That 70s Mall - Puente Hills Mall (So. Cal.)

I grew up in what I would consider the era of the indoor shopping mall "boom."  In the early to mid 1970s, it seemed like they were popping up everywhere in Southern California.  And then pretty quickly, many of the earlier "outdoor" shopping centers from the 50s and 60s started to be "enclosed," in order to compete with those newer malls.

One of the malls that I went to quite frequently as a kid, was Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry.  The mall opened in phases, between February of 1974 and Spring of 1975.  I have found it quite difficult to find vintage images of the mall.  But a few years ago, I was lucky enough to stumble across some images for sale on ebay.  It was a "lot" of slides, which also happened to include images from other malls that I frequented as a child, as well as a dozen slides of the newly opened Roaring 20s area at Knott's Berry Farm.  I posted those Knott's slides earlier this year, and they can be seen by clicking here:  Ralph & Florence visit Knott's Berry Farm.

The majority of today's photos were taken in November of 1974, with a few taken in the fall and winter of 1975.  We will start with the November 1974 shots.  I am going to include the original hand-written labels from each slide.  They will be in both italics and quotation marks.

"Center Colonnade with Clock & Fountain"

Puente Hills Mall had an X-shaped layout.  There were four major department stores, which anchored each end of the "X."  Those original stores were Robinson's, The Broadway, JC Penney, and Sears.  The center of the mall featured a large four-sided clock suspended from a high ceiling.  One thing to note in this first photo is the sign on the upper floor reading, "Big Boy Jr."  It was actually a Bob's Big Boy Jr., with the "Bob's" portion of the sign being blocked by a support column.  Bob's Big Boy Jr. locations were smaller versions of "Bob's Big Boy" restaurants.  They did not have table service.  Instead, you ordered from a counter, waited for your food, and then chose your own booth.  Not all of the "Bob's Jr." restaurants were located in malls....some were stand-alone restaurants.

"Center Fountain - Puente Hills Mall"

On the ground floor of the mall, and directly below the central clock, was a large four-tiered fountain.  The fountain was surrounded by planters and benches, which made for a nice centralized meeting place for shoppers.  Something to note in this pic is, even though the "JC Penney" sign is visible in the center of the mall, I don't see a sign in the distance, on the actual storefront, so I don't believe that it had opened yet in this November 1974 shot.  According to Wikipedia (which is always correct!), JC Penney did not open until April of 1975, and was the last of the four anchor stores to do so.

This next shot would have been taken from the upper level of the Broadway "wing," looking out towards the center of the mall.  The only thing I can point out here, is the stained glass signage for the "Windsor" store.  Windsor is a women's clothing store that dates back to 1937, and is still in business today.

"Skylight Window Strips - Puente Hills Mall"

Each wing of the mall had skylights running the length of it, which connected to the mall's central hub.  The "rounded" skylights have since been changed, to somewhat of a "pyramid-shaped" skylight.

"Al Near Fountain at Puente Hills Mall"

"Al" is the guy in the dark blue sport coat, looking directly at us.  He appears in many other slides from this ebay lot, including the 1975 Knott's pics.  Al was the son of "Ralph and Florence," who we will see shortly.  Notice the "Orange Julius" shop on the ground floor.  Orange Julius shops used to sell a trademarked drink, by the same name.  According to Wikipedia, the drink contained a mixture of "ice, orange juice, sweetener, milk, powdered egg whites, and vanilla flavoring."  Personally, I have never tried it, because it never appealed to me once I heard it described by others.  In the 1990s, the Orange Julius shops that still existed were all converted into Dairy Queens (their parent company, which had purchased them in the 1980s).  Today, the Orange Julius drink can be found on the menu at Dairy Queen locations.

"Hanging Clock in Center Colonnade - Puente Hills Mall"

I'm glad the batch of slides included this close-up of the mall's clock, showing more of it's detail.  At some point, this clock was removed and not replaced with anything.  Why?  Because they truly do ruin everything!

"Florence & Ralph on Upper Level of Puente Hills Mall"

This shot was taken on the upper level of the Sears "wing."  One of the things to note here is, the "Harris & Frank" men's clothing store on the far left.  Also, there is a Spencer's Gifts store, just to the right of that directory sign.  However, I don't see any signage above the store's entrance, so it might not have opened yet.  Spencer's was a novelty store, carrying greeting cards, posters, and novelty lamps (like black lights and lava lamps).  They also featured an "adults only" section of gag gifts and cards, and a variety of costume jewelry.  This store was the first place that I ever saw "two-way mirrors" being used, and in an obvious way.  They had a closet-sized space set up next to the jewelry section, with a stool inside.  Someone would sit on that stool, and watch shoppers through the two-way mirrors.  The mirrors actually had signs posted below them, explaining to shoppers that they were being watched.

"Florence & Ralph Eating Ice Cream at Puente Hills Mall"

The mall had a Baskin-Robbins, so I'm assuming that is where Florence and Ralph purchased their ice cream cones.  The only other seller of ice cream "to-go," was a "Bob's Old Fashioned Ice Cream Bars" location.  Does anyone remember those stores?  There was no connection between them and "Bob's Big Boy," and their only menu items were chocolate-dipped ice cream bars on a stick, and fresh-squeezed lemonade.

"Florence & Ralph at Puente Hills Mall"

I love the "field" of 1970s lights on the ceiling.  These were above the entrance to each "wing" of the mall, on the lower level.  Those have also been removed, unfortunately.  On the upper level (behind Ralph), we can see the Morrow's Nut House, and on the lower level is Park Lane Hosiery.  Note the "Musicland" shopping bags.  Personally, I bought many records at that Musicland location.  Oh, and those columns in the center of the mall were covered with a gazillion teeny tiny mirrored tiles.  Cue the disco music, please!

These next two photos were taken in September of 1975.

"Florence, Isabelle & Ralph in Puente Hills Mall"

This one was taken in front of The Broadway's entrance.  Florence and Ralph have now been joined by Isabelle, who was Florence's sister.  She looks like my great-aunt, Edna!

"Al & Isabelle at Puente Hills Mall"

Al came along again on this shopping trip, and posed with Isabelle, outside the mall.  One of the mall's many entrances can be seen in the background, while the Robinson's department store would have been just out of frame, and to the immediate right.

These last three slides were dated, "December 1975."

"Paul, Irene, Ralph & Florence Watch the View at Puente Hills Mall"

During this visit, Ralph and Florence were joined by Paul and Irene.  The Bob's Big Boy Jr. can be seen in the background (on the left), as well as a portion of a display window for Hatfield Jewelers (on the right).  One additional feature that I remember about Bob's Big Boy Jr., was their "do-it-yourself" Sundae bar.  They would hand you a clear plastic cup filled with soft serve ice cream, and then you took it over to a "toppings bar" and added whatever you wanted on top of it.

"Christmas Decorations in Puente Hills Mall"

I have vivid memories of these Christmas decorations.  I'd say that my family did most of our Christmas shopping at this mall.

"Santa Claus Castle in Center of Puente Hills Mall"

This "meet and greet" setup for Santa Claus was very impressive.  Unfortunately, by the time this mall opened, I was past the age of wanting to meet Santa.  On the far right of this photo, we can see the Morrow's Nut House.  There were two other candy stores in the mall; See's Candies, and Helen Grace.  Next door to Morrow's Nut House is an "ALROE" shop, which carried women's clothing.  And on the far left, is a store called LeatherBound-something.  LeatherBound "Ltd.", perhaps?  I don't remember that store, but it sounds a little kinky.....even though from the merchandise on display, it looks like they mostly sold purses, and maybe just one single jacket!

Now let's take a look at just a few extra odds and ends, related to the Puente Hills Mall:

This vintage postcard features a photo taken from almost the same vantage point as the one above, but without the Christmas decor present.

In July of 1983, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs visited the mall, appearing "Live From The New Fantasyland at Disneyland!"  Disneyland's "New Fantasyland" had opened, just two months earlier.  This advertisement appeared in The Los Angeles Times.

I should mention that the mall has a cinematic "claim to fame."  It's exterior was used as the "Twin Pines Mall" in the 1985 film, "Back To The Future."

I visited the mall for the first time in about 25 years, in April of 2019.  I was surprised to see that they had a recreation of the "Twin Pines Mall" sign on display.

I walked around the entire mall, but it was sad to see what had once been a thriving shopping center for so many years, in such a failing state with so many store vacancies.  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, since I myself, had not been there since the 90s.  But the reason for that was because the previous time I had visited, most of the stores that I used to shop at had disappeared.

The mall had also undergone a major remodeling in the 1990s, so it no longer felt like the mall from my childhood.  In addition to the removal of the central clock, they had also taken out the large fountain below it and replaced it with an antique carousel.  The carousel did look nice, and there was even a sign explaining it's history and previous locations (although now, I can't remember any of those details).  When I returned to the mall in 2019, the carousel was gone.  Wikipedia explains that the carousel had been added in 1990, but was later removed by the mall's owners, because they were losing money on it's operation.  It was apparently replaced with a large koi pond, but that was removed in 2006.  I never saw the koi pond, and when I visited in 2019, there was nothing in the center of the mall.  Sad!

One original feature that I was very happy to see, was the glass elevator in the three-level Macy's store (formerly Robinson's).  I remember riding in it as a kid.  It was almost like an amusement park ride!  Unfortunately, this Macy's location closed in 2022, so the elevator is no longer accessible to the public.

The mall has changed ownership multiple times over the years, with the most recent sale occurring in August of 2024.  As of today, the mall's fate is uncertain.  The new owner's have stated that they want to redevelop the mall and it's 56-acre property.  But as of right now, there are no physical signs of construction.

This photo from Wikipedia, was taken in 2023.  In December of that same year, the mall was reported to only have about 10 tenants.

To wrap up this post, I'm including this artwork and also a mall directory, both from the Los Angeles Public Library's collection.

Based on what's included on this directory (and what's not included), I believe this might be the listing of stores from the mall's opening year.

I hope everyone enjoyed this vintage visit to the Puente Hills Mall!  Please Come Again!