http://www.ultraswank.net Retro Living and Design from the 50s, 60s and 70s Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:59:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/a-mid-century-shopping-centre-in-northern-sweden/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/a-mid-century-shopping-centre-in-northern-sweden/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:30:42 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3631 Shopping is one of Europe’s first interior shopping centers ever built. This mid-century gem is hidden away in the cold northern parts of Sweden. It was designed by famous British-Swedish architect Ralph Erskine and built in 1955. Erskine wanted to create something that would be enjoyable for everyone all year round, not being dependent on [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/a-mid-century-shopping-centre-in-northern-sweden/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/tesco-recreates-a-1960s-style-supermarket/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/tesco-recreates-a-1960s-style-supermarket/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:59:11 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3483 British supermarket giant Tesco has recreated a 1960s style store for the Goodwood Revival historic motor race meeting, held each September in Essex, not far away from London. Inside the store, customers will be able to walk up and down three different aisles filled with dozens of products from the sixties. Even the check-out assistants [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/tesco-recreates-a-1960s-style-supermarket/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-10/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-10/#comments Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:15:46 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2983 Let’s kick off the new year by spending some of that hard earned money at the local shopping center. Perhaps a new color television, that black suit that’s now on sale or why not a new kitchen appliance for the wifey? There is something for everyone. Where shall we go first? Montgomery Ward, SS Kresgne, [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-10/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/lets-go-shopping/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/lets-go-shopping/#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:50:05 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1833 Retro futuristic concept drawings for branded stores in the 1950s. I really dig the look and the color schemes. (Via)]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/lets-go-shopping/feed/ 6 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-9/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-9/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:13:47 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1195 Don’t know what to spend that extra cash on? Don’t worry, there is still time. Our stores are open at convenient times and located just around the corner here in Yester Sweden. Today we are traveling back in time to visit Stockholm and Hudiksvall (north of Stockholm) where you can slowly waltz through the many [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-9/feed/ 8 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/more-photos-from-vala-centrum/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/more-photos-from-vala-centrum/#comments Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:25:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/more-photos-from-vala-centrum/ I found some more photos of my favorite shopping mall in southern Sweden – Väla Centrum. It was built in 1974 outside of Helsingborg and took its inspiration from American shopping malls at the time – meaning that it didn’t look very Scandinavian or traditional, which I really love. It even had a birdcage with [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/more-photos-from-vala-centrum/feed/ 5 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/ica-in-gothenburg/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/ica-in-gothenburg/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 23:13:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/ica-in-gothenburg/ Found these great vintage photos taken at two different ICA stores in Gothenburg, Sweden. Most likely taken for publicity reasons for use in catalogs or magazines. ICA is one the largest retail chains in Sweden, started back in 1938 and today boasting over 1 600 stores nationwide. Can’t help thinking how Americanized the ICA store [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/ica-in-gothenburg/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-8/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-8/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 20:31:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/shopping-spree-part-8/ More retro photos of Domus stores in Sweden. Why? Because it’s good for you. Someone please bring back Domus, we miss you. Oh and clean up on aisle three.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-8/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-7/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-7/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:33:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/shopping-spree-part-7/ We haven’t visited the golden age of shopping for a while, so why not take a waltz down the aisles once again. This time we are focusing on the Swedish department store chain Domus (house in latin). It was owned by the Consumer Corporation (KF) who in their glory days had over 200 stores throughout [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-7/feed/ 5 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-6/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-6/#comments Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:40:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/shopping-spree-part-6/ Time again for another visit to some various Swedish shopping centers, as they looked back in the golden days of consuming. This time featuring Stockholm and Gothenburg. Do not forget to listen to “Retro Shopping Volume 1″ while looking at the photos for the perfect mood setter.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-6/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/nk-in-malmo/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/nk-in-malmo/#comments Mon, 26 Feb 2007 20:25:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/nk-in-malmo/ Here are two postcards showing the old NK department store in Malmö, Sweden. NK (Nordiska Kompaniet / The Nordic Company) is one of the oldest merchandise companies in Sweden. The first, and biggest store opened in Stockholm in 1915 and featured Sweden’s first escalators. Soon NK also had stores in Gothenburg and Malmö. The department [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/nk-in-malmo/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/vala-centrum/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/vala-centrum/#comments Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:51:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/vala-centrum/ Väla Centrum is a shopping mall located in southern Sweden just outside of Helsingborg. Been planing on writing about it for a long time now but have not been able to find anything useful – until now. This is the mall I grew up with. Many many Friday evenings and Saturdays were spent here when [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/vala-centrum/feed/ 13 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/taby-centrum-1976/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/taby-centrum-1976/#comments Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:27:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/taby-centrum-1976/ This is a cut from a educational promotion film that explains some aspects on why Täby Centrum was built. The film is in Swedish and narrated by the architect of the center who explains some particulars about it. If you look closely you will see the Domus sign in the background on the second floor [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/taby-centrum-1976/feed/ 4 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-5/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-5/#comments Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:05:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/shopping-spree-part-5/ Time for another peek at the past shopping experiences. This time we are leaving Sweden to have a look at some photos from an American shopping center. Since most of the Swedish malls and shopping centers that was built in the 50s, 60s and 70s all took their inspiration from the American malls, I thought [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-5/feed/ 5 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-4/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-4/#comments Sun, 06 Aug 2006 00:43:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/shopping-spree-part-4/ Time again to visit the yesteryear’s shopping experience. Here are some fresh assorted postcards from two different shopping centers in Sweden, one from Stockholm and the other one from Gothenburg. I have only visited the latter a couple of times, and it is still there – but it looks slightly different today (as many other [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-4/feed/ 5 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-3/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-3/#comments Fri, 28 Apr 2006 22:10:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/shopping-spree-part-3/ Shopping in Luleå in the northern parts of Sweden was the first indoor shopping mall in Europe. Built in 1955 and designed by the famous architect Ralph Erskine, who wanted to create a mall for people to enjoy and socialize – even with the cold winter climate of northern Sweden. Apparently he got the idea [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-3/feed/ 7 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-2/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-2/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2006 18:21:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/shopping-spree-part-2/ Time for another visit to yesteryears shopping malls in Sweden, this time focusing on a gem located in the suburbs of Gothenburg in the southwest parts of Sweden. The Frölunda Torg mall was built in 1966 and was by its completion the biggest mall in Europe. It took seven years and 80 million Swedish Krona [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-2/feed/ 4 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-1/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-1/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:30:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/shopping-spree-part-1/ Postcards from various shopping centers, malls and department stores in Sweden from the 1960s and 1970s. Pay attention to the various plants, swank architecture and lovely colors.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-1/feed/ 4 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/the-worlds-largest-store/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/the-worlds-largest-store/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2005 12:37:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/the-worlds-largest-store/ This is Macy’s in New York circa 1964. Here you’ll find everything a swinging bachelor needs, from swank furniture to the latest music. Just look at the crowd of people outside waiting to get in, or are they just trying to get a cab during rush hour?]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/the-worlds-largest-store/feed/ 3