Comments on: Western Plaza; Amarillo, Texas

By: Joan

Joan — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:21:34 +0000

We, like many other lived in Amarillo because we were going to school at WTSU. We didn’t live there long after Western Plaza was built but I was in heaven living between the shops on Georgia, Western Plaza and Sunset Center. There was a shop in Sunset Center called HUB CLOTHIERS where my husband bought his first Hart Schaffner Marx suit.. and I loved the sales people there because they always knew you by name. Growing up I had shopped at Sakowitz in Houston so I was thrilled that there was one in Amarillo—- the store always smelled so good. There was also a Colberts but I can’t remember the location. The Fedway store and Blackburns were downtown and also great shopping.
Where do people shop now that the major centers are gone? It has been many years since I was there.

By: Weston

Weston — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:08:43 +0000

Like Todd said….WOW. My mom and I were emailing each other about good memories from our family vacations of yore from north Texas to New Mexico. Those trips invariable included a stop at the Furr’s at what I now know is Western Plaza Mall. After a little research I have stumbled onto this page and am filled with the strongest sense of nostalgia I have felt in a long time. A child of the 80’s, and only passing through my memories are limited to a dynomite chicken leg and mashed potatos at the Furrs, but I do remember going through around the holiday time and seeing Santa. There was also a large fountain area which I loved seeing every year. I wish I could see a picture of that fountain in all its glory. Do I remember correctly that there was still and Affiliated Foods Green Stamp store located nearby. I only remember seeing one when I was a kid, but it seems like it was near Western Plaza. Thanks again for the great memories!!!

By: Todd

Todd — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:14:59 +0000

Wow, I am in tears. I lived in Amarillo from 69 to 79, at the tender ages of 7 to 17, and literally grew up at Western Plaza. We moved to Amarillo so my dad could run a kids shoe store there (next to Hastings (with the dirty mags on the top shelf)), my mom worked at Wards, and my first job was working in the cafeteria at Wards. The pictures were great. It has been so long, I completely forgot the fountains. The cinema was always a big deal. Spent hours in Toys by Roy and Radio Shack. Hole in the Mall. What was the name of that store that had preppy, collegiate clothes before I knew what preppy was?

By: ClayS

ClayS — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:49:35 +0000

Dunlap’s-Sakowitz-Kirk&White, ahh what a lineage. Kirk and White were downtown on Polk Street for years in a beautiful building purpose built by them.

How’s this for “most obscure” point about Western Plaza? At the time they moved to Western Plaza, Kirk and White’s head of the Interiors Department was a sister of WWII Army General Lucian K. Truscott, the originator of the 5mph march that replaced the previous 3 mph marching speed of the US Army. The men marched so fast that the pace was known as “the Truscott Trot.”

His sister was also a fast paced employee of K&W, famous for briskly zooming and swooping around the department to help employees and customers alike.

She retired not long after the new Western Plaza store opened. Amarillo hasn’t seen decent store help since.

By: lisaholland

lisaholland — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:41:13 +0000

yeah, there was a Daisey’s. It was womens clothing and accessories. I had forgot all about that until your post. Thanks!!

By: Billy Williams

Billy Williams — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:31:20 +0000

WOW. I grew up in Amarillo (1964-1985 when I moved to Nashville), my mom still lives there and worked at both Woolco and Montgomery Wards. The pictures that Ronn posted above are wonderful. I remember many a penny that I threw into that Fountain. Every Christmas was an adventure at Western Plaza as we waited for Santa to arrive. I would love to see stuff about Sunset Center. I was Kinney Shoes Store #1115 Employee of the year at the Sunset center store in 1983.

By: Mrs. D

Mrs. D — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:39:58 +0000

I grew up in the Dallas area and was used to big city malls when I married and moved to the oklahoma panhandle, two hours north of Amarillo. When my oldest daughter was six months old, in 1996, we moved to a slightly bigger town just 45 miles north of Amarillo. As a stay at home mom in desperate need of “civilization”, I made the trip to Amarillo about once a week. In 1998 I was pregnant with my second child, and frequently made trips to my obgyn in Amarillo. Although we went to Westgate Mall (the newer, bigger mall off I40 between Coulter and Soncy) we also liked to frequent Western Plaza Mall. Here is what I remember most….The buffalo nickle game center — my daughter was too young to play any games, but she liked to go look at all the lights and hear the beeps and buzzes and electronic sounds of it all. I remember the commerical on TV too -”Buffalo Nickel, one nickel at a time”. There was a formal shop that we always walked by to look at “the sparkly dresses for big girls”. I remember the smoke shop with fondness – I am allergic to cigarette smoke, but I like the smell of pipe tobacco. I remember the Service Merchandise and the Monkey Wards (I was so relieved to see someone else called it that – it is not just my crazy family!) These stores had already gone out of business in the Dallas suburb I grew up in. My dad thinks that MW was one of the last ones to close. There was a place that sold dogs – poodles and terriers and such. The old man that bred the dogs and ran the shop was not there all the time, but when he was, he would get a few dogs out of the pet taxis and let them romp around while my daughter petted them. He seemed grumpy most of the time, but he would warm up after awhile of watching my daughter’s enjoyment playing with his dogs. If we came by on a day when he was closed, my daughter was always dissapointed. I remember a Christian bookstore – that was the first place I had seen that picture that looks like Jesus’ face, but if you look closer it is also a picture of the crucifixion scene. My daughter and I had pictures done at Family Photo for a gift for my husband (you know the type – mommy and baby all in white gowns kindof blurry – and we had some of my favorite toddler pics of her taken there. I loved Furrs! They had an “all you can eat for $5″, and I could eat alot – especially when I was pregnant! My daughter thought she was hot stuff because they would carry her tray for her. There was a tea girl (remember when they used to come by with a cart that had ice, tea, water, and to go boxes?) that had Downs Syndrome. Everyone there loved her – that girl probably took home more in tips than some of her non challeged peers! Ok, this is soooo non PC, but does anyone remember a sketch on SNL or Mad TV of a mentally challenged blonde girl? Whoever that was must have eaten at Furrs because they had this tea girl dead on!
My daughter (almost 13) said she remembers the dress shop, Furrs, and the fountains. She loved the fountains and could play there for an hour if I let her. It was her own private playground. I think at one time they had steps/stairs around them, but they must have had to redo them in the 80’s when they renovated because some walkways had wooden platforms – “bridges” and ramps that ran between the fountains, some with carpet and some exposed wood, and some tile that matched the fountain. There was a huge ramp that was carpeted that she would run up and down and giggle and giggle and giggle! One time I let her put on her just purchased tap shoes and the tile and wood pathways became a stage where she entertained millions (well, ok it was just me and the 20 senior citizens doing laps for their exercise!) We prefered Western Plaza to visit Santa and the Easter Bunny because it was not as crowded, we didn’t have to wait in line for hours, and Santa was a whole lot nicer! Plus, at WP I could get right up there and take pictures, but at the big mall, the “elves” would position themselves so that the only good picture you could get came from their camera, and you had to pay $15 for it!

Wow! My oldest turns 13 this month – thanks for letting me share this walk down memory lane!

BTW – Western Plaza sat back just a bit from I 40’s access road, a bit south and east of the Olive Garden. Now there is a Cheddar’s immediatly to the east of the Olive Garden and a Starbucks to the east of Cheddar’s, and a Rudy’s (BBQ and gasoline – what an odd combination!) directly to the east of Starbucks. All of these are in a line right next to the access road. South of that “strip” is a large parking lot, and then, where the mall used to be is Burlington coat factory, Petco, Mardel’s and (I think) a Michael’s craft store. I’ve been in Burlington’s, but not the others. It was nice, and I got my youngest’s Christmas dress there for a good price, but there were no puppies, no fountains, no smell of pipe tobacco, and no seconds on the chicken fried steak!

By: The Green Storefront

The Green Storefront — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:01:49 +0000

The green storefront with the stained glass at the top was most likely a women’s boutique called Cricket Alley. I think I can see some of the lettering on the window to the right side of the door in that photo. I’m from Wichita and worked at one of the three CAs in town, which was at a mall very similar to this one.

We also had a Toys By Roy (THE ABSOLUTE BEST – and never imitated since. Anyone remember the wrapping paper? A sure sign of a gift from a rich uncle!).

Cricket Alley had stores in KS, OK, and TX, and also had a sister store named Ziggies. The Cricket stores were very unique, with weathered wood floors, stained glass, variable levels within the shop. It was all very ’70s Fleetwood Mac-does-victorian decor.

I believe the imports store someone mentioned above may have been a World Bazaar. Another awesome store, kind of like Pier 1, but with many more cheap little trinkets and things from China (before EVERYTHING we had was from China!). Lots of stuff hanging from the ceiling, as I recall.

Given all the interest in what our malls used to look like inside, I’m hoping someone starts a site where people can post photos of ’70s and ’80s mall interiors from during that actual time period. I have yet to see more than a few out there (usually postcards). Guess we didn’t spend too much time in those days carrying our cameras around everywhere we went… We were probably too busy having fun and enjoying the moment. Ah, the Good Ol’ Days!

By: Danny Clark

Danny Clark — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 08:14:15 +0000

Back in the early seventies they began showing midnight shows at The Western Plaza Cinema and they got pretty wild at times. At Christmas time in Western Plaza Mall they always decorated with mechanized christmas characters and Santa flew in on a helicopter one year in the parking lot. Sometimes the mall would contract a traveling carnival to set up ferris wheels and rides in the mall parking lot.

There were all sort of promotional stunts over the years. It was a good place to go walking in case there was a snowstorm or a heatwave happening outside.

Was there a store there called Daisies?
What really seems strange is getting sentimental about a forty year old mall when the fact is these malls help displace the downtown shopping area which was intact when I moved to Amarillo which I also miss a lot. A lot of the stores moved from downtown where they had neen for decades.

Im sure the main selling point was the conventient parking and air conditioned mall.

Intresting site

By: Jeff Fong

Jeff Fong — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:54:11 +0000

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I worked at two locations in WP in my youth. I worked my way through high school at The Hole In The Mall in the late 70’s flipping burgers and at Klines (first sales job) shortly after graduating from high school. Both locations were ran by some really great people and afforded me the basics to my knowledge of business.