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Shopping Spree

Part 5

Stores September 26th 2006 by Christopher

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 it would be a good idea to compare the design and architecture of them.

This is Southdale Center Mall in Edina, Minnesota. It was built in 1956 and still stands today, but heavily modified of course. Southdale Center was the first climate-controlled enclosed mall in America. Same as Shopping in Luleå, Sweden was when it was built in 1955. So the Swedes beat the Americans by one year, which is kind of odd. For more past-time shopping experiences, be sure to visit my friend Keith’s Malls of America website.

About the author

Christopher founded Ultra Swank in 2005. Has a crush on mid-century graphic design, defunct airlines, Disneyland and the Century 21 Exposition. Is a collector of easy listening music from the 60s and 70s and a Swedish expat living in Barcelona, Spain. Read more articles by me

Comments for this article

  • Anonymous

    Sweden beat the USA with the credit card too, you know.

  • Chris

    Didn’t know that. Thank you for telling me :)

  • BIGMallrat

    Wow… Love the pics. I’ve never seen the one in color. Thanks for posting it!
    Scott

  • Chris Sobieniak

    It’s kinda nice knowing those little tidbits about how America’s shopping mall got it’s genesis.

  • http://twitter.com/ChriSobieniak Chris Sobieniak

    Funny the things you find out later in life.  Too bad we Americans abuse everything we ever get.