Dallas, Texas' Highland Park Shopping Village

Unit B, which was the first operational store block at Greater Dallas' HIGHLAND PARK SHOPPING VILLAGE. The Hunt Grocery Company (seen in the foreground) opened for business in January 1931.
Photo from www.hpvillage.com

Unit A was dedicated in June 1932. It housed a supermarket and the Skillern's Drug store seen here.
Photo from www.hpvillage.com

HIGHLAND PARK SHOPPING VILLAGE was one of America's earliest auto-oriented, suburban retail centers. It was also one of the first inward-facing complexes, where stores faced away from the street onto parking areas. This circa-1941 plan shows that structures indicated in black were completed first.

The Village Theatre, seen in a circa-1948 photo, showed its first feature in November 1935. 
Photo from www.hpvillage.com

A late 1950s aerial view of HIGHLAND PARK SHOPPING VILLAGE. Building  designations ("A", "C", "E", etcetera) appear in dark blue.
Photo from National Historic Landmark Nomination Form / Highland Park Shopping Village / United States Department of the Interior / October 1990

By 1966, the complex is officially known as HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE (sans "shopping"). This was the year that the most recent expansion was built. A 3-story structure (in light gray) replaced the center's 1930's-vintage filling stations.

 
HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE TENANTS 1966:

SAFEWAY STORES / SANGER-HARRIS / VOLK BROTHERS COMPANY / American Calendar Company / American International Travel, Incorporated / Arthur A. Everts Company Jewelers / Athletic House Sporting Goods / Ballew, Smoke & Associates / Blossom Shop Florist / Bonnett Millinery Shop / Borris Photography Studios / Cabell's Minit Market / Calame Jewelers / Charles & Nance Beauty Salon / Cleyon A. Stewart, Doctor of Dental Science / Cooter's Village Camera Shop / Colony Shop children's apparel / Couchman Advertising Agency / D.E. Dickson, Doctor of Dental Science / Davis-West Carpets / Edna Gilliland Real Estate / Flemister's Delicatessen / Flippen-Prather Stores, Incorporated offices / Fred's Barbeque Restaurant / Fred M. Pierce Insurance / Harry C. Kizer, Doctor of Dental Science / Garry's Hair Stylists / Harry R. Moore Insurance / Honk Kong Fashions ladies' wear / J.R. Brown Associates Advertising / Jack Hubbell & Associates Architects / James K. Wilson Company men's wear / James P. Williams, Certified Public Accountant / James V. Lee Insurance / Jerry D. Kelly, Attorney At Law / John Ross & Associates Real Estate / John W. Wood, Attorney At Law / Kingsbury's Dance Studio / La Boutique ladies' wear / London Shop of Dallas men's wear / Luther R. Jordan, Junior Insurance / Nicholson's / Oriental Laundry & Cleaners / Park Cities Bank & Trust Company / Pat H. Miller Company / Paul's Shoes / Prather Realty Company / Prather Realty Company Homes Division / Robert E. Gaylord, Doctor of Dental Science / Roos Electric Company Contractors / S.H. Troth Company Insurance / S & S Tea Room / Saint Michael's Women's Auxiliary Gift Shop / Skillern & Sons Drug / Spanish Materials & Regalia Bookshop / Strother Insurance Agency / Sunny Side Up Christian Science Practitioner / Theodore O. New, Chiropodist / Thomas H. Kennedy, Doctor Of Dental Science / Thompson-Blaine Brokerage Company / US Post Office / Valentine's Furs / Village Barbers / Village Book Shop / Village Coffee Shop / Village Records & Phonographs / Village Shoe Repair / Village Theatre (single-screen) / W.C. Lawrence Ladies' Tailoring & Dress-Making Shop / Worthington's Five-to-One Dollar Stores / Wurtem D. Jones Real Estate

 

What a diff'rence 33 years makes! Above, we see the shopping hub's turn of the 20th century logo. By 1999, HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE had morphed from a middle market shopping center into an uber upscale venue. Its list of tony tenants included Bottega Veneta, Chanel Boutique, L' Image and Williams-Sonoma.

Graphic from http://www.hpvillage.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)

HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE TENANTS 1999:

AMC HIGHLAND PARK THEATRE / TOM THUMB market / Ann Taylor ladies' wear / Avant Garden florists / Baby Gap infants & children's wear / Banana Republic apparel / Banana Republic Men’s / Beretta Gallery outdoor apparel & accessories / Bosley Medical / Bottega Veneta apparel / Café Pacific / Café Highland Park / Calame / Calvin Klein Collection ladies' wear / Celebrity Restaurant & Bakery / Centennial Liquor / Chanel Boutique ladies' wear / Cole Haan shoes / Collector’s Covey art gallery / Cooter’s Village Camera / Couture Alterations & Tailoring / Cravate Gentleman’s Accessories / Deno’s Shoe Repair / Doubleday Bookstore / Dupree-Miller literary agents / Escada ladies wear & accessories / Fitigues ladies' wear / Fishburn’s Dry Cleaning / Glenn Studios / Harold’s apparel / Haynsworth Photography / Henry S. Miller Realtors / Heritage Rare Coins / Hermes apparel & accessories / It’s A Wrap! / Jacadi infant's & children's wear / Larry North Total Fitness / Leon’s Fashions, Incorporated ladies' wear / Larry Leon & Associates / Lilly Dodson ladies' wear / L' Image / Mail Boxes, Etcetera USA / Mi Cocina Mexican restaurant / Mondi ladies' wear / Jane Noblet & Associates hair stylists / Patrizio Italian restaurant / Peeper’s eyewear / Polished Perfection Nails / Polo - Ralph Lauren apparel / Prada accessories / Randall Morgan Village Stationers / Rudi Steele Travel Agency / Speedo sports wear / Starbucks Coffee / St. John Boutique ladies' wear / St. Michael’s Woman’s Exchange / The Gap apparel / Tomlin Antiques / Ultimo ladies' wear / Urban Partners, Incorporated / Village Barber Shop / William Noble Rare Jewels / Williams-Sonoma housewares / Wolford Boutique ladies' wear

Hermes is a French high-fashion retailer. The store has been a HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE tenant since 1985.
Photo from http://hpvillage.com

Cafe Pacific has been in operation since 1980.
Photo from http://hpvillage.com

The Village Theatre was a HIGHLAND PARK landmark for decades. It opened with a single-screen and was reconfigured as twin, quad and tri-screen venues. The most recent refurbishment was completed in May 2010. The theatre became a Covid-19 casualty. It was shuttered in March 2020, with its space reconfigured as inline stores.
Photo from http://hpvillage.com

In the 2010s, retail space in HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE is leased for premium prices. The list of tony tenants includes Anne Fontaine, Cartier, Giuseppe Zanotti and Valentino.

HIGHLAND PARK SHOPPING VILLAGE
Mockingbird Lane and Preston Road
Highland Park, Texas

The story of this innovative retail complex began in 1906, when Texan entrepreneur John S. Armstrong purchased 1,300 acres north of Dallas' Central Business District. Armstrong envisaged Highland Park, an exclusive planned community, for the property. This new town was founded in 1907.

Armstrong formed a joint venture with two sons-in-law; Hugh Prather and Edgar L. Flippen. Their planned city would have a suburban shopping center as its commercial core. Plans were announced in February 1926, with the Dallas-based firm of Fooshee & Cheek hired to design the project.

Trips were made to the Spanish missions of Southern California and South Texas for inspiration. Further travels took Prather and Fooshee & Cheek to Seville and Barcelona, Spain, and to Kansas City, Missouri. There, they commiserated with J.C. Nichols, who had developed COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA (1923).

A final design for the HIGHLAND PARK SHOPPING VILLAGE was released to the press in April 1930. Like COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA, the center would be built using a Spanish Colonial Revival motif. Construction was soon underway at a 9.9-acre site, located 2.9 miles north of downtown Dallas.

Stores in Unit B, the first segment of HIGHLAND PARK SHOPPING VILLAGE, began opening in January 1931. This 1-level structure, occupying the southwest corner of the site, housed two supermarkets; A & P and the Hunt Grocery Company. A service station was built at the east end of the shopping center, along with a small sales office. A carnival, commemorating the official grand opening of the complex, was held on May 16, 1931.

June 1932 brought the completion of Unit A, which occupied the southeast corner of the site. This single-level structure included a third supermarket and Skillern's Drug store. A second structure, known as the North Filling Station, was built directly north of the first, which -then- became known as the South Filling Station.

A grand movie palace was the next addition to HIGHLAND PARK SHOPPING VILLAGE. The Interstate Theatre Circuit Village Theater included a 3-story tower that projected a light beam into the nighttime sky. This single-screen motion picture venue, built at the northwest corner of the complex, opened for business on November 15, 1935.

By 1941, the basic shopping center plan had been fulfilled. There were now retail structures at all corners of the site. A second center block of stores had also been added. Further progress was delayed by World War II.

Dallas-based Sanger Brothers opened their first branch at HIGHLAND PARK SHOPPING VILLAGE on December 21, 1949. The (16,000 square foot) store was built as an expansion of a 2-level northwest store block. Said store was enlarged into a 30,000 square foot operation, which was re-dedicated on October 15, 1955.

Ownership of the shopping complex, now known as simply HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE, changed in 1966. The Dallas-based Howard Corporation took the helm and proceeded to expand the center's retail area...the first addition in 13 years. The original Spanish Colonial Revival design aesthetic was abandoned, with a 3-level ultra-modern building constructed where the filling stations had stood.

HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE now encompassed approximately 246,000 leasable square feet and contained sixty stores and services. Among these were Sanger-Harris (a February 1961 merger of Sanger Brothers and the A. Harris Company), Highland Park State Bank, Volk Brothers Company and the S & S Tearoom.

Shopping malls in the vicinity included NORTHPARK CENTER (1965) {2.7 miles northeast, in Dallas} and VALLEY VIEW CENTER (1973) {6.2 miles north, also in Dallas}.

Dallas' Henry S. Miller acquired the HIGHLAND PARK property in 1976. He embarked on a renovation and repositioning of the facility, with upscale tenants such as Ralph Lauren and Chanel being signed.

Houston-based Sakowitz operated a (1,000 square foot) boutique at HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE, which was shuttered on August 6, 1985. A Safeway supermarket was rebranded by the Dallas-based Tom Thumb chain in April 1987. Sanger-Harris morphed into a Houston-based Foley's in July of the same year. Sakowitz returned to the shopping venue (assuming a vacant Foley's space) in January 1989. This store closed in August 1990.

Meanwhile, the Village Theater had been acquired by the Beirsdorf & Brooks Circuit in 1976.  They opened a second auditorium. The venue closed in the mid-1980s and was purchased by the American Multi-Cinema chain. They gutted the theater. The lower level was sectioned into inline stores, with the Highland Park Village IV multiplex being installed in the building's upper level.

Regent Entertainment acquired the cinema and opened it under their nameplate on January 12, 2001. This incarnation was in operation until August 2009, when the theater was closed for another remodeling. It was reconfigured as a state-of-the-art, 3-screen venue. The Twomey Concepts Highland Park Village Theater showed its first features on December 18, 2010.

HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 1997 and was commemorated as a National Historic Landmark in February 2000. The center was sold to HP Village Partners, a joint venture of Dallas' Ray and Heather Washburne and Stephen and Elisa Summers, in May 2009.

The historic retail complex was renovated between 2020 and 2022. Its parking area was repaved with red brick and underground utilities were installed. Other improvements included new landscaping and lighting. Moreover, Building G, built in the mid-1960s, was given a Spanish Colonial Revival facade to make it consistent with other HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE structures. Office space on the second and third levels of Building G were converted to retail stores and a social club. Al fresco dining was also created.   

Sources:

National Historic Landmark Nomination / Highland Park Shopping Village
preservenet.cornell.edu/publications/Longstreth Branch Store.doc
https://flashbackdallas.com /Polk's Greater Dallas City Directory, 1966 / Paula Bosse
Highland Park High School yearbook (Highland Park, Texas) 1966
http://www.tshaonline.org
www.cinematreasures.org
www.hpvillage.com
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/HH/cghbe.html
https://www.wfaa.com
https://www.omniplan.com