Highland Park Village: The original shopping center

Editor’s Note: Take a look back at the Dallas Morning News Archives.

Highland Park Village is more than just a mall, it’s a historic landmark. The Urban Land Institute regards it as the first mall in the country, and in the 90 years since it opened, it has helped define shopping in the Dallas area.

In the late 1920s, Edgar Flippen and Hugh Prather of Flippen-Prather Realty Co. came up with a radical idea: what if Dallas fans shop in a suburban mall instead of downtown stores? They envisioned a shopping center as the marketplace that combines American entrepreneurship with Spanish architecture. On October 12, 1930, The News called it “the most ambitious such development in the nation, if not the world.”

Opened in May 1931, Highland Park Village marked a new frontier for Dallas shoppers. Some of the village’s first and most popular stores were once neighbors on the same row of stores – and they stood for decades.

“A fairytale land of food”

An advertisement for the Hunt Grocery Co. store in Highland Park Village on October 6, 1931.(The Dallas Morning News)

History: In 1895, CE Hunt founded the Hunt Grocery Co. Hunt’s downtown location was very popular, and the second store in Highland Park Village is believed to be the village’s first store. A famous anecdote relates that some shoppers on horseback arrived at Highland Park Village and harnessed their horses to shop at Hunt Grocery Co.

Hunt’s was an upscale grocery store known for delivering groceries to wealthy customers. Advertisements for the Village location highlighted the new, air-conditioned “special vegetable room” and its confectionery department. Because of its wide range of imported goods, including French pastries, caviar, cigars, and chow mein noodles, The News described it on February 26, 1933 as “a food fairy tale”.

In the Years After: Hunt Grocery was a long-time tenant of the Village and stayed there for over two decades. In August 1958, after 63 years, Hunt announced that it would stop delivering home groceries. After a complete makeover of the Village location earlier this month, it was announced as a self-service store when it formally reopened in late September, although it closed shortly afterwards.

Suburban picture house

The exterior of the Village Theater in 1944. The marquee advertised The Seventh Cross with Spencer Tracy.(The Dallas Morning News)

History: In May 1931, a movie theater was announced for Highland Park Village. Interstate Circuit Inc., the company that owned all of the premiere theaters in downtown Dallas and Fort Worth, spent at least $ 125,000 building the theater, although some estimates are said to be as high as $ 250,000.

The exterior shared the Spanish architecture of the village. But the lobby was adorned with ornate murals by James Buchanan “Buck” Winn Jr. The News reported on October 24, 1935 that the floor-to-ceiling murals depicted “the romance of Texas in its earliest days” and covered a “wall area” of 2,200 square feet, the largest of its kind in the Southwest. “

The Highland Park Village Theater opened in November 1935 with 1,319 seats. The first film shown was The Dark Angel, a future Oscar winner. The theater included state-of-the-art projection and sound systems and was the first air-conditioned theater in Texas. The 10 cents entry made the Village Theater instantly popular.

In the years thereafter: The Interstate sold the theater in the 1970s, and was later bought by AMC in the late 1980s. It reopened in 1988 after being closed for renovations for almost two years. It was renovated again in 2009 and 2010. It is temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dress the village

The exterior of the Volk Bros. Co. store in Highland Park Village on August 30, 1936.(The Dallas Morning News)

History: In 1890 Leonard Volk bought a shoe shop at 250 Elm St. and expanded the shop into a complete department store over the next 30 years. In 1936, Volk Bros. Co. moved to Highland Park Village and became the first large downtown Dallas company to expand outside of the city limits. Folk critics thought it would get customers from the downtown store.

But instead of stealing customers from downtown, the Village Store proved to be an important asset for the company. The Village location was originally a small shop for children’s shoe accessories. The News reported on Aug. 30, 1936 that the store was “downright youthful.” This included a “play area with a children’s carousel” and a children’s hairdresser. But between 1940 and 1953, the Village location more than tripled and started selling men’s and women’s shoes, sportswear, children’s clothing, and more.

In the following years: Volk Bros. flourished into the 1960s. In October 1970, Volk Bros. was acquired by the Dallas-based womenswear company Colberts Inc. The shop in 1806 Elm St., a fixture in the city center for over 40 years, was closed in August 1973. Ironically, suburban shoppers who went to the Village Store were blamed in part for not wanting to go downtown.

“The venerable tea room”

From left: Mrs. David Keener, Mrs. Henry Stone, the owner of the S&S Tea Room Barbara Fisher and Mrs. Willis Wade.(Paul Braun)

History: For over five decades, the S&S Tea Room was an institution in the Highland Park Village. But it originally opened on Knox Street in 1929 and was run by sisters Willie Sterett and Margaret Staten. They moved to the village in 1931 after being approached by Prather, the founder of the village, with the promise of three free monthly rents. In 1957 the sisters sold their business to Raymond Liberton and his wife Mildred, who kept the restaurant’s French vibe.

The S&S Tea Room remained a place where women’s clubs could meet and eat. Helen Keller is said to have had dinner there, as did Texas Governor Bill Clements and actress Greer Garson. The S&S Tea Room eventually became the Village’s oldest tenant, serving five generations of customers.

In the Years After: On May 22, 1987, The News reported that the S&S Tea Room was moving after a protracted dispute over rental costs. Later that year the restaurant moved to Inwood Village. In December 2002 the S&S Tea Room closed its doors after 73 years in the business. S&S Catering continues to serve Dallas using the original S&S Tea Room recipes.

Would you like to learn more about the local history? Subscribe to the Dallas Morning News at dallasnews.com/archives.

[ad_1]