department store, reintroduced the high ceilings of center court and led to a perpendicular oriented corridor that was added in a later expansion.
Christown Spectrum Mallmanac ca. 2011. View the full PDF version here.
I ended my tour at the close by Montebello/ 19th Avenue light rail station to make my to what was left of the Metrocenter Mall. The disappointment in seeing almost all of what once served as the San Dimas Mall turned into dust, however, was luckily tempered by the mere existence of Christown Spectrum.
1 to 4- The truncated corridor where the western half of Christown Spectrum’s main concourse once stood. 5 & 6- The mall entrance to American Furniture Warehouse. 7 to 10- The largely original ceiling above center court and the narrow walkways of the second level.
Originally named for the former owner of the land upon which it was built, Chris-Town Center opened in 1961 as the valley’s third major retail development after Park Central and Maryvale, though it was the first to be enclosed from the beginning. The footprint consisted of an east-west oriented main corridor with three major department stores as anchors.
Christown Spectrum pamphlet ca. 2019. View the full PDF version here.
The western anchor spot was occupied by Montgomery Ward while the middle spot was home to JCPenney. Phoenix based Korricks was located on the eastern end of the structure. In between were around fifty smaller retailers among several junior anchors including Kresge, Woolworth and Walgreen Drug.
Korricks was the first to change labels in 1966 with their purchase by Los Angeles based The Broadway. The next major changes came in 1973 with the addition of a southeastern wing just off of the eastern court, known then as the Court of Flowers. The double tiered concourse was capped by a UA cineplex, the second multiplex located at Chris-Town Mall.
1 & 2- More of Christown Spectrum’s vintage logo and photos from its history. 3 to 8- The original eastern half of the main concourse definitely gives cave-like vibes.
Later that same decade a new southwestern wing was added at the west court, then named Court of Birds, which brought 25 new labels to the sixteen year old development. It was capped by a Bullock’s department store, whose tenure was short lived as they were soon replaced first by Diamond’s followed by Dillard’s not long after in the mid-eighties.
Christown Spectrum pamphlet ca. 2022. View the full PDF version here.
The nineties brought increased competition and an exodus of retailers as Chris-Town Mall was seen as outdated compared to recently built contemporaries Metrocenter, Westridge Mall and Valley West Mall. The Broadway stepped out in 1994 with JCPenney joining them in 1997.
The turn of the century brought more churn as Montgomery Ward made their exit in 2001. The owners embarked on a major set of updates, including a rechristening as Phoenix Spectrum Mall. Despite these changes, the final traditional department store was darkened in 2004 as Dillard’s moved on.
Christown Spectrum pamphlet ca. 2024. View the full PDF version here.
Subsequent changes included the addition of the Wal-Mart on The Broadway’s former pad, the construction of Target on land once occupied by the southwestern addition and the demolition of the main concourse between JCPenney and Montgomery Ward to be replaced with several big boxes.
1 to 5- More of the original eastern half of the main concourse. 6- The original ceiling abutting the mall entrance of what was originally Korricks. 7 & 8- More of Christown Spectrum’s googie inspired logo.
The former JCPenney located at center court, then known as Court of Fountains, was also bulldozed to make way for the first Costco to be located within an enclosed retail facility. In somewhat of a twist, the mid-aughts saw the return of JCPenney when they returned in a smaller location just to the west of center court.
Christown Spectrum pamphlet ca. 2026. View the full PDF version here.
Christown Spectrum maintains this footprint to this day, with newer portions tacked on to the only remaining parts from what was once Chris-Town Mall- The eastern half of the main concourse, the southeastern addition and the former Montgomery Ward store, whose 1980s label is still visible from the building’s flanking side.
Wal-Mart’s (surprisingly) still open mall entrance and the 1973 built first expansion of Chris-Town center, the southeastern corridor.
Christown Spectrum Mall is an absolute gem of mid-twentieth century retail architecture whose mid-mod and googie nuances remain to this day. I don’t expect that these wonders will be retained in any future updates, so I’m glad to have seen them at least once before they’re gone.
References
Chris-Town Retrospective
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