Pomona Mall, an outdoor shopping center that spanned nine blocks, opened in the city in 1962. At the time, it was the first pedestrian mall of its kind built west of the Mississippi. You could buy everything from items from the National Dollar Store to wrought iron furniture Toronto-made without the worry and noise of traffic passing through.
The mall was designed by local artist Millard Sheets, who took a site in the downtown core of the city that had become a bit desolate and made it into a retail haven full of trees, statues and small green spaces. For the residents of Pomona at the time this was a revolution to their city. You could spend a whole day exploring the area visiting the clothing shops or getting electric cutters you needed for that home project.
The flagship stores were some that people would still recognize today. JCPenney and Buffum's Department Stores were there, as was a Woolsworth's and a Jeanne's. There was even a mall map where you could push the button of a store and it would light up to help you find it. In the age of new hip hop music this may not seem overly revolutionary, but it was a new technique used by this complex.
Now, what remains of the mall is just some street signs and artwork commemorating where the mall once stood on Second Street. There are many mosaics that were done by Sheets that still stand in that area. This section of the city, between Park and Garey Streets, is now just your average downtown street in the city. It has a number of restaurants and shops where you can get dinner or buy bamboo diapers. What was once a shopping complex talked about across the nation was later eclipsed by the large indoors that still reign supreme today. Pomona Mall outlasted many of its counterparts but was mostly gone by the end of the 1980s.
If you are interested in this historic section of the city, maybe you'd like a picture of the area for a valentine gift for mom who used to shop there with her girlfriends, there are some photos on display at the Pomona Public Library. If you have a chance, you should take a stroll down the street as folks once did and view the artistic remains of this landmark of the city. Shopping is certainly not the same today.
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