January 6, 2025 2:22:53 PM
San Antonio’s North Star Mall opened its doors 64 years ago this week

Billed as a shopping destination that allowed patrons to purchase from a variety of vendors while staying indoors, North Star Mall opened for business 64 years ago this week.

When it opened on Sept. 23, 1960, North Star was one of the country’s first enclosed shopping malls. Within its walls off San Pedro Avenue near what is now Loop 410, the mall’s original 50 tenants included San Antonio favorites Luby’s and H-E-B, as well as Walgreens and Wolff & Marx department store, archived reports state.

Within a few years of its opening, the mall expanded and added high-end retailer Frost Bros., a two-screen movie theater and a two-level parking garage that housed a full-service Texaco station at the corner of Rector Street and McCullough Avenue.

By the early 1980s, North Star Mall had undergone a major renovation. An addition of a food court and arcade, along with upgrades and tenant changes continued throughout that decade. H-E-B moved out to make way for Foley’s department store in the spot that Macy’s now occupies. The movie theater closed, and luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue became one of the mall’s anchor stores, a few feet away from “The Giant Justins” cowboy boots sculpture installed in 1980. 

Over the years, North Star tenants continued to change – reflecting both the evolving business landscape and changing consumer habits as malls began to decline in popularity as online shopping grew.

Today, North Star Mall is home to more than 200 shops in its 1.2 million-square-foot space.

Also, this week in San Antonio history, KENS television station moved its operations from downtown to the North Side.

On Sept. 26, 1982, KENS began broadcasting from its studios at 5400 Fredericksburg Road. The station had been broadcasting from its studios at the corner of Avenue E and 4th Street for 26 years, according to San Antonio Public Library archives.

In entertainment history, a train carrying Hollywood stars arrived in San Antonio on Sept. 22, 1943, as part of the “Hollywood Bond Cavalcade” to help boost sales in the Bexar County war loan drive, library archives show. 

The stars, including Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Harpo Marx and Greer Garson, performed in a revue at Municipal Auditorium. The price of admission was the purchase of a $25 war bond. The cavalcade’s Alamo City stop was one of 16 included in the tour that began Sept. 4 in Washington, D.C. 

Also this week in local history, representatives from the Archdiocese of San Antonio prepared for an important meeting abroad.

On Sept. 24, 1978, San Antonio Archbishop Francis Furey and Vicar General Monsignor William C. Martin traveled to Rome for the archbishop’s official visit and report to the Vatican and Pope John Paul I.  However, the meeting, scheduled for Oct. 6, did not take place. Pope John Paul I died in his sleep Sept. 28, just 33 days after becoming pope.

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