San Antonio might be known better for its Latin flavors, the Alamo and its neighboring historic tourist-laden Riverwalk area of downtown, but few tourists venture beyond the riverboats and history and delve into the rest of the city.  Why?  Well, unless you’re a local or in one of the various military installations around the area, there isn’t really that much to do.  Except for us retail buffs, of course.  San Antonio is possibly one of the most over-malled metros in the entire country, and its numerous vacant or recently imploded shopping malls speak to this. 

San Antonio is typical of Texas cities, and of Sun Belt cities in general in its growth patterns.  Unfettered growth, often with little to no zoning regulations has run rampant for several decades and suburban sprawl exists just about everywhere.  In fact, San Antonio has become the second largest city in Texas and seventh largest in the country; however, due to the fact that the city has few suburbs, it is only 30th in metropolitan area rankings. Because of the unfettered growth in the latter half of the 20th century, a lot of retail strips were constructed.  One of the most prolific of these is the I-410 belt around the city, but others exist along the other freeways and major thoroughfares.  Several of the city’s malls were also constructed along this beltway, including the Crossroads of San Antonio, located on the northwest side of the city near the intersection of I-10 and I-410 along Fredericksburg Road. 

Crossroads opened in the 1960s as Wonderland Mall and quickly became a super-regional destination for the entire area.  From what we can tell, the mall chugged along and was fairly successful for quite a few years.  However, as fickle as the retail market is, San Antonians shifted their shopping preferences to other centers, specifically the two which surround Crossroads on both sides of I-410.  Located within five minutes on either side, both Ingram Park Mall and North Star Mall have retained shoppers’ fancy in recent years, the latter being San Antonio’s most successful retail destination for some time now. 

Crossroads is also unique in that it has been profiled since 1986 by the Urban Land Institute in a case study concerning the center’s economic viability over time.  The mall changed dramatically starting in the late 1980s due to swirling competition from better-positioned malls and continued to evolve into what it is today: a value-oriented mall.  As is typical with the downfall and conversion of enclosed super-regionals to value-oriented or obsolete malls, the puzzle pieces don’t seem to fit right.  This was definitely the case here, as while much of the mall has remained viable through off-price and local merchants and anchor stores (ie. Burlington Coat Factory, Hobby Lobby, Stein Mart), good portions of the mall remain vacant today.  Take a look at the study, it also indicates the competition from other malls inspired the center to renovate and expand in 1987 before succumbing to the competition in 1991 and shifting focus to being an off-price destination.  Today the mall exists as such, complementing to the malls on either side of it in its value niche.  But for how long?  In 2005 plans were announced to refurbish the center and reposition it to be more inviting to customers.  Can we say comfy couches and carpeting? 

In terms of decor, Crossroads is currently looking rather aged except for the 1987 expansion featuring the food court and its own wing, which looks very much like it doesn’t belong with the rest of the earth-toned features occupying the rest of the mall.  Its two levels are set up rather interestingly in order to fit into a rather tight footprint between Fredericksburg Road and I-10, yet the mall is still rather large at 700,000 square feet. 

Take a look at the pictures we snapped in April 2007.  Tell us more and let us know the detailed history of the mall, including your own personal stories.