History of Aurora Village
Saturday, February 25, 2017
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| Aurora Village probably in the 1970s View of the west and south sides from Aurora Photo courtesy History's Dumpster |
AURORA VILLAGE CENTER
Aurora Ave N and N 205th St
King County (Shoreline), Washington
Greater Seattle's AURORA VILLAGE CENTER was developed by the Continental West Company.
The shopping hub occupied 35 acres, located 13.9 miles north of the center city. The site, then in unincorporated King County, was adjacent to the King-Snohomish County line.
Originally an open-air mall of fifty stores, AURORA VILLAGE CENTER opened in 1960. It featured a (30,000 square foot) J.C. Penney, (21,000 square foot) Pay 'n Save Drug, Lucky Stores supermarket and (40,000 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10.
Originally an open-air mall of fifty stores, AURORA VILLAGE CENTER opened in 1960. It featured a (30,000 square foot) J.C. Penney, (21,000 square foot) Pay 'n Save Drug, Lucky Stores supermarket and (40,000 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10.
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| This appears to be taken from Aurora Photo courtesy Shoreline Historical Museum |
Inline stores included Nordstrom's Shoes, Ernst Hardware, Jay Jacobs, Buster Brown Shoes, Turner Jewelers and Kinney Shoes. A 3-level (180,000 square foot), Seattle-based Frederick and Nelson opened, on the east end of the mall, in July 1963.
Shopping centers in the AURORA VILLAGE trade area included NORTHGATE CENTER / MALL (1950) {4.6 miles south, in King County (Seattle)}, AURORA SQUARE (1967) {2.2 miles southwest, in King County (Shoreline)} and ALDERWOOD MALL (1979) {4.7 miles northeast, in Snohomish County (Lynnwood)}.
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| Site plan ca 1979 Courtesy Mall Hall of Fame |
A 2-level (71,000 square foot) Nordstrom was dedicated in May 1974, along with an adjacent parking deck. 5 years later, the complex was enclosed and climate-controlled. The newly-renovated center, now going as AURORA VILLAGE MALL, encompassed 550,000 leasable square feet and sixty stores and services.
The Luxury Theatres Aurora Village 4 took the place of a shuttered Lucky Stores supermarket and was in business by 1980. By the late 1980s, the shopping center was in a downward spiral. This was exacerbated by the closing of Frederick and Nelson in September 1991. The final nail in the proverbial coffin came on May 30, 1992, when Nordstrom closed its doors for good.
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| Frederick and Nelson closed in 1991 |
A redevelopment of the struggling retail hub had been on the drawing board for several years. The plan was to raze the mall, with its two anchors left standing. These were to be worked into a new 777,000 square foot complex with two levels of retail, a food court, multiplex cinema and over one hundred and forty stores and services.
Financing for the project was never secured. The mall fell into disrepair and became a haven for crime. It changed hands three times between 1987 and 1992. The final owner, New York City-based Citicorp, acquired the property by default in October 1992. With the anchor stores, and most of the mall, sitting vacant, Citicorp decided to raze the entire structure. Demolition commenced in late 1993.
A 370,000 square foot power center, known as AURORA VILLAGE CENTER, debuted in June of 1994. It included a 1-level (156,000 square foot) Costco, 1-level (130,000 square foot) Home Depot and Big 5 Sporting Goods (a tenant of the original mall). The shopping center site became part of the newly-incorporated city of Shoreline in August 1995.
Mall Hall of Fame Sources:
Malls of America Blogspot / Keith Milford webmaster
The Seattle Times
www.movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
Related: Article on Northgate Mall here
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86 comments:
The map is a little off. By the mid-70s, Pay n' Save and Lucky were in the south parking lot in their own building. There also was another building east of Penney's that housed Sportland/Sportwest (later Big 5), a pet store, travel agency and a few other retailers. The map also doesn't show Ernst Hardware, which was in the SW corner of the parking lot, below a Pizza Haven, which was at grade with the corner of Aurora and N 200th St.
My family had the Hol'n One donut shop there from the beginning.
Do you have photos of the donut shop? Sounds like a lot of people miss it! Contact me Editor@ShorelineAreaNews.com
Man I remember going down to The Hole In One Donut shop as a kid. I was facinated watching the machine drop the donuts into the oil and after watching for a while going in and getting a fresh still warm donut.
Having grown up in Richmond Beach, Aurora Village was a short bicycle ride away. I bought gerbils and guppies at Woolworths and had the most delicious frango mint Sunday's at Fredrick and Nelson's restaurant.I miss that mall!
My family loved the doughnut place!
We loved the hol' n one doughnut shop!
Oh my gosh! We used to go there all the time! Didn't you guys have the fryer go by the window so we could watch the doughnuts cook?
I have amazing memories of Aurora Village! From getting a job at Kinney's Shoes at the age of 10 helping clean and put shoes away, to Karmel Korn & 'the donut shop', Merle Norman make overs, JC Penney for Easter clothes, Pizza Haven and smorgasbord night with the family!! Lucky's for groceries...pay & save for medicines & Mr Yuk stickers! Watching CUJO at the theater...Orange Julius....yum! Herfys!!!! The pet section of Woolworths. Mr Rags Jeans or was it a Squier Shop...hmmm? Lol!...The record store....and that Perry that worked there...always playing killer rock & roll tunes! Ohhhh....THE ARCADE!! We were the original Mall Rats!! And we were proud of it. It gave us a family of other awkward kids trying to find our way to be around and mist the people that worked at the shops all looked out for us too.
Hours and hours-years & years of great times. I wish I knew what happened to everyone...~Michelle Sullivan mall rat from 1978-1985 ✌������
Loved that place!!!
The place is a pit now, the crappy building are tired and dirty. There's no character whatsoever. The traffic should turn into a real nightmare now with what looks to be a starbucks with a drive through right in the middle of the cluster.
Spring break 1976 I visited Seattle for the first time with my parents and best friend. We were 16 and we stayed at a friend of my parents in a mobile home on Highway 99 just north of the county line. We walked to the mall every day and shopped for hours!! She and I are still BFF and talked about that trip not long ago! Wonderful memories!!
I lived close enough that I could walk the Aurora Village. In the summer my friends did that quite often. Lots of fond memories of this place.
There was also a Dag's burgers there for a while, movie theater where the projector broke the first time I went to watch ET, and an awesome video game parlor next to it.
Thank you for this information! I feel like I'm pretty well-informed when it comes to local Seattle-area history, but this was COMPLETELY new to me!
we have horror stories about the Split End hair place
Thanks! My wife and I each worked at the Yogurt Stand/Healthy Deli when we were kids. We still live in the neighborhood. Went to Moonlight Sales and saw a lot of movies at that theater. I still haven't forgiven Alderwood Mall for killing AV.
At 14 years old, I got my first kiss from Chris at Aurora Village. He lived just up the street. At the time, it seemed so romantic. Now at 67 years old, not so much. Nice guy though.
Santa photos at Frederick & Nelsons, Herfy burgers, Hole in One, Buddy nuts, We bought my wedding ring at Allen Turners in 1980, Fogcutters, Sportsland, Ernst just to name a few. I remember when Nordstroms came in. Very modern! Pirates Plunder was there before theaters. I can't remember what the record store was called. Head Shop? We would ride our bikes down and spend the whole day there. Loved it!
Herfy's burgers! Candy @ Woolworth. Car shows. Lots of good times
Used to take lunch breaks at the Sandwich Shoppe, where a very nice man, Danvers, was the proprietor. My favorite sandwich was Egg Salad & Tuna Salad with a slice of Cheddar on Whole-Wheat. He even put it on the menu as Karen's Special! Fun! One evening, while Mark & I were dating, we had supper there...and Mark gave me a "Promises, Promises" ring (Dec 1984) as a pre-engagement commitment. Sweet! ❤️ That was over 30 years ago - just had our 30th Anniversary last summer..,
My mom worked at Buddy Squirrel Candy and nut shop that sold Baker's chocolates. We used to go to Fredrick and Nelson each December for Santa pics and to buy Swabbies (navy jeans) that were all the rage in the 70's.
We purchased a new home above and west of Aurora Village, and over the 30 years. We lived there for 30 years: And watched Aurora Village grow, demolish, and resurrect. I filmed the Wrecking Ball slamming into Frederick and Nelson; it took several weeks. But to bring Nordstrom's down it merely took a bulldozer with a long cable to yank it too its knees in a matter of a couple of hours. I also remember the boulder uncovered at the corner of 205 and Aurora; where contractor after contractor bit the dust trying to chip away and remove.
Ah yes, wonderful hangout for hoodlums like myself. Aurora Village Class of 72-82.
Here are a few other "Classic" Aurora Village stores and events....
The old guy who made keys in the little 4x4 shack near the record store. That's all he did! He made keys! Snooty Cow, Jewelry Emporium, The Tux Shop, Hickory Farms, The Pet Shoppe, Zales, T shirt Emporium, The Fabric Store, Orange Julius, and Big Scoop Ice Cream.
Covering the mall is what killed it. Once it was covered they no longer brought in the very odd Christmas Nativity Scene complete with live animals.
And a special tribute to the shaky handed mall security man, Art, who used to chase the hoodlums from Spaceport all the way to Frederick and Nelson in his 3 wheeled buggy. Go get 'em Art!!!
Wow, I remember all of this, taking the bus from Five Corners to the Mall...Nordies & Karmel Korm :-)
Loved all these places...remember the Stock yard restaurant over next F&N? Go through the doors and the cows would moo...
and Anita"s clothing store Swabby"s were $7.50 a pair Levis were $8.50
I don't remember Dag's but have many fond memories of the mall and eating burgers at Herfy's...and spending my allowance at the arcade. ��
I remember riding my bike from 135th and Densmore up to AV when I was a teen in the late 70s. I'd eat lunch at Dag's,and then window shop. My parents and I loved the Stockyard, I liked the Coles bookstore and Woolworth's. Didn't Woolworth's have a lunch counter?
Do any of you out there remember the name of the small book store at the mall?
I used to take the bus from Alderwood (pre-Alderwood Mall) to hang out. I remember shopping for school clothes at Jay Jacobs. Loved the KarmelKorn place.
Was that the doughnut place with the Sonics pictures on the wall?
When I was a teenager I used to work at Cozy Bear (little kids clothing store) and I was paid only $2.35 an hour. Minimum wage at the time was $3.15 and my parents were mad that I was under paid. There was a hair salon almost directly across from me and I loved watching all the transformations so much that I went to school for Cosmetology and owned my own salon for 15 years. I lost my job at Cozy Bear because my bf would visit me all the time! We have now been married for 31 years! Oh, and I loved the Squire Shop because my maiden name was Squire and everyone thought that my Dad owned the place. lol
Oh, and wasn't there a Gunny Sack Co. clothing store? I also remember buying Body on Tab Shampoo from that mall and it was apparently made with beer. lol
I also used to live in the Shoreine area. I went to Cordell Hull Junior High and remember a person named Cindy Squire. Any relation?
Lived in Shoreline growing up and remember going to that mall a lot through the years in the late 60's -70's. I remember getting an autograph from Jack Sickma at Frederick & Nelson's as well as Christmas pictures, last minute Christmas Eve shopping at J.C. Pennys and not feeling well, moonlight sales, shopped Jay Jacobs as a teen, Gunny Sack, Jewlery Emporium, Nordstrom, Squire Shop, Woolworth, Sports West, the delicious smells of Karmel Korn, amusement park rides while listening to music played such as Hotel California when it first came out & for some reason Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder, Silly Love Songs by Paula McCartney & Wings etc to name a few. Saw E.T. with my Mom and little brother at the theater, walking from a Mobile Park where my friend lived close by to shop and have fun and the list goes on with so many memories ��
I loved shopping there with my mom in the 60's, and walking all the way there from RB with friends as a teen. House of Fabrics was one of my favorite places. And Nordstroms, and Ernst, and F&N, and Penney's and the Woolworth's! and.....
Arcade was space port
My family and I used to shop a lot at Aurora Village. On one trip to AV, we parked downstairs by Nordstrom and went into the store. We shopped around on the first floor for a while then decided to go upstairs. We started walking up the stairs and when we reached the landing half way, I saw what I thought was a realistic mannequin standing there modeling an outfit. I got right up to the mannequin and was looking at her chest above the scoop neck of the outfit she had on. I commented to my sister "that they sure are making the mannequins very realistic looking". I just about had a heart attack when the model couldn't contain her sober expression any longer and started to laugh. After I recovered from my shock, I had to chuckle about my experience!
The record shop was Music Street. Don't remember Squire Shop, but always liked the store known as Bernies. The bookstore was a Waldenbooks. Wasn't there a big ice cream parlor at the front left, facing what would become Nordstrom?
Thank you ALL for the flashbacks in your comments!! I too was one of those mall rats, as we took the bus from LFP Mall to AV ALL the time!! Plus my family shopped & played around there ALL the time!! As a matter of fact our unfinished basement,(at the time 1980) was finished with purchases made from THAT Ernst Hardware!! They turned my mom & dad into small contractors helping them bike the basement up from nothing!!
I think about the old AV EVERYTIME I drive by it even to this day!! Thanks for the memories Aurora Village!!!
Anyone remember the carnival rides next to 205th? Always rode the Merry-go-round, and the had a small roller coaster? This was in the 1960s
My children and I spent some wonderful moments at this little gem of a donut shop. It was the place to go when it had snowed. We would take black plastic bags and slide down the ramp that lead to the mall. Then donuts and hot chocolate to finish our adventure.
I'm glad to read this part of the history I had never heard. My first memory of that property was in mid 1950s when it was a wooded property with a frame one story building on the corner. That building was moved south on Aurora to approximately 164th where it held a thrift store and small boat supplies.
Thank you for this. I remember riding the 317 home from my buddy's place in Richmond Beach, via Aurora village TC and seeing the partially demolished structure at the SW corner. I saw part of the interior wall still standing with the letters 'bevera' in that Lucky font. After seeing this map i convicted myself that i had been looking more North West and seeing the old theater, thinking 'how funny, they just put the black theater auditorium curtains up over the old supermarket walls'. There are only about 5 pictures of the old mall online that i can find. I miss the spaceport arcade and the KarmelKorn.
I can still smell the Karmel Korn. No matter how hard I tried to resist, I could never leave the mall without a box....or two. I think all my school clothes came from the mall. What an adventure it was when my mother would take me to the mall and give me a few dollars and leave me at the deli counter in Woolworths while she went shopping. Walking around the mall with an umbrella and even more fun when it snowed. My wife and I would go to the movies there when we were dating. It was a sad day for those of us that lived in Shoreline when we sat Alderwood Mall going up, we all knew the days were numbered for Aurora Village, we stuck with it to the bitter end. Thanks for the memories.
Yes!
Waldenbooks. Later B. Dalton?
Holy cow, do you really take footage of the demolition?? Could you digitize it and post to YouTube? I'd be happy to help you do it!!
There was a chocolate chip cookie place across from Penny's inside the mall where I would frequently load up on milk and cookies. Anyone remember their name?
Before it was Dag's, it was Herfy's!
My mom would drop 10 year me and 8 year old brother at the mall to watch a movie and play games at space port. So many memories.
I also remember go w/ a friend when I was 10 or 11 and we wandered into Woolworths. We both had about $10 which was just enough to buy a hamster and food! Which of course we decided to do. Later my upset mother had to take me back to purchase a cage. 😆
Yes. I think most if not all Woolworth stores had those lunch counters.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Rainier Bank in the corner parking lot, with it's white rock walls. Also, does anyone recall the lumber yard across the street next to the VW dealership? I was at the mall when it burned down - we all stood in the parking lot in shock. I also remember each letter in Big Five Sporting Goods sign were individually lit, and most of them burned out to the point it read "Big Fi Sorting Gods" at night! LOL!
doesnt anyone rember mr rags!!! space port i was one of thoes hoodlums too great times!!!
I just like going there for the nice cars
Many memories from old aurora village, saw movies at the old movie theatre, spent some time in the old space port video gaming arcade.Herfy's burgers was one of my favorite places inside mall.Who can forget walking thru woolworth's to get inside mall! I even Worked at that pay n save store for 4 years, it was sad seeing the aurora village decline!
No relation that I know of. I did go to school with a guy name Allen Berg though.
I worked for Lillian Bell at the hole n one
She would go to the cemetery every Sunday to visit her husband. I lived her daughter Kay Day...
Loved Frederick and Nelson and their frango mint milkshakes. My mother would take us shopping at Christmas time in downtown Seattle.
Orange Julius pirates plunder herfyevolume shoe source the list goes on the gap Woolworths JCPenney's Lucky's handsave Ernst hardware...
Lived there right behind Frederick and Nelson from 1972 to 1986
Hi, I worked there too, maybe we worked together? 1975/76? I remember Lillian and met her grandson a few yrs later when my future husband shared the Greenlake house w/him, last name Day,maybe Kays brother?
I worked at Hole N One Donut Shop too, 1975/76, maybe we worked together? I closed the place on wk nites and yes, stood by that donut machine in the window for many a wkend shift as well. I remember Lillian Bell well, what a gal! In 1979 my future husband was sharing the Greenlake house w/ her grandson, last name Day, maybe Kays brother?
Aurora Village was closed on Sundays in the mid 70's so we would ride our bikes through the empty mall before it was enclosed. One Sunday we saw some men hanging out in front of the Snooty Cow jewelry store. We went back home and called the police, but the thieves cleaned the place out and left before the police arrived. The Snooty Cow was near Bernie's and Bottoms clothing stores.
In the 70s and 80s that was the only hardware and garden store we went to. I hated to see it go.
It was on the northwest side of the mall. I shopped there for clothes in High School, In junior high I bought my Swabbies at Frederick and Nelson.
I vaguely remember in the early days of Aurora Village, there was a very small amusement park on the northwest corner. It looked like a traveling park, but I think it was permanent (until a bank was built there).
I worked at the Sandwich Parlor (not the Sandwich Shoppe), next to Deck the Walls, for 3 years. Right up until they closed.
The owner, Danver, was a pretty great boss.
And we never renamed the Tuna and Egg salad sandwich "Karen's Special"..
I grew up between pre-mall Alderwood and Richmond Beach (divorced parents). Not sure how but my elementary school class from Alderwood was selected to do the Christmas window artwork at the Herfy's at AV around 1974, we were pretty proud of that. Christmas at AV was always special. I spent many hours in the arcade and walking from there to Firdale Village over the hill to go to the stamp shop. Parents used to drag us between there and Sears at 155th and Fred Meyer at 185th for all our shopping. My grandfather worked at the Doces furniture a block or two north of there. That was like the center of the universe then.
In the late 80s I worked at Party Makers. The party/balloon store that was located on the outside of the mall, next door to SpacePort and across from the theater. I went to Shorewood High School and it was my first real job. I would always get phone calls of people asking if a certain movie was playing or what time such and such movie started. Obviously this was way before the internet!
I remember the human mannequins as a child and it scared the bejeezus out of me! I think they only did it that 1 year because I never saw them again, probably too many scared children!
I lived on Meridian and Tom W and I were hoodlums at 12/1974 we'd ride our bikes down the AV mall, break the ice covering the wishing well ponds in front of F&N wade in an steal all the change! Always an added bonus when we got chased by the fat security guards, "Can't you catch us fatty" was the typical response as we road away just out of reach! Political correctness?
Worked at Record Theatre record and tape store.. 1975
Fogcutters!! I couldn’t remember that name. Was thinking of it recently. Good food!!
I moved to that area in December 1986 and frequented the mall quite often, as it was more casual compared to the hubbub of Northgate and Alderwood. It was "small town" to their "metropolitan." It was a great place to shop, return or exchange holiday gifts without the line, see a first-run movie without the mob scene. It was too bad that the Lucky grocery store had been vacated by then. But, I remember Pay and Save, Payless, Ernst, Frederick & Nelson's, Penney's, Nordstroms. It was terrible when it was torn down and just sat there. I could see an orange glow over that area from my house for a year or two until the new construction began. At one point, a church was going to take it. Then there was the talk of the city of Edmonds annexing it. Then came the debate over the area that's now the transit center that was officially dedicated in 2001 or 2002. The city has been trying for years to make the transit center something that would make them $, so far unsuccessful. They were definitely interesting times.
I spent the fiest 9 years of my life hanging out in that sandwich shop. My parents, Danver and Bonnie, the owners of The Sandwich Parlor, still lives in Shoreline.
My grandparents owned the health food store next to the Herfy's from the time I was born in '71 to when they finally closed it sometime in the 80's. As such, so much of my childhood took place in and around Aurora Village mall, so I'm beyond thrilled to see so many people have shared their memories of it here, as there's surprisingly little available about it online.
As a kid, nothing beat Karmelkorn and Herfy's. As a teen, the Aurora Village Cinema and Space Port were what it was at! I still remember attending an opening night, standing room only showing of Batman - the last film I ever saw at that theater.
I wish more people had photos from that era. AV was a great mall, though I do have quite a few good memories from Alderwood and Northgate as well.
Reading all the comments so many memories! Had my first job at the store called The House Dressing. . It was across from Woolworths next to the cookie shop.... Mrs Fields.
My mom Diane, worked at Ernst Hardware for 30 years.
My mom Diane, was a cashier there for 30 years….
I lived in Edmonds. AV was our shopping center. The Hole in One, Karamel Korn, were the best. The smell was increfy on cold fall n winter nights as the warm smell hung in the air and drew you in. Woolworth pet shop was wherebi could be found ehile mom shopped maybe the counter for s soda or float later. Bi still miss Ernst n Pay n Oak. They had everything bayou needed without 70,990 sf. My friend and I were just talking about swimming kesdy in Each Lake and Lucky's came up. Still see the script❗
I worked the hole in one in 1978 and I also worked at the movie theatre . When I came back to Washington to visit in the late 1980’s I met with Kay Day at a restaurant for a cup of coffee. I moved to Japan shortly after that and when I returned in 1993 every thing had completely changed.
Many happy memories of Aurora Village. I worked at Hallmark during high school. My friend and I got Arnold Schwarzenegger’s autograph at Walden books in the seventh grade. Lots of happy Christmas memories with Santa at Frederick and Nelson , and loved KaramelKorn . Wedding ring was from Zales! So fun to read all the comments ! The true good ole days !!!
Awesome you got Arnold's autograph at Walden Books!. What year was it? I saw The Terminator at Aurora Village when it first came out in October of 1984. I was nine years old and became obsessed with that movie and an Arnold fan for life. Lots of cool memories at Aurora Village from the 80s up until it closed.
What about Buddy Squirrl’s Nut Shop?
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