Here is the first mall submission from Houston Texas; the Northline Mall.
Not much is on the internet about this mall so this is what I have put together from my own research. A Montgomery Wards opened up by itself before the mall was built at the northern portion of the site. Northline mall opened in the early 1960’s at the corner of I-45 & Crosstimbers Rd. The anchors were Joske’s TG&Y and Montgomery Ward. This mall possibly may have been outdoor and enclosed after its opening. The design of the mall is very simple and has not been really updated since the 1980’s. There was a jewelry store that still retained its 1960’s style fixtures and sign until closing. Joske’s closed in 1989 and was replaced in 1997 by a Magic Johnson theatre. During demolition of the old Joske’s the inside retaining wall fell into the mall killing several people. Montgomery Wards stayed open until the chain closed in 2001 and the retro neon sign stayed on for a while after its closure. In 2001 the TG&Y closed as well with the rest of the chain. A branch of Houston community college was located in the back of the mall. A Picadilly cafeteria and Chinese restaurant were located in the southern end of the mall until 2005. The lineup of stores when we took the photos was very small only with about 10 stores left and a mini anchor Palais Royal. A Burger King was the only restaurant left. About 30 stores and restaurants closed in the last year of business. The Wards was torn down in 2006 and the parking lot was torn away to make room for the new big box development and rail line downtown extension from Main Street. The mall was torn down in November of 2007 and the big boxes have popped up all over the site. Palais Royal, Ross, and several others are open or under construction. The college that was connected to the mall is still standing but looks to be abandoned to make room for what is rumored to be a new Wal-Mart. The Magic theaters were originally to have stayed open but those were demolished as well. The good news is that several of the mall in-line stores and CiCi's pizza have opened up in the new strip centers within a very short time of the mall's closure. The site has been renamed Northline crossing and they even have a billboard advertising the center on I-45. I have added some photos taken before the mall's demise.
Northline was built as an enclosed mall in the early 1960s following Sharpstown. Gulfgate was the first regional mall in Houston and was originally outdoor and later enclosed. Gulfgate's anchors were Joske's, Sakowitz and a grocery store (I cannot remember the name of it). As mentioned, Northline also had a Joske's as an anchor. In the early malling of Houston Foley's would not anchor a mall where Joske's was and vice versa. Hence, Almeda, Sharpstown and Northwest had Foley's while Northline and Gulfgate had Joske's. Northwest Mall's opening took some of Northline's business but Greenspoint really took its toll. Northline became more crime infested (or at least got that reputation) with more merchandise being shoplifted from Joske's than they sold. They remodeled the mall in the 1980s to try and attract new tenants (which they did for a brief time). When Joske's was sold off to Dillards (after Campeau took over their parent, Allied Stores) they chose to promptly shut down the Northline location. During demolition, a wall collapsed killing several people (mall walkers). Magic Theaters opened at that end of the mall when construction was complete. Now, of course, the mall has been demolished.
ReplyDeleteI forgot about the wall collapsing in the 1990's; that was a nationwide news story. The mall had a valid reputation for crime since this mall had several violent crimes committed there. ( A friend of mine was carjacked in 1994 leaving work there). Even with all of the redevelopment the area still has not gotten better. The IHOP in the parking lot there has been robbed twice in five years, and I am sure there has been many more crimes that I do not know about.
ReplyDeleteThe grocery store in gulfgate was weingartens.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anonymous; I did not get an opportunity to see this mall during its heyday. The only holdovers that I saw were the Montgomery Wards, TG&Y, and Picadilly that were still there in early 2000.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember the name of the Chinese restaurant next to Picadilly restaurant in northline mall back in 2001
ReplyDeleteIt was called "shay shay"
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information, if you have anymore store names from the mall I would be happy to add them here. I know some of the stores returned to the new development, but a bunch left in the late 90's-early 2000's and never came back.
DeleteI used to get my haircut next to Picadilly's/Shay Shay. $5 dollars, early 90s.
ReplyDeleteShay shays was the Bomb
Deletewhat is the story with Pricebusters food at northline mall?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know the name of the clothing store that was located across from Burger King in 1998.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember the name of the women's clothing store that was across the way from Burger King in 1998?
ReplyDeleteNorthline Mall had a Walgreen's, Sweeney's, Oshman's, Britts, Gap, H&H Music, Florsheim, Oak Tree. The Piercing Pagoda in the center near the fountains. I would spend my Saturdays there.
ReplyDeleteWould have been awesome to see the mall in the better days. The first time I visited the mall was in 99 when the mall was fading away. Thanks for the list of stores from back in the day.
DeleteUsed to love going to the mall as a little kid , mom would take me to the eye doctor there the tso and then id go to the arcade room....good times
ReplyDeleteOnly went there once in late 2001 to see Jimmy Neutron at the Magic Theatres
ReplyDeleteI remember in I think 96 or 97 they opened a Selena's store. Didn't stayed open long but j sure got some cloth from there that ik i still have. Good times. And that's for the answer of the Shay Shay restaurant.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing more information about this mall. There is very little info online.
DeleteI remember the mall very well. Loved the dancing fountain in the center. Joskes was a beautiful store. Britts is where my mom bought new table lamps for the entire house in the mid 60's. Great times there. We dont have places like that today...
ReplyDeleteVery true, most malls have the charm stripped from them to make room for kiosks. At least the Nordstrom corridor in the Galleria has a dancing fountain that is still going strong. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteIt’s a good thing you started this blog in 2009 when this mall and Circuit City were still around so you could document them.
ReplyDeleteI had actually started documenting malls and retail before I started this blog. Other blog sites gave me the idea to start my own and just focus on this area since there was not much coverage in the Texas and Louisiana areas until this blog came out. A few articles here and there on Deadmalls and Labelscar, but as of now there are over 400 posts on the blog and counting.
DeleteIt’s cool to see the quality of the camera or phone you were using to take pictures because even though it was just 10 years ago, it’s cool to see how technology was back then, not as great as it is now. It would be weird to me if I saw a high-definition picture of this mall because to me, it would be equivalent to seeing color in pictures taken before the 1930s. The quality of the pictures of this mall are fitting to the time they were taken.
ReplyDeleteMy camera was dying out when I took these photos and I made it worse by not stabilizing my shots. There was a lot I needed to learn about photography back then. These days my technique and better camera technology work together to create much better documentation. The crazy thing is, I use a 4 year old phone these days and it still works fairly well.
DeleteWhat ever happened to Shay Shay Restaurant????
ReplyDeleteIt looks like it closed with the mall. It could have possibly reopened under another name, but I did not see anything about that.
DeleteWhat was the name of the arcade?
ReplyDeleteIt was a Tilt Arcade, not sure if it was under another name previously.
DeleteWas there ever a cici's at northlinr mall in the 90's?
ReplyDeleteYes, there was it was located at the main entrance facing I-45. I believe the restaurant had an indoor and outdoor entrance.
DeleteThe Cici's that was at Northline was originally a Walgreen's, which featured a restaurant inside the store, facing the mall. Down by the Joske's, which my aunt worked at until 1987 when it closed, was originally Craig's, later Palais Royal. Directly across the mall corridor from the Craig's was S S. Kresge's. Both of those stores had a mall entrance, as well as a parking lot entrance. The mall, prior to the Joske's closure, was jam packed. The Wild Pair, Baker's Shoes, Britt's, Playhouse Toy's (directly across from Britt's), TSO, The Woman's Shop, Lerner Shops, Thom McAn's shoes, Weingarten's (later Price Buster), Oshman's Sporting Goods, Firestone, The Gap, Great American Cookie Company, Gordon's Jewelers, Bond's Department Store, J. Riggings, and The Oak Tree all had locations at Northline. HCC went into the closed Britt's, and interestingly enough, the "food court" was added in the 1980s remodel. There was no need, prior to this, as Britt's, Joske's, and Walgreen's had full service restaurants in them, Kresge's had a lunch counter, and Piccadilly was in the mall. Also, the tall sign facing Crosstimber's was the original sign for Weingarten's. You once could see the red dot and big W from clear across Airline Drive, coming from the west to the east. Monterey House and Dairy Queen were both on the west side of 45 on Crosstimbers, and the two gas stations at the corner of 45 were Exxon and Gulf respectively. On the south side of Crosstimbers, across from the mall was Alfie's Fish n' Chips, Western Auto (later the 2nd Foot Locker, as there was also one in the mall originally), Roy Roger's (later Hungry Farmer BBQ)
DeleteGreat blog, sir. Hard to believe I have not run across it until now. I am online in the wee hours of a sleepless night, looking up Northwest Mall for some reminiscing, and stumbled across it. I can give an even more detailed history of the NW Mall line of stores, if I run across it here, as that was my childhood and teenage years mall. Northline was the mall my grandmother loved, because of the Joske's and that damned Craig's she'd always drag me into lol. I can still close my eyes and see that light green and pink accents, with the big white globe lights hanging from the ceiling.
There was another arcade before Tilt. It was right by Shay Shay. Once Tilt came in this smaller arcade couldn’t make it. Many of my hard earned quarters went to this smaller arcade back in the early 80s playing space invaders, asteroids, and Ms Pac-Man
DeleteI really miss those days. One of these days I need to visit one of the modern old-school arcades to see if they have the same feel as the old arcades. Thanks for giving us more information on the past of this mall.
DeleteThanks for sharing your memories of the mall anonymous. I never saw the glory days of this mall since we lived on the NE side of Houston in the 80's and 90's. Northline was a little too far for my parents to go to, so we visited Greenspoint, Deerbrook, or very rarely Willowbrook. I didn't visit this mall until the late 90's and early 2000's in the final years of the mall's existence. If the mall had room to expand, it may have had a chance to survive. Once the 2000's hit, the mall was dated and didn't have enough shopping options to stay relevant. Ever since the redevelopment, the property has been booming. The owners have put the right stores in place and maximized the land space which couldn't have been done with the old mall in place.
DeleteLoved northline mall. Going way back into the 60's, as a young girl I remember seeing a wedding at the mall taking place by the fountains. Seemed like a fairytale back then. I wonder if thst couple are still around.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your memories with us. It is difficult to imagine a couple in 2023 getting married in a busy mall.
DeleteWhat happen to the store marlins or marlins..in the mall it was across from the foot locker..it later was in north line commons..but closed shortly after
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. Maybe one of our blog readers can help answer this question for you.
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