Comments on: Paseo Nuevo Shopping Center; Santa Barbara, California

By: SLANE

SLANE — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:24:09 +0000

OK! The Borders was originally J.W. Robinson & Co. (Robinson’s), then two different banks, and finally Borders. The Robinson’s-May at La Cumbre Plaza was originally a MAY Co., JWR on State st. closed following the MAY Co./Allied Merger and the Robinson’s moniker was not seen again in SB until MAY merged the Robinson’s & MAY Co. divisions in the early 90’s to form ROBINSON’S-MAY. Saks Fifth Avenue sits where another bank used to be, but the current S5A building was built new to blend in. Santa Barbara has some of the most stringent building codes in the world, Spanish colonial architecture is a prerequisite for any building project in SB. Additionally, SB city codes prohibit signage from being “too large” or “unsightly”, you will notice this on the tiny signs on the very large 3 story Nordstrom pictured.

By: JS

JS — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:46:17 +0000

I was a college student in Santa Barbara in the early/mid 90s and worked at Paseo Nuevo the entire time. So did a lot of my friends. It was part workplace, part social center, with most of the action at The Gap, The Coffee Bean, Z Gallerie, Enlightened Sights, this store dedicated to rubber stamps called “Stampa Barbara” and the restaurants. Because the mall was so well integrated, working there was like being part of downtown – you could live a few blocks away, walk to work, cafes and bars all in one small area. At the time the most obvious mall-like aspect was that the only major chain stores on State St were in Paseo Nuevo. The mall was so successful in “revitalizing” that now chains are up and down State St, and Paseo Nuevo has lost some of its lustre since then. High end stores like Apple and Restoration Hardware have instead chosen more visible locations on State St.
As far as the building history – most of the downtown merchants supported the deal. I heard rumors that Nordstrom had exacted big price/tax concessions from the city.
Other than that, one quirky aspect was when Paseo Nuevo was built, one of the “seedy bars” refused to sell. So in the midst of Nordstrom, Pierre La Fond and Banana Republic was a total dive bar called Mel’s. You would walk by the potted palms and bougainvillea on the way to work at 9 am on a Tuesday and Mel’s would be open filled with early bird “regulars” nursing their morning beers. At the time I thought it was cool – totally out of place – but a reminder that SB was not always so sanitized. When I turned 21 I had my first “legal” free shot at Mel’s. The bartender had one with me. Though at the time I grew tired of the mall, now I look back with fond memories of the place.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:25:44 +0000

What’s great about this place is that it actually replaced a block seedy and partially vacant storefronts along State St., which was becoming a haven for the homeless in the 80’s. The City also relandscaped, etc. the sidewalks and medians and the entire strech is now a huge improvement over what was there 25 years ago

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:52:21 +0000

To Randy; Borders Books was originally Bank of America years ago. Crocker Bank was at 1001 State St. where Saks Fifth Avenue is today. I worked there for many years back in the early 70’s.

By: Omnispace

Omnispace — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:36:22 +0000

Paseo Nuevo was designed by Field Paoli architects in San Francisco. They do a lot of work in retail and have been at the forefront of the movement towards integrating retail developments back into the urban structure of our cities. They have been involved with projects such as Stanford Shopping Center and Broadway Plaza as well as doing master plan work on such projects as Victoria Gardens at Rancho Cucamonga. You are correct that the intent was to blend the design into the existing surroundings.

By: Jonah Norason

Jonah Norason — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:14:31 +0000

I wonder what the purple ribbons stand for.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_ribbon

One of these…

By: Karen R

Karen R — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:24:28 +0000

Randy: Really? I stand corrected. I had information that it was new construction back in the mid 90’s but it must have been just newly outfitted for the store.

By: Randy

Randy — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:12:04 +0000

To Paul, May Company opened a store in Santa Maria two months after Paseo Nuevo Mall. The Santa Maria Times also had ads from The Broadway in Santa Barbara for a time.

To Carmen, the Borders building was originally Crocker Bank.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:15:51 +0000

The Borders store was built specifically for Borders.

By: Carmen

Carmen — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:28:05 +0000

The Borders looks like it was an upscale department store at one time. Was it an I Magnin or Bullocks Willshire?