vala_helsingborg_sweden01-748851

vala_helsingborg_sweden01-748851

vala_helsingborg_sweden04-722258

vala_helsingborg_sweden04-722258

vala_helsingborg_sweden03-725846

vala_helsingborg_sweden03-725846

vala_helsingborg_sweden02-734675

vala_helsingborg_sweden02-734675

Väla Centrum

A Kitschy Swedish Shopping Mall

Stores January 25th 2007 by Christopher

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 I traveled there going shopping with my family as a kid back in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Väla Centrum was built in 1974 and was at its opening the largest shopping center in southern Sweden with 20 stores, two large anchor stores (Wessels and Obs!), a restaurant and a café. The photos were found on a postcard dating back the late 1970s. Pay attention to the cool interior details and color scheme, not forgetting the artsy bird cage and “fountain” under it.

This mall truly took its inspiration from the American malls that was built in the 50s and 60s. I have never seen any other mall in Sweden which have or have had a bird cage. I actually remembering seeing Canaries in it too until the late 1980s when they for one reason or another decided to remove them (probably it was deemed too small). The bird sculpture is named Fågeln (The bird) and was created by artist Bertil Valliens. It still stands there today, but at another location (see bottom of the post for a photograph).

However, a large addition was added in 1997 making the mall almost unrecognizable and only years later they decided to remove the anchor stores and convert the space into store space for smaller shops. The only things that remind us now of its past are the groovy orange light fixtures seen below, although now in a different color scheme and with other lamps – and the bird cage.

On the outside you can still see the brown 1970s brick walls, although now mostly covered with signs and added glass walls. There are rumors that they are going to extend the mall with another 41.000 square meters of new store space, removing the old courtyard with its fountains and thus making the mall fully unrecognizable. If you have any memories or comments about this mall, let them be heard in the comments section please.

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

  • Chris Sobieniak

    I came across the webpage for this place today. Couldn’t help but notice an EB Games amoung the tennents. Stores like them kinda ruined the pleasure I have with going to malls nowadays. (of course nowadays I hardly play video games at all but it’s nice finding ways to tinker with my Playstation Portable in order to play the crappy Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man)

  • Chris

    Yeah, stores like that have ruined malls all over the world. The demand for malls with 100′s of smaller stores have transformed every mall that was a great place with nice interiors and atmosphere into ugly places that all look the same.

  • Anonymous

    I always forget how hard Sweden fell for (in love with) those dark oranges, browns and greens. If I ever move to Sweden I want a brown kitchen with orange Husqvarna appliances (except for the Futurum fan).

  • Chris

    Haha, never thought about it that way. Thought that orange, green and brown were universal colors in the 1970s and were used everywhere? Anyways, still looks very groovy! Wish they could have kept the color scheme with the plants and the fountain.

  • Anonymous

    From observation and what people’ve told me, Europeans went in for the bold oranges, browns and greens more than American’s did in the late 60′s and 70′s – apparently thinking they were modern and “American”…

    Of course, Sweden, as always, was ahead of the curve with Avacado – we had an Älvsbyhus from ’62 with avacado bathroom fittings and fabulous brown paneling!

  • Anonymous

    I remember you could have slush puppies sitting under the bird-cage-statue, listening to all the birds. It was super. It always made everything up for having to go through all the shops with your mum. If you were lucky you could return home with a star wars figure as well.

    Later on when I was about 14 I remeber I worked for two weeks at B&W (prao, in swedish). The only thing they let me do for two whole weeks was lacing football-shoes. Incredibly boring.

  • Chris

    I remember that you could have Slush Puppies in the kiosk at the square near the bird cage, now when you point it out. I also remember the old Pet store where they had a talking black Parrot named “Theo”. It was located right next to the entrance of B&W.

  • Anonymous

    Yeash, I remeber Theo. He was a Beostare. I don’t know what the name in english is. Really good on talking to the customers =)

  • Jim Rockford

    Thats typical,everything really cool has to be destroyed by the small minded corporate types to fit it with whats currently in vogue.
    I wish people would leave the old buildings alone

  • Chris

    Yes so sad. Hope when they are adding to it again in a year or so that they bring back some of the original features. Would love to see lots of water and trees in the ‘square’ of the mall, just like in the 50s and 60s in American malls.

  • Anonymous

    I remember my daddy bought our first computer in the Väla square. An Amstrad, it couldent do anything. Must have been in 88 or 89. Ah, the memorys…

  • http://calamityjems-vintage-vaudeville.blogspot.com/ calamityjem

    I remember the canaries inside the birdcage too & the unforgettable smell of the awe-inspiring fountain. We used to drive from Örkelljunga to go shopping here; it was worlds apart from ‘Brännborns’, which presumably is where all our grocery shopping was done prior to 1974. Thanks for this enlightening post; you’ve just set me of on a nostalgia trip I think ;)

  • http://www.ultraswank.net Chris

    There was another 'Brännborns' in Ängelholm where I spent quite a lot of time as a kid. Not forgetting Tempo and Domus. Now all those stores have been re branded or forgotten. Väla is neither looking what it used to be and with the new expansion that are in the works, it will just be one of those big faceless huge shopping malls with no character or charisma.