Manchester Center; Fresno, California
We first started traveling to shopping malls in the late 1990s, and it was during those trips that we were awakened to the beginnings of the death of the American shopping mall. In almost every major metropolitan area, there was at least one white elephant, one center that wasn’t cutting it, one place that for some reason was never renovated and still sported decor from the 1970s. We were fascinated, not only because these malls reminded us of our childhoods but also because it was inconceivable to us then that the almighty shopping mall–a development pattern that had been so dominant our entire lives–could possibly fail.
In the last decade and change, of course, this reality has been writ large and discovered by many, ranging from Deadmalls.com to CNN and NPR and (more recently) the entirety of the general public. But the types of malls that we discovered were “dead” in the mid to late 1990s had mostly already gone away: these were the weakest players, the least-loved, and they were wiped off the map before the public’s collective consciousness began to recognize their existence. As a result, our trips since have been somewhat less enjoyable, since most of the remaining malls are at least somewhat whitewashed and there’s a sad knowledge that in just about every city in America, there’s at least one true gem of retail history that’s already long gone.
Before I get too histrionic, this is why I found Manchester Center in Fresno, California to be such a treat. It had been at least five years since I had discovered a mall quite like this one, and it was a shock to find such a creepy time capsule still completely open and accessible.
First, just a quick bit about Fresno: Fresno, California is the largest city in California’s central valley, and the second largest metropolitan area (after Sacramento) in the region. It’s the largest city between San Francisco and Los Angeles and has around 470,000 people proper, with almost 900,000 in the metropolitan area. Like many of California’s inland cities, much of the development in the city and its surrounding areas is fairly new, and the population has been continually exploding over the last decade and a half. Despite anchoring a primarily agricultural region, Fresno is known as a hub for business incubators and is somewhat more politically moderate than some of the other, smaller, more conservative cities in the central valley. On the retail scene, Fresno is the home of Gottschalks department stores, one of the last true independent old-line department store chains in the country.
Like many of California’s Central Valley cities, Fresno doesn’t have the greatest reputation. Its historic downtown area, which is centered around the pedestrian Fulton Mall–one of the first downtown pedestrian malls in the nation, and the home of the original, deceased Gottschalks flagship–is notoriously foreboding and vacant, as noted when the California Planning & Development Report named it the worst big-city downtown in the state:
Bakersfield, Oakland and Anaheim all have less-than-ideal downtowns, but none of those districts is as desperate, depressing and even threatening as downtown Fresno. The hideous 1970s office buildings are the least of the problems in Fresno’s core. The place is one gigantic real estate “opportunity,” and it’s usually deserted after 6 o’clock. Yes, there is a nice new minor league baseball stadium, but that’s about the only reason locals willingly go downtown.
Manchester Center is Fresno’s oldest enclosed shopping mall–I think–heck, I’m not even sure because I can’t find much about it on the internet. It’s over 50 years old, though, and its located near the southern end of the long and massive commercial corridor along Blackstone Avenue, which leads north from downtown. The 950,000 square foot, two-level center contains three large anchor stores–currently filled with Sears, Gottschalks, and a large CalTrans office–and sports a variety of local retailers and office space. Since it was displaced by the more successful Fashion Fair (as well as several burgeoning outdoor shopping malls and one somewhat troubled enclosed one), the Manchester Center has attempted to carve out a niche as a “mixed use” building, with much of the upper level and nearly all of the CalTrans wing occupied with office space. Don’t be fooled, however; the entire mall is open for your perusal!
One thing that really struck me, aside from the really dated decor, was the mall’s strange floorplan. Let me detail it as I saw it:
- I entered at the mall’s northern end. Sears was the anchor here, but when I came in on a side hallway I noticed windows on the second floor leading to a vacant space, and there was visibly an area where a stairway had been removed. The Sears store also faces the mall in a strange way, meeting it only halfway head-on, meaning that when you are standing in the center of the mall and facing Sears, only the left side of the mall enters into the Sears while the right side exits to the rear parking lot (check the pics, it’ll make more sense).
- It appears that the “ghost” space next to Sears on the second level was at one point some smaller anchor. The mall goes underneath this anchor on the first level, but then emerges on the other side as the mall becomes fully two level. Does anyone know what this floating “ghost anchor” was?
- Most of the main mall is a two level “L” shape with a carousel at center court. The further you get from Sears and Gottschalks, however, the further you get from retail activity. Most of the southern part of the center is either vacant or occupied by offices. The second level has no retail activity aside from a food court with several tenants.
I wish I knew more about the place… maybe some of you can fill me in. There’s precious little about Manchester Center available on the internet, including huge missing details like what the third anchor originally was. I would obviously add Manchester Center to the death watch, especially in light of this week’s chapter 11 filing by Gottschalks, one of the mall’s two surviving anchor tenants.
Karen
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:53 am
Wow, I LOVE the tile work! Great pics.
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Mark Winston
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:43 am
Great pics and commentary.
Manchester did not start as a mall, but as a shopping center. My dad’s sign shop (fresnoneon.com) built the original sign for the then-standard mid-century shopping strip, which originally (I think) contained a Gottschalks, Sears, Long’s Drugs and a grocery store (in what is now the office-converted east-most anchor).
It was converted into a mall in the 70s, which explains the oddities you encountered. Most of the ‘mall’ sections (pretty much all the 2-level mall areas) were added in the conversion, and you’ll notice lots of non-level walkways and odd places where stairs jump out at you because the various anchors were not at the sale exact elevation.
When the grocery store went away in the 80s, it was replaced by a Home Express (a sort of proto-Target), which lasted til the early 90s, and the office conversions started there and spread like a cancer from that anchor westward. They added the theatre out back in 2001.
Gottschalks has repeatedly threatened to move out, and now that they’re insolvent I assume they finally will. Long’s Drugs just moved out, so I assume Sears now has absolutely no reason to stay – this place is solid gone.
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Richard bradshaw Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I was the operations manager for manchester center I can u everything from the prices cal trans pays for the space they have to the empty space u were wondering about .It used to be a bank and that space is a kitchen..we used it for partys for staff there .the mall also has areas in the basement that seem to take you back to the peace movment back during the Nam war 60s Cal trans pay 150k a month for both spaces they have that includes pg&e and housekeeping sevices but the sad part of the center is that it is dying a slow death there are hords od rats the size of cats there and huge roaches my staff would haft to sweep the center a few times before it opened to make sure the public wouldn’t see it ..The fact of it all is that if caltrans left that center it would be dead …When I was working there they were talking about gotshalks leaving and there was talk of a walmart going into that space now I don’t know anymore about that I did talk to the new operations manager Cal Rodgers and he stated he didn’t know …But any info u need on that center feel free to email me @Mark Winston,
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Cal Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
We have no plans at this time for the empty spaces@Richard bradshaw,
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Richard Bradshaw Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I messed up my wording they had rats and roaches at that time right before I left they had pest control taking care of the proublems I didn’t want everyone to think it was out of control .But the center is in need of some major upgrades and it isn’t a mall anymore the owners consider it a center of comerce since it has so many business there .I never went there before I worked there and I never will go back since…. the Malls in Fresno rock ….@Richard bradshaw,
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Cal Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Sears own that spot it has no connection to manchester other than being connected @Mark Winston,
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Groceteria
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Manchester originally had a Mayfair Market, although I’m not sure how it was oriented to the center. It apparently closed in the early 1970s, but I’m not 100% certain of that. I assume it was probably along the front near the Longs Drugs that recently closed.
There has been considerable alteration to this property. Sears is original, and I’m pretty sure Gottschalk’s was added considerably (maybe even decades) later.
In the late 1960s, a Safeway was added on the north periphery, and it operated until the late 1980s, per city directory listings.
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Tim
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:51 pm
This place is HUGE, or maybe just appears that way since it’s so empty… Great pics!
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Richard bradshaw Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Sears is its own space it might be conected to the center but that’s all it shares if manchester closed today sears would be open and still running @Tim,
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Paul
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:03 pm
The 3rd anchor was Rhodes, opened in 1959. In the mid 1970’s it was rebranded Liberty House, and it ultimately closed in 1984. It was a 2-level store, probably about 120,000 square feet. Afterward, one floor became a Home Express, but that company failed as well.
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AceJay
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Is there a 2nd level you can reach between Sears and the 2nd floor ghost anchor, or is that were you said the stairs were removed. Very very odd.
Also that Sears is LONG.
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Richard bradshaw Reply:
July 16th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
No that is an empty space it was a bank ..it is a huge vacant space the mall has tried to lease the space but to no avail@AceJay, n
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Mark Winston
January 23rd, 2009 at 4:11 pm
For a few years in the 80s-90s the “wierd” space next to the Sears was a Sears Home Furnishings store. It was the final capstone completing the Mall-ization of the center, as Sears was still a separate outbuilding until they completed that portion.
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Alpha
January 24th, 2009 at 12:37 am
What exactly makes Gottschalks “independent” as supposed to say, Belk?
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Alpha
January 24th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Oops, I didn’t really look at what I typed… the correct question was…
“What exactly makes Gottschalks “independent” as opposed to, say, Belk?
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J-Man
January 24th, 2009 at 1:16 am
The largest city between San Francisco and Los Angeles is actually San Jose (which is more populous than San Francisco.) If you meant to say that Fresno is the largest city between the Bay Area and Los Angeles, you’d be correct.
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Caldor
January 24th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
That is true; I meant the Bay Area. I consider San Jose to be within the same clump as San Francisco.
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Caldor
January 24th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
@Alpha, that’s actually a good question and one I’ve thought about before. Due to the smaller size of Gottschalks or Boscov’s (fewer locations), I’m inclined to think of them as independent while there are some other chains that are big enough (think The Bon-Ton and their various nameplates, or Dillard’s) that I think “independent” would be a bit of a misnomer. Belk is probably near the line but they do have a lot of locations. There’s really no black and white answer.
I used to work for a large independent record store chain (a bit of an oxymoron) and the independent record store association that we were a member of technically deemed us too large because they considered you to no longer be independent if you had more than like, 15 stores or so. We were a bit above that so we were kind of allowed to play along but we were on the border of still being regarded as independent.
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unpleasanthill
January 24th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
The Sun Valley Mall in Concord, CA has a Sears that looks nearly identical. Totally creepy is the fact that it has the same “palm tree through the roof” feature. Weird.
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BIGMallrat
January 24th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
“Fresno! No one goes to Fresno anymore!”
I had no idea this place was on its way out. The second floor is depressing. Reminds me of Cottonwood Mall in Utah.
You know, Fashion Fair isn’t exactly the RItz. Is Fresno a retail dud?
Scott
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Jonah Norason
January 24th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Strange empty corridors (two floor), fast-food like food court layout, and weird purple neon! What a creepy place.
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Caldor
January 25th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
@BigMallRat:
I wouldn’t say Fresno is a retail dud, exactly. The misleading thing there is that the two most upscale “malls” they have are both outdoor; there’s the old Fig Garden Shopping Center which has many of the standard tier-A mall tenants, and there’s also a new shopping center on Blackstone Avenue at the northern edge of the city called River Park Shopping Center. Interestingly, I think this plaza may be the future of new malls: there’s a collection of stores centered around a “town center” type development with a main street, including Gottschalks, a movie theatre, REI, Borders, and some restaurants. Then surrounding that part of the property is a large sea of box tenants. Given the collection of retailers there, it’s a very “current” style of retail development and undoubtedly qualifies as one of Fresno’s major malls.
Fashion Fair is the only one of their three enclosed malls that’s doing particularly well, but these two outdoor malls clearly take the place of what would be other enclosed ones.
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Gino De Young
January 26th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
One thing about Manchester Center I vividly remember: in 1984 I worked for Gottschalks out of the Modesto Century Center store, so I had opportunity to visit other Gottschalks locations while working. Space at Manchester Center was in the middle of being “taken over” by Gottschalks, which had built itself out into the second floor space normally leased to smaller stores. Over time, they added on, and added on, while still retaining walkway format and open spaces to the first floor. It felt like the entire mall was becoming a Gottschalks. As I understand, they may have since retreated back into the footprint of the original store – could this be the “ghost” retailer?
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Georob
January 26th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I always felt that Manchester would be a great candidate for conversion to a big box strip center similar to what was done to Florin Mall in Sacramento. You tear down everything except Sears, Gottschalks, and the theatre and then build around it. With great visibility from freeway 41, Manchester could re-invent itself as an alternative to River Park. But with the current economic situation, nothing’s going to be done, and by the time things shake out it may be too late Don’t forget too that Fresno’s been hit pretty good with the foreclosure crisis.
The other question mark about Manchester is what type of lease agreements they have with CalTrans and all those other agencies renting space upstairs. Would Manchester’s owners break long term leases with state agencies just to see if they could get Best Buy and Bed Bath and Beyond? It might just be easier to lease out the old Gottschalks to another government entity (IRS?) and encourage whatever remaining retail there is to service those workers
The other troubled Fresno mall I presume you’re talking about is Sierra Vista in Clovis. Even before Mervyns and Gottschalks problems I felt Sierra Vista was in trouble. For even though it’s near new development and just added a lifestyle village w/multiplex; the fact remains that it’s nowhere near a freeway and that Clovis’ retail activity is slowly heading North towards Herndon (which IS near a freeway)
Sierra Vista still has the Target and Sears as well, but the Target is separate from the mall, older, and small compared to other Targets.
And Sears? Well, isn’t that the one “big shoe” we’re all waiting to see dro in the next year or so? And both Manchester and Sierra Vista have them.
And if Sears goes, they’ll be so many new “dead malls” out there that it’ll look like the 90’s all over again.
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Paul
January 26th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Given the fact that summers in Fresno can be blisteringly hot (100+ temps), it amazes me that any outdoor shopping center can flourish
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Tom Reply:
September 25th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
@Paul,
Ah, yes, hot during the day…but every night during the summer the evenings are definitive balmy and are among the best in the world!
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Daniel
January 28th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
The Mayfair supermarket was once at the corner where the Chinese Buffet is today. As was mentioned before, Sears was not connected to the mall until the early 1990’s when a small single story wing of in-line shops was added in what used to be Dayton Avenue.
The pictures I took in the mall sometime ago can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/67661849@N00/sets/72157612396375309/
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Daniel
January 29th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I should also note that Sierra Vista was never exactly a thriving mall, even when it was new. It has never been 100% full, not even after they added the Sears store in the back parking lot.
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ashley
January 30th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
If any of y’all are intrested the mall has a website.
http://www.manchester-center.com/
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Jonah Norason
January 30th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
@Ashley: Uhh, the blog post already mentions it…
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Jonah Norason
January 30th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Bizarre…this mall has a charter high school inside of it, apparently. And an Orange Julius. Sounds like a fine way to end the day.
For some reason, this reminds of Cinderella City Mall, as if it cleaned up its act and made it appealing to mixed-use. It’s two story and has that creepy vibe to it…
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blake
February 5th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Most of the above comments cover my memories, but I remember
going there once in a while with my parents to visit Perry Boys Smorgasbord. This was a fairly popular eatery and, I think, they ended up being a sort of mini-chain in the area–a few different locations.
This was a well-visited shopping center up until Fashion Fair took the ball in the mid-70’s.
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quincey
February 7th, 2009 at 3:20 am
it wasn’t a stairway that was removed it was an escalator, it came out about 8 years ago
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Quincey
February 7th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
it wasn’t a stair case that was removed it was an escalator. it came out 8 to 10 years ago. I dont remember why.
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Kelly
March 24th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
My kids and I love to go to Manchester Center to ride the carousel. I don’t know if it is original but for $0.50/ride (if you buy a $5 card, otherwise its $0.75/ride) its one of the best bargains in Fresno. They have a free day (maybe Tuesday night) and still is a ghost-town. We love to go to Red Robin and visit the carousel but its kind of depressing to be on a carousel with like one other kid…I can’t fathom how they stay in business but we love it, especially on a HOT Fresno summer afternoon.
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Chad
April 5th, 2009 at 1:10 am
I think that middle area was part of Gottshalck’s, once. At one point in the 80’s they had a huge area of the mall, including the second floor of where Caltrans is now.
Also note that there is/was a *second* small mall past Sears. It appears to be a beauty college these days.
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Dennis
April 6th, 2009 at 2:12 am
I worked in Manchester Center briefly in 1991. Looking at the recent pics, I can see that not much has changed. I do remember shopping at Home Express, now occupied by Cal Trans. The only thing that will save this mall would be a complete renovation.
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Zack
May 5th, 2009 at 12:57 am
The “floating ghost anchor” you refer to was indeed Sears’ furniture store, called Homelife by Sears. That whole north end of the mall was added I think in the 80’s to connect Sears to the rest of the mall. The reason it is taller than the rest of the mall is because it has a parking lot in the basement, and also because Sears was slightly higher in elevation than the rest of the property to begin with. Interestingly, the entrance to Sears from the mall was originally closer to the mall entrance facing Blackstone, right underneath the red Sears sign that is still there. The current mall entrance from Sears was just a wall on the left side that said Sears, and then the right side was an exit to the rear parking lot like it is now.
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Zack
May 6th, 2009 at 6:18 am
Oh woops, I didn’t know that first post when thru.
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Jenster
June 12th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Wow. This place is cree-peeeee! Love it…
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Peggy Coleman
June 25th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
A new generation of old creepy places. Great ! I love old abandoned buildings that haven’t been vandalized. They would make great museums. I would pay to see an old dime store, or genuine drug store.
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Anthony J.
October 2nd, 2009 at 9:10 pm
I worked there till January 14, 2009. The mall manager is incompetent , running the mall with a maw and paw mentality, the mall operations manager is allowing racism, nepotism, good old boy b.s. the rule of law. U.S. Properties shouldn’t have booze at their parties , a security guard went drinking – driving and got in trouble.
Tile and four big expensive fans disappered from the vallet (…huh Cal)….
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Joe Toxic
November 8th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Recently thousands lined up and waited for hours….local health dept used the facility for a H1N1 flu clinic, probably the people that mall has had in years….great website.
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Joe Toxic
November 8th, 2009 at 11:34 pm
CORRECTION: Probably the most people that mall has had at one time in years!!!!!
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