Fashion Place Mall; Murray, Utah

Fashion Place Mall in Murray, Utah, 1997

Thanks to Jay for these more-than-ten-years-old photos of the Fashion Place Mall in Murray, Utah. Far from a dead mall, Fashion Place is one of the most dominant shopping malls in the Salt Lake City area, with Macy’s, Dillard’s, Nordstrom, and Sears as anchor stores.

Jay took these photos in 1997, though the mall has changed fairly significantly since and is in the process of changing again. In the summer of 2007, it was announced that the 876,000 square foot Fashion Place would get a 230,000 square foot expansion. Nordstrom and Dillard’s would get brand new stores, and the mall area itself would be expanded to add new stores and restaurants, and the interior of the center will be renovated.

Fashion Place Mall in Murray, Utah, 1997

I’ve never visited the center and am not too sure of much of its history, but I do know that the mall opened in 1972, and the Dillard’s store (which is pictured in the link above) was opened as a Weinstocks and then later became The Broadway. The existing, 4-level Dillard’s is going to be demolished as part of the mall’s renovation to make room for more mall space.

Salt Lake City Visitors Guide description of Fashion Place Mall In 2006, Fashion Place was one of a dozen American shopping malls to open on Black Friday at 12:01a.m., and experienced crushing crowds. Reportedly the earliest Black Friday ever, the mall was open for 22 hours… placing a great strain on employees and managers throughout the center. The gimmick seems to have been a success.

Also, check out this undated photo from the University of Utah’s J Willard Marriott Library–it showcases a much-older Nordstrom logo! Any guesses on when it’s from? I didn’t have Nordstrom in my area until about a decade ago, so I’m not as familiar with their older logos.

Undated photo of Fashion Place Nordstrom, from JW Marriott Library at University of Utah

Author: Caldor

Jason Damas is a search engine marketing analyst and consultant, and a freelance journalist. Jason graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and a minor in Music Industry. He has regularly contributed to The Boston Globe, PopMatters.com, Amplifier Magazine, All Music Guide, and 168 Magazine. In addition, he was a manager for a record store for over two years. Currently, he focuses on helping companies optimize their web sites to maximize search engine visibility, and is responsible for website conversion analysis, which aims to improve conversion rates by making e-commerce websites more user-friendly. He lives in suburban Boston.

33 thoughts on “Fashion Place Mall; Murray, Utah”

  1. the last time i saw that logo was in the 80s. judging by the cars in the lot, it looks like maybe early 80s. nordstrom’s handled shopping bags during this time used the same logo on a dark brown background with the typeface in a cream/light tan color.

  2. Does the 70’sreffic big tall mall entrance still exist?????

    Did those big large modernist skylights survive the renovation???? I gotta know!!!!!

  3. The lowercase Nordstrom logo lasted into the late ’80s. I think the Tysons Corner location (their first East Coast store) originally opened using it, but it was removed shortly after they opened.

  4. The lower case Nordstrom logo was also used in NJ when the first three in the staet were being built (GS Plaza, Menlo Park, Freehold….Short Hills didn’t come until 1995) on “Coming Soon” signs, but was not used when the actual buildings were complete and open for business.

    I do remember it on the Tysons location.

  5. These photos brought back a whole new set of memories. I frequented Fashion Place in the mid-Eighties. Nordstrom was the big deal, there. I typically shopped at Castletons, the junior department store in the middle of the mall (it’s a T-shaped mall).
    The ZCMI II concept didn’t last very long. I didn’t even realize they tried it at Fashion Place. Hmm.
    This mall was always considered the best mall in the valley, least until South Towne in Sandy took over in the late Eighties. Nevertheless, I’ll still remember it fondly.
    Scott

  6. You have the Broadway and Weinstock’s stores in vice versa order. It was orginally The Broadway (from Los Angeles) in 1972, then their parent company Carter Hawley Hale Stores converted it to their Sacramento-based Weinstock’s nameplate in 1978. I once had some Nordstrom annual reports saying that their store at Fashion Place opened in 1981.

  7. Nordstrom officially changed their logo from lower-case block letters to upper-case in 1995. Some stores, such as San Francisco Center and many East Coast stores used an upper-case style similar to the current logo. I never understood why, since it wasn’t an ‘official’ logo.

    Slightly off topic, has anyone noticed that the Von Maur stores in Iowa seemed to copy the logo and interior design/decor from Nordstrom? No wonder people say it’s the Nordstrom of the midwest!

  8. Funny, I was about to say the same thing as Trevor about the similarities between Von Maur and Nordstrom’s older vs. newer logos!

    That aside, interesting write-up about this mall, as I very strangely had initially missed this post about Fashion Place, until I was browsing through more recent entries tonight. And just so I get the future plans for this mall straight, is the Dillard’s gonna be rebuilt in a different part of the mall, or is it leaving this mall for good? (I’m guessing the latter due to its size, but who knows)

  9. We always drove to the Salt Lake City area from southern Idaho to get some real shopping in. Fashion Place was an awesome mall second only to the giant Crossroads Mall in Salt Lake proper, which was a thriving mall which was curiously repurposed recently. Neat to see a mall I’ve actually visited on this site!

  10. Today(in 2009) the new Nordstroms is finnaly done, I think Macy’s might buy the old Nordstroms remodel it and vacate their cottonwood location Even though I live closer to their cotonwood location it is pretty small and I wouldn’t be suprised if it closed down, I know they are keeping the coulumbs on the outside of the mall and I think they are keeping the skylights or at least the ones in the food court

  11. Cool site!

    I was just at the Fashion Place mall for the first time in nearly ten years, and I noticed a PILE of changes. One thing I was able to do was Go into the old nordstrom building during the first day of the fixture liquidation sale. I got LOTS of pictures, so feel freeo to contact me if you want to see them.

    One thing that was really cool was the weather marks showing the evidence of the old logo now that the new sign had been removed.

    I had not realised how dated that store was until seeing it with all the merchandise removed. but very cool to see.

  12. The Fashion Place Mall was briefly notorious when a University of Utah student named Ted Bundy left one of his victims in a dumpster there.

    With the ongoing billion-dollars and years-long metamorphosis of ZCMI and Crossroads into City Creek Center, Fashion Place has attracted a lot of traffic from areas that used to be serviced by the downtown malls. The planned expansion is a good thing, as the area has grown more upscale. Salt Lake City can expand only to the south, and the mall’s location is becoming ever more central.

    Even though I’m in the Avenues, I generally avoid the Gateway and head down to Fashion Place in Murray when I need to visit a mall; it’s less hassle, parking is easy, and I can usually find what I’m after.

  13. Ok, so I grew up going to Fashion Place Mall and I vividly remember climbing on this huge, yellow, brick “sculpture” type thing in the middle (?) of the mall. I guess sculpture isn’t really a good word for what it was, as people could sit on the edges of it. It was very 70’stastic! Does anyone else remember this thing?

  14. Fashion Place Mall opened in 1972, and I arrived in Utah that year for college. I went to Fashion Place Mall all the time from 1972 to 1976, and it was easily the best mall in the area during those years, which means that it was the best mall in the state and maybe in the entire region (Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah). One of the original anchor stores was Auerbach’s–nobody has mentioned that. I assume it’s long gone. I believe it was the western anchor of the mall.

    Some of the other big malls in the Salt Lake valley back then were Cottonwood Mall, Valley Fair Mall (on the less fashionable west side), and Trolley Square (which was considered really innovative at the time). University Mall (Orem) opened around 1974, and I know that it’s still around and thriving.

  15. I think Auerbach’s was where the old nordstrom was. It will be a shame when they tear down dillards expandtion, I have always loved the exterior of dillards/weinstocks/the broadway.

  16. A few months ago, while walking to the Dillard’s department store, I was harassed by a man and a woman from Israel selling their worthless “Dead sea soap”, hand and facial products. The man and woman were verbally abusive and spoke to me in a manner that was offensive and degrading. Although I filed a complaint at the mall management office, nothing was done. The workers in this mall (from Israel) are abusive, cruel, mindless and rude. these people make shopping at Fashion Place Mall an unkind,awful, miserable and unpleasant experience. I WILL NEVER RETURN TO FASHION PLACE MALL. GO HOME ISRAEL, YOU’RE NOT WELCOME HERE.

  17. @Chad E Willoughby, I wouldn’t castigate all people from Israel due to these people. However, these people do suck. A lot. Interestingly, many of them are here on tourist visas and not work visas, and are culled in their home countries at kiosk job fairs. I find them terribly annoying and aggressive too, and sort of wish the INS would get involved.

  18. @Prange Way, I always wondered where they recruited these people from… They all seemed to have the same accent in every mall I have ever been to. I have gotten tired of saying “no thanks” that I just down right ignore them now as I walk past as quick as possible..lol.

  19. I travel back to Utah to see my family twice a year and always manage to visit Fashion Place Mall. No fashion here, but nostalgia. Always having a Hot Dog on Stick with mom. I remember Auerbachs closing and coming with mom to the huge sale. Yes, it was the old Nordstrom. I hate how the new Nordstrom entrance does not even line up with the street entrance on the other side of it. Trust Utah to once again screw up a renovation. Just like Cottonwood Mall renovation in the 80s. If it was done right in the 80s it would still be open. The ZCMI on the outside was never refurbished. Just paint does the trick in Utah. Seek out a real designer.

  20. If anyone is still looking at this site do you remember the glass elevator in the mall. I remember the sit on thing in the middle.

  21. @Randy, That sounds about right for Nordstrom’s opening… Originally in that spot was Auerbach’s Department store which that chain ended up closing down.

    It is sad to hear that today on the news was announced that Sears, the only original anchor store will be leaving the mall sometime in 2013.

  22. @Marcie, There was no elevator at this mall, are you thinking of ZCMI Center?

  23. A 2-level (110,000 square foot), Salt Lake City-based Auerbach’s was the 40 million dollar center’s first operational anchor store. It was joined by a 1-level (26,000 square foot), Salt Lake City-based Castletons, 3-level (289,000 square foot) Sears, and twenty new inline stores, November 1, 1972. Retailers operating in the new shopping mall included Lerner Shops, Makoff’s, Roper’s, La Rie’s, Wicks ‘n Sticks, Zinik’s Sporting Goods, Noah’s Ark Pet Shop, Chess King and Whataburger.

    Construction commenced on a third anchor store in 1973, which opened, as a 4-level (180,000 square foot), Los Angeles-based The Broadway, August 3, 1974. This was accompanied by three inline stores and an outparcel structure housing a Smith’s Food King and Skaggs Drug Center. In the circa-1972 mall, the United Artists Fashion Place Cinemas 4-plex also opened for business.

    Construction commenced on a third anchor store in 1973, which opened, as a 4-level (180,000 square foot), Los Angeles-based The Broadway, August 3, 1974. This was accompanied by three inline stores and an outparcel structure housing a Smith’s Food King and Skaggs Drug Center. In the circa-1972 mall, the United Artists Fashion Place Cinemas 4-plex also opened for business.

    The first renovation of FASHION PLACE MALL took place in 1988, when its interior was updated with new decor and skylights and a 10-bay Food Court was installed in previously-existing space in the South Wing. Weinstock’s was shuttered in January 1993, with its space being taken by Dillard’s. They renovated the building and held a grand opening November 8, 1993. ZCMI II was rebranded, as a Portland, Oregon-based Meier and Frank, April 18, 2001 and -as a Macy’s- September 9, 2006.

    In April 2012, Dillard’s decided not to renovate it’s store as it had started with the closing of See’s Candy and other stores on that North Wing. Dillard’s decided to wait until Sears closed in 2013 and to tear it down and rebuild an entirely new store.

  24. @utahkid,
    I moved to Utah in July of 1971. I went to work for the Wood family @ Coy’s at Fashion Place (where Olive Garden now sits) when they first opened. The south side was a coffee shop and the north side was a fine steak house (The Moon Raker) with a full bar and Prime Rib dinner for $5 on Sunday’s. I remember helping clean all the new fixtures to get it ready to open. The roof of the new Fashion Place mall collapsed on a portion of the mall that winter and it closed down for several months and I also remember that Chuck-a-Rama was inside the mall on the south end by Sears. Just read that Sears is shutting down @ Fashion Place Mall in this Sunday’s Tribune. Lots of shopping done there over the last 40+ years. I still have a beautiful oil painting that I purchased at Auerbach’s and we bought our first puppy @ Noah’s Ark. Loved that Mall but don’t go there very often anymore. I think Marcie is thinking about the glass elevator in the middle of the Cottonwood Mall, it was just by the food court.

  25. I have been going to this mall since the 80’s and remember the nordstrom being built since they was still painting and stuff when I went in as a child on many of the mall places.

    I always called the nordstrom the knight rider store since the font looks like the 80’s knight rider font I also bought knight rider toys in there.

    The look of the mall did not change until 2011 or 2012. since it was built not one inch, it has been remolded a lot and is now full of people all the time no longer dead. this is the only time I have seen it change at all ever.

    I miss the old look of the mall though it has new stores built in front of the nordstrom…

    My fav store was the sears where I used to buy sega genesis and snes games it just died around christmas 2012 it had store closing signs I took pictures of it. it looked the same the entire time I have seen it and has never changed.

    around 1994 ish they used to have a dinosaur sand sculpture in the center for a while and a disney store and inside a movie theater they are all gone and turned into other shops. I saw “fivel goes west” and w’ere back in that theater.

    Across the street was a local owned store called aliied that had a fire years ago back in the early 90’s maybe 95 and was tore down not long after that but they kept it open for a while and sold out what was left in the building it is a bookstore now and has a bunch of new shops it is a mini strip mall I think it is also part of fashion place.

    a glass elevator used to be in nordstorm or dillards…I think or one of the other big stores since they are the only 2 level stores, sears did not have it and nordstorm was the biggist building it was still there the last time I went in unless you are talking about an elevator that was there before I was born since this mall is older than me.

    Then again maybe all the construction I remember was the first mall renovation but the out side of the building has been like that since the 80s at least and I remember getting pushed around in a stroller in this mall.

    I have been to just about every mall in utah since I was born and even valley fair is doing better the only dead mall is cottonwood utah mall that I have seen.

  26. @Marcie, You are thinking of the old Cottonwood Mall. There was a glass elevator in the middle of the mall by the food court.

  27. That’s pretty scary how Americans care so little for the shredding of the Constitution by each President yet are almost willing to kill each other for the latest gadget that sings, dances or lets them *chat* with their artificial friends.

    🙁

    Nice pictures though. I enjoy seeing the 80s look to it. Brings back memories of other malls I’ve seen from that time era before the environmental freaks started demanding outdoor malls everywhere. (sigh).

    These captchas are really annoying.

  28. @utahkid, I agree. They should’ve fixed the small stuff in the old ZCMI when they had the chance. Instead they let problems get too big.

    I guess the people in charge as usual in this generation got too big for their riches. Hopefully the next generation in the next 30 years picks up the pieces of this one when people are finally sick and tired of being pushed around.

    All it takes is the bottom 10 percent to stand up with moral values to run things and we have prosperity in every country in the world at one point in time.

  29. @Chad E Willoughby, Same with all international people.

    Any country that has run away immigration crime always goes sky high for that region. No matter where on earth it happens. It’s not just an American problem.

    If Canada or the UK continues to lets immigrants come in out of control they also will have crime go sky high too and their mighty country will soon vanish in the wink of an eye.

    UK has a huge problem with stabbing from knives in the big cities mostly at nighttime by immigrants who come from Europe often with arrest warrants of their own from a laundry list of crimes overseas.

    Okay it will take a generation but it will seem like in the wink of an eye

  30. @Kyle, I meant stabbings from knives. Canada and UK have a major problem with this over working the police (during night time hours mostly) but the news is downplaying it to prevent people from panicking so tourists will still come.

    I am having the flue and am not feeling good so please excuse my typos but I enjoy seeing these mall pictures. 🙂

  31. @Marcie, There was never a glass elevator at Fashion Place Mall!

  32. I’m going crazy…..please….does ANYONE remember a small staircase in Castletons Department Store in the Fashion Place Mall?? I remember playing on them as a kid but no one else seems to remember it!! It’s driving me nuts!! Haha

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