Re: Stonestown Memories from the 1960's & 1970's

09/07/04 - posted by BJ

I remember Judy's on the far end of the mall. And of course, Woolworth's was THE place to buy your make-up. I remember when the City of Paris went out of business and Bullock's came in. It is now where Nordstom's is and they always had huge displays of perfume especially at Christmas on the top "bridge" area which is now the part that goes over Winston Avenue. It was all glass and you took an elevator up from Winston Ave/street level to this glass overlook. It was quite the archictural feat for Stonestown! The Bank of America was where (I think) Crate and Barrel is now. They used to have this giant picture in black and white above where the tellers were of Stonestown and the surrounding area. Does anyone remember that? That and load of olive green vinyl upholstery! I also remember the "food court" at QFI (of course, they didn't call it a food court then...) and the pizza pups and lime green plastic flower stand and the bakery. And as you rounded the corner, there was Walgreen's which had an old fashioned luncheon counter that is right about where Border's is right now.

I also remember cutting through the medical building to get to the top parking lot when I was late for school at St. Stephen's. And Frazackerly Cadillac (which is where the pet superstore is now.) They had a diner at the bottom of the medical building which is STILL THERE! We used to go there after school for french fries and a Tab---we were watching our weight!

I also remember the trees in the center of the mall that they used to light up at Christmas time with tiny lights. There were also displays and they also had a Santa there (I think...). And I remember how at Christmas when it would get cold and foggy, the wind would just blow through that center open-air part!

And then in the mid to late 1980's it all sort of became run-down and unhip. Serramonte sort of became the "in" mall because it had a Macy's and a Montgomery Ward and Stonestown had a lot of vacant stores. I think that it was around 1990 or so when they started the Galleria. It is nice and I do enjoy shopping there when I go back to San Francisco but truthfully, it is not one bit different than any other mall in the U.S.. You could stand in the middle of it now and not know if you were in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas or San Francisco. Still, at least there still is a Stonestown...