Crossroads Mall

[MonkeesFan]

Does anybody remember the pet store? After the pet store was gone, the mall has went downhill ever since

[oneforone]

Docktor Pet Center was the name of the pet store.

They closed after 20/20 exposed the chain for using puppy mills. After Docktor closed, a mom and pop pet store opened in its place;however, it failed a short time later.

[Thunder]

I thought it was Pets Unlimited. I loved going there as it was always the place to stopped by and visit the animals, especially the bunnies. I had 2 bunnies from there, one lived to be almost 6 years. I had a hamster from there, Sugar, such a sweet hamster.

Is 20/20 still there?

[Martin]

i thought it was pets unlimited. i loved going there as it was always the place to stopped by and visit the animals, especially the bunnies. i had 2 bunnies from there, one lived to be almost 6 years. i had a hamster from there, sugar, such a sweet hamster.

there will be plenty of bunnies to pet when you and george get that ranch! -M

[HSC-Sooner]

Is that hobby shop still there? It was a 2 story shop and they always had interesting collector items, games, and cards.

[Martin]

^
no... unfortunately the hobby shop is long gone... i believe the last tenant in that space was some sort of indoor, glow-in-the-dark mini golf. -M

-M

[gen70]

Would there be some place to find a complete history of tenants at the mall?

[Martin]

^
that'd be cool... but i can't think of a place that would have that kind of info. maybe that'd be neat direction for this thread... people could recall what was where.

i can't remember what was in that space before hobby shop... if memory serves, walden books used to be in the spot right next door to it. across the way, garfield's was the last tenant... before that wasn't it lion's share?

-M

[Soonerman]

I thoght Garfields was on the lower level right next to JCPenney. Also didn't Crossroads have a Braums at one point in time?

[Martin]

^
yes. as one exited jc penney onto the mall's first floor, the hobby shop would be the first store to your immediate left. walden's was the second store on the left. the first store on your right was garfield's... i don't know for sure if that was the same spot occupied by lion's share.

the mall did have a braum's. it was situated near one of the entrances... can't remember which anchor it sat next to, though... i'm pretty sure it was either foley's or ward's rather than penney's or dillard's.

-M

[Jesseda]

i use to work at crossroads in the late 90s at the expensive over priced beanie booth located by the arcade, does anybody remember that place, I couldnt believe how many people would spend 50.00 for a beanie they could get at hallmark for 5.99..

[Soonerman]

Is that Chinese Buffet still open?

[Jesseda]

yes my parents ate there about 2 weeks ago, I like that place compared to the other chinese buffets on the south side

[SoonerDave]

The pet store that took over the space occupied by Doktor Petz (or whatever it was called) moved out of Crossroads a few years ago to the Walnut Creek shopping center, where it has since gone out of business.

Braums was on the north corridor near JC Penny, on the west side, always thought it was a strange place esp considering Braum's was getting into groceries and such at the time.

There was a Picaddilly Cafeteria directly across from the Braum's space back when the mall first opened. There was a bakery on the first floor (where Garfield's was last operating) back in the day, but I think it ran into hot water after a local TV news show caught it with some problems w/the health department.

Yes, Waldenbooks was originally on the first floor, between the Hobby Shop and LeMans.

Anyone remember the two-floor Emmer Brothers clothing store that was in roughly where Radio Shack is right now? It spanned *both* floors of the mall. There was also Napoleon Nash's menswear just outside of Dillards, and in that time, Chik-fil-A was over on the extereme *east* end of the mall, first floor, next to Ward's and Radio Shack.

More memories...anyone recall when LeMans had real, live bumper cars? And some incredibly cool video arcade games, classics...

One of my favorite stores was Toys By Roy on the lower level approximately where the ATT cellular store is right now (give or take). That place always looked spotless and had all kinds of *unusual* games and toys...got my "Jimmy the Greek Oddsmaker Football" there...and they always had an enormous, animated Lego setup there..

McDonald's used to be on the old Macy's/John A Brown/Sanger Harris corridor, on the east side....

Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors had a small store on the first floor, next to Orange Julius..

Video Concepts moved into the first floor space vacated by Emmer Brothers, and was one of the first big-time video retailers, big screen TVs, and pushed the RCA Selectavision CED video disc formats that predated the LaserDisc by a few years. Back then, video rentals were almost unheard of, and a VHS copy of a movie was $100 or more. They always ran the demo from the first Star Trek movie on their big TV's and it always caught my eye!!

Anyway, those are the things I recall most vividly....if I think about it, I'll come up with more I'm sure..

-SoonerDave

[Jesseda]

wow , i do remember the mcdonalds, I always thought that was neat asa kid inside the mall, then before its was candyopolis I believethe candy store was called lolipops, located in the upper floor middle area by aunt annies pretzels, I like that store a whole lot better, I remember when the mall went all out for christmas and where you got to meet santa was like a dream northpole village setup. the teen hang out was the payphones by the main entrance of the mall where lenscrafters is. the pet shop was a must, wards had shopping carts and sometimes people would take them out into the mall, which was a huge hassel. thre wqas this place i think called corndogs, it is where hat world was on the 2nd floor by spencers, it had the best fried cheese on a stick. just 10 years ago the mall was popular, how did it really fall so fast!!!

[SoonerDave]

Good grief, how can I forget Farrell's Ice Cream Emporium!!! Since I was (and always have been) on the warpath on my weight, I didn't get to go there more than once, but it was awesome. Just had a basic ice cream cone, but while we were there, someone ordered something called (approximately) the "GastrointestinalGalactical Super Delight", and it set off all manner of sirens and bells and alarms as they rolled it out. It was ENORMOUS, obviously intended for a party....

Also remember when Channel 9 used to have the Jerry Lewis Telethon in the center court....

And the original four anchor tenants were Dillard's, JC Penny, Montgomery Ward's, and John A Brown's.....

...there was an ahead-of-its time electronics store called "Intellectrix" with all kinds of video games...alas, it didn't last...the real "video game" era didn't hit until about 10-15 years later...there was also a stereo shop called "Team Electronics," and the guy who ran it also operated a "Team BBS" where you could dial in and post messages....one user at a time, phone connection (yes, I am an ubergeek)...he ran it until Team Electronics went out of business...wish I could remember the dude's name...

[Martin]

in the same spot as braum's, i remember there was a seafood restaurant... can't remember if it was immediately before or after the braum's existed.

before lollipops, there was a candy store called morrow's nut house... that's where i first became acquainted with the goodness that is coke bottle candy.

lemans used to be quite a spectacle... i'm too young to remember the bumper cars, but my older brothers always talk about them. what sticks out in my head was in the mid-80's there was this sci-fi miniseries called 'v' and lemans had this full-size simulator game of one of the space ships from the show.

waldenbooks was always our second choice for books... we always went to b. dalton first. that was right next to orange julius, if memory serves. later on, they converted the back half of the store into a software etc... loved to browse for games for the family's apple ii e.

picadilly cafeteria was where the chinese buffet currently sits.

loved toys by roy... my favorite as a kid was the brio wooden train sets. my parents must have had ironclad will power to resist my pleadings to get me a huge set of those.

where gamestop is was another computer software store called babbage's. next to that, towards dillards, was a gyro place called olga's... that was the first place i ever had a gyro.

nearly every time we went to the mall, we'd have to make a pass through hickory farms... they'd always have plenty of samples to try out.

the best cookies in the world (when i was a kid!) were at the great american cookie company that was beneath one of the escalators.

i remember that crossroads used to have not one, but two hallmarks.

...i'm sure i'll think of more. -M

[Martin]

as for anchors, wasn't rothchild's bigger than the average storefront? -M

[SoonerDave]

as for anchors, wasn't rothchild's bigger than the average storefront? -M

Hmmm...may just be having a brain lapse, but I don't remember Rothschild's ever having been in Crossroads. It was an "anchor" at Penn Square for years...

[Thunder]

There was a toy store that was in place of Deb's. I can't remember the name, but it was a decent sized toy store. HPM had one too. What ever happened to them?

There was rides that I remember going on many times. One was huge bulky and the other was smaller and twisted. I liked the one where we can choose the path of the track, which included all sorts of twists and loops. That was really fun!

[oneforone]

Rothchild's was located in the same side as Piccadilly. They had an outside entrance just like Men's Wearhouse does at Penn Square.

One of the restaurants I miss out there is the Lion's Share. My family would always stop there when we went to the mall. I remember they had the phones at each booth to place your order and the waitstaff would bring it to you. They had some of the best burgers in the city.

I found a link to a Flickr page that has some pictures of the Crossroads most of us grew up enjoying.


Crossroads Mall - a set on Flickr

[Pete]

Looking through the Oklahoman archives I discovered:

• Crossroads opened 2/13/1974
• Wards and Dillards had opened the November before
• Browns opened summer of 1974
• The other anchor was JC Penney

I found some old ads I will post later.

I'm trying to find the original tenant list... Although I bet we could come up with most of them ourselves.

[USG '60]

No one has mentioned Penelope & Richard's Comedy Shop, probably the 10th store to open. For the first few weeks we were opened there was hardly any traffic at all. We had more than enough time to redecorate over and over again those first weeks. Oh, in case you forgot, it was a HIGH fashion clothing store. It was an absolute ball to work there. I worked there for about a year and I think it lasted another year after that. It was VERY colorful.

[Pete]

Just found this... Notice the small amount of fast food places compared to malls now. Goes to show how much the American lifestyle has changed since 1974.

Tenants Upon Opening:

Adult Ready-to-Wear
Casual Corner
Claire’s Boutique
Clarke’s Good Clothes
Emmer Brothers
Fashion Conspiracy
Foxmoor
Frederick’s of Hollywood
Gingiss Formalwear
Lane Bryant
Margo La Mode
National Shirt Shop
National Uniform Shop
Piccadilly for Two
Richman Brothers
J. Riggins
The Ranch
Topps & Trowsers
Penney and Richard’s Comedy
Woman’s World Shop
Extension 1
J&L Tie Shop
Jeans West
Lener Shop
Mangels
McCall’s Clothes for Men
Orbach’s
Paraphernalia
Richard’s Ltd.
Chess King
Size 5-7-9 Shop
Susie’s Casuals
The Gap
Today’s Man

Shoes and Related
Burt’s Shoes
Dr. Scholl’s
Florsheim Shoes
Hanover Shoes
Naturalizer Crossroads
Nissen’s Shoes
Thom McAn
Baker’s Shoes
Bell Brothers Shoes
Butler’s Shoes
Hardy Shoes
Jarman Shoes
Kinney’s Shoes
Regal Shoe Shop
Stride Rite Shoes

Childrens
ABC Kiddie Shop

Cards, Candles and Books
Fox Photo Hallmark
B. Dalton Bookseller
Lynn’s Hallmark Shop
Walden Books
Wicks N’ Sticks

Records and Music
Midwest Music Center
Record Town
Record Bar

Home Entertainment and Appliances
Sherman-Clay
Team Electronics
Singer Sewing Center
Radio Shack and Silvernail Magnavox
Home Entertainment Center

Food Specialties
General Nutrition Center
Morrow’s Nuts
Tiffany’s Bakery
Hickory Farms
Mrs. Stovers Candies

Convenience Foods
Carousel Snack Bar
Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor
Sam’s Deli
Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream
Orange Bowl
Swiss Pretzel Shop
Orange Julius

Restaurants
Piccadilly Cafeteria
El Fenix
The Brittany

Jewelry
Gordon’s Jewelers
Helzberg Jewelers
Peacock Jewelers
Zale’s

Gifts, Games and Toys
Eastern Treasures
Black Gold
Odd Moments
Spencer Gifts
World Bazaar
Elephant Trunk
Gift House
The Faculty Group
Toys by Roy
Can-Do Kiosk

Banking
Sooner Federal Savings and Loan
Crossroads State Bank

Maternity Clothing
Mother-To-Be

Miscelleaneous
Daddy Goldbucks (Private Club)
Le Mans Speedway Arcade
Seven Seas Tropicals
The Style Shope (men’s hair)
The Tinder Box (tobacco)
Cosmo Wigs Inc.
Flowerama
Nelly Don’s Fabrics

[windowphobe]

I had accounts at Team BBS and at Jim Oxford's Torii Station in early 1985, though, um, not under this name.