Kansas City, Missouri's Country Club Plaza

One of America's earliest suburban shopping centers, COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA commemorated its 100th anniversary in June 2023. 

Graphic from https://countryclubplaza.com

A rendering showing a preliminary layout of COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA. The facility that opened for business in 1923 bore little resemblance to this depiction.  
Drawing from http://shs.umsyste.edu / State Historical Society of Missouri

Kansas City's Jesse Clyde ("J.C.") Nichols (1880-1950). A major real estate developer of the early 20th century, he started work on his Country Club District in 1906. It would become the nation's largest planned community built by a single developer. 
Photo from Wikipedia / Julian Felsenburgh

Nichols envisaged a suburban commercial center for his affluent Country Club development and began buying land for the same in 1907. The first structure built for COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA, the Suydam ["Soo-dam"] Building, was completed in March 1923. 
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The building's major tenant, and its namesake, the opulent Suydam Decorating Company furniture store.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

Among ten tenants leasing space in the Suydam Building was Mrs. Chisholm's Millinery & Sport Togs. 
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The second COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA structure, known as the Triangle Building, was completed in June 1923. Its initial tenants included Wymore Hardware and a self-service Piggly Wiggly market.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The Piggly Wiggly grocery store chain had its beginnings in Memphis, Tennessee, in September 1916. By the time that this COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA store opened, there were 1,200 locations in twenty-nine states.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

Shoppers entered the COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA Piggly Wiggly through the turnstyle seen here and proceeded through the entire store before exiting at a checkout counter. 
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The Triangle Building also housed the Hunter Brothers Drug Store.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The adjacent Wolferman's Building was under construction in 1923.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

Wolferman's opened its On The Plaza store in January 1924. It included an on-site bakery, where the famed Wolferman's English Muffins were made. The original Wolferman's was not a self-service operation, as was Piggly Wiggly. Wolferman's customers were served by store employees who assembled their orders.

An interior view of Wolferman's On The Plaza. Although the photo source lists it as being taken in the 1920s, the women's fashions indicate that a 1940s date might be more accurate.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The Tower Building joined the PLAZA in October 1924. One of its charter tenants was The Avon dress shop.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The original COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA had eight filling stations. Above, we see the White Eagle Station, which was located at 46th Street Terrace and Mill Creek Parkway (known today as J.C. Nichols Parkway).
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

Above we see a snow-covered Balcony Building at COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA. This structure was completed in 1925.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The west end of the Balcony Building was occupied by Montgomery Ward for a number of years.

Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The Theatre Building, which included 2 levels of shops and office spaces, was officially dedicated in late 1928. 
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

An interior view of the posh Plaza Theatre. It was modeled after the Palacio de las Duenas in Seville, Spain.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The Plaza Theatre showed its first feature in October 1928. On the opening night bill was Janet Gaynor starring in "Street Angel." The Fox Studio release (filmed before the mid-1930s merger of the 20th Century and Fox Studios) featured a Movietone soundtrack. This was a technological stepping stone between silent films and "talkies." There was no recorded dialogue, but interludes of music and sound effects.
Graphic from Wikipedia / "Devinn"

A physical layout of the shopping complex dating to 1930. In essence, COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA was a standard downtown area, laid out on a city street grid, in a suburban setting. The main innovation was its use of two off-street automobile parking facilities; the 47th Street and Alameda Parking Stations.

COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA TENANTS 1930:

S.S. KRESGE 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / PIGGLY WIGGLY grocery / WOLFERMAN'S grocery / ABC Cleaners / Aholtz Dollar Diner / American Nursery & Landscaping / Bacher & Cunningham grocer / Barker Auto Service / Bennett Schneider Bookseller / Best's Diamonds & Watches / Bird's Drugs / Boyd Shade & Drapery Company / Boyer Printing Company / Boyer's Gown Shop / Brentnall's Hosiery / Chandler Landscaping & Floral Company / Clark the Hatter Shop for Men / Cleda A. Foster ladies' wear / Cook Paint & Varnish Company / Country Club Plaza Fur Shop / Country Club Plaza Laundry / Crown Drug (with fountain) / Dolan's men's wear / E. C. Moody Dry Goods / Economy Electric Manufacturing Company / Ethel Bentley haberdasher / Findlay Galleries / Flora Michaelis Gifts / Gaffin Gowns / General Music Company / Graybar Radio / Kansas City Power & Light Company / Katydid's Sevilla candies-sodas-luncheons / Kelly-Freeman Motor Company / Kenabe Studio / Lu Frances Baby Shop / L. F. Cochran Grocery & Delicatessen / Manor Bakery / Margaret Ostertag interior decorating / Miller Radiator Furniture & Corozone / Miller Shoe Company / Miller's Everything Electrical / Miss Kilgore Designing & Alterations / Miss Riviera's Portrait Photography / Morris Kurz ladies tailor / Nederman Music Company / Nelly Glenn's Beauty Parlor / Plaza Auto Livery / Plaza Bank of Commerce / Plaza Beauty Shop / Plaza Delicatessen / Plaza Theatre / R.B. Jones & Sons Insurance / R & R Plaza Outlet Shoe Store / Robinson Shoe Company / Schoenhard's Boy's Shop / Seco Stationery Shop / Shour's Plaza Radio Shop / Siegrist Engraving Company / Suydam Decorating Company / T. A. Linck Drug Company / Taylor's apparel / The Avon ladies' wear / The Elizabeth Shop children's wear / The French Shop antiques / The Harper Method / The Quest Beauty Shop / Ward Parkway Garage / Wilkie's Furniture Company / Wymore's Household Hardware-Metcalf Key Shop / Zip Express Company package delivery

In this snapshot from July 1930, we see the shiny new J.C. Nichols Building. Its second floor housed offices for the Nichols Company.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

A PLAZA tradition had been started in 1925, when a single string of sixteen colored lights was hung over a doorway of a business in the Suydam Building. Within a few years, all buildings On The Plaza would be decorated, as shown in this circa-1935 image.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

In this photo from December 1939, we see a brightly-illuminated Plaza Theatre. On the bill this night was "Walt Disney's 'Fun And Fancy Free', in Technicolor with Bergen & McCarthy" (that would be Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy, his ventriloquist dummy sidekick). 
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The Jack Henry Store, a men's clothier, opened its first On The Plaza location in 1937. In this circa-1945 photo, we see said store decorated for Halloween. 
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

An interior view of the Jack Henry Store from 1947. This retail establishment would be a PLAZA tenant for 77 years. It closed its doors for good in May 2014.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The first PLAZA Parking Stations opened in April 1923. The Triple Deck Parking Station seen here was dedicated in 1948.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

A circa-1948 view of the main entry of the Plaza Cafeteria.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

An interior  view of the food facility.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

Sears opened their On The Plaza store in November 1947. In this snapshot, we see the Late Moderne-style building decked out for the 1949 holiday season. 
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

The Helzberg's House of Treasures emporium opened its doors in December 1948. The store occupied the northwest corner of the West 47th & Broadway Streets intersection.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

In this circa-1951 photo, ladies stroll shops along West 47th Street. Note the S.S. Kresge 5 & 10 on the right. The original PLAZA was more of a middle-market shopping center, with 5 & 10s, grocery stores and pharmacies. Over the past 40 years, the complex has been thoroughly gentrified and is now exclusively populated by high-end stores and services.
Photo from State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scrapbook

Kansas City, Missouri's Emery, Bird, Thayer Dry Goods Company opened On the Plaza in March 1950. The building, originally housing a furniture store, was substantially enlarged in the early 1960s. The retail chain went out of business in July 1968. The COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA store re-opened, as a branch of Macy's Kansas City, in September 1968. It would eventually be rebranded by Dillard's.

Harzfeld's, another iconic Kansas city retailer, opened On the Plaza in April 1954. They had built a brand new store. It was shuttered, along with the chain, in September 1983. The vacant building was leased by Bonwit Teller, who were in operation until 1990. 

Graphic from Harzfeld's

Halls On The Plaza was officially dedicated in October 1965. This uber upscale emporium sold fine crystal, silverware, apparel, greeting cards and various objets d'art. It was in business until August 2014. 

Drawing and Graphic from Hallmark Cards

Meanwhile, by 1976, the entire 14-block PLAZA site had been developed with retail and office structures. Most were built utilizing the original Spanish Colonial Revival motif. There are over 150 specialty stores and restaurants and parking for 3,000 autos. Several open courtyards, sculptures, murals and fountains have been installed at strategic points throughout the complex, which is promoted as an outdoor museum.

Our photo tour continues with images of the retail hub in the here and now. Above we see a nighttime view of Brush Creek and THE PLAZA, which is decked out for the annual Plaza Lights yuletide celebration.
Photo from Wikipedia / "Hngrange"

The J.P. Nichols Memorial Fountain, the primary water feature at today's COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA, was dedicated in May 1960. In the distance is the Giralda Tower. For years, it was the tallest structure in the complex. 
Photo from Wikipedia / "Charvex"

Valencia Place, a 10-floor office tower and retail facility, took the place of a northwest quadrant parking lot in the year 2000.
Photo from www.jedunn.cpm / J.E. Dunn Construction Company

Granada Shops, a more recent addition to THE PLAZA. Its stores were built on the lower level of the existing parking garage. This project was completed in 2002.
Photo from http://www.designwithinsight.com 

Seattle's Nordstrom chain announced plans for a new COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA location in early 2018. This would be a replacement for an existing store at Overland, Kansas' OAK PARK MALL. Construction on the new PLAZA unit was plotted to get underway in September 2019. However, plans for the new store were cancelled in April 2022.

Drawing from Nordstrom, Incorporated

In a circa-2022 layout, one might notice that several new structures (in medium gray) have been built. With their completion, the COUNTRY CLUB complex is comprised of approximately 804,000 square feet of retail space. There is also over 500,000 square feet devoted to offices. Free parking is provided by nine garages, with street parking also available.

COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA
Ward Parkway and Broadway Street
Kansas City, Missouri

COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA is often acknowledged as the nation's first large-scale, auto-centric shopping center. The complex was built on a 55-acre site, located 2.8 miles south of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It was envisaged as a commercial core for the Country Club District development, which was built by Kansas City's Jessie Clyde ("J.C.") Nichols between 1906 and 1950. 

When completed, the Country Club District was reputedly the nation's largest planned community constructed by a single entity. The master plan for COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA was created by Edward Buehler Delk. Boulevards and parks were layed out by George E. Kessler and most structures designed by Edward W. Tanner. A Spanish Colonial Revival motif was used for buildings that was heavily influenced by the architecture of Seville, Spain.

The prospective retail facility, being constructed on land previously devoted to a hog farm and garbage dump, was dubbed "Nichol's Folly." However, soon after its March 1923 dedication, the venue had proved to be an astounding success.

The first structure, housing Chandler's Landscaping & Floral Company, predated the actual shopping center by 6 years. The second was the first specifically built for the complex. It was originally known as the Country Club Plaza Building and then Suydam ["Soo-dam"] Building. Today, it is referred to as the Mill Creek Building). 

This was joined by the Triangle Building. By November 1923, twelve stores and services were in operation. These included Hunter Brothers Drugs, Lu Frances Baby Shop, Barker-Hurley Motor Company (a Ford dealership), Flora Michaelis Gifts and a (1,600 square foot) Piggly Wiggly grocery.

The Wolferman's Building, Tower Building and Balcony Building followed in rapid succession. These added tenants to the retail roster, such as The Avon dress shop and a (9,000 square foot) Wolferman's grocery. Several second floor office suites were also leased. The Plaza Theater showed its first feature on October 9, 1928. This grand movie house was soon joined by the J.C. Nichols Building and Plaza Esplanade Building. 

In the following decade, new stores opened their doors, such as a Safeway grocery (1932), Kroger grocery (1934) and S.S. Kresge 5 & 10 (1937). The Plaza Medical Building, completed in November 1937, brought Jack Henry men's wear, Lerner's Vogue Shop, Richardson's Shoes and an F. W. Woolworth 5 & 10. Several medical offices occupied the second floor.

Mr. Nichols spared no expense in gracing courts and green space with statuary and fountains. By the 1940s, COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA was revered as America's greatest outdoor art gallery.

Sears joined the tenant roster, with a 5-level (168,000 square foot) store, on November 20, 1947. This store included a freestanding Garden Shop and Auto Center and was the chain's first suburban shopping center location. 

KC-based Emery, Bird, Thayer opened a (30,000 square foot) On the Plaza store on March 2, 1950. Harzfeld's, another local specialty retailer, dedicated their (30,000 square foot) On The Plaza unit on April 10, 1954. Emery, Bird, Thayer eventually expanded their PLAZA location. The renewed (72,000 square foot) store was dedicated on October 15, 1962.  

Halls (of Hallmark Greeting Cards) opened a (64,000 square foot) store on October 4, 1965. It featured 2 retail levels and 3 floors dedicated to parking, including a rooftop deck. Halls On The Plaza was -by far- the most ornate and expensively-built store in the entire shopping facility. It featured inlaid Lapis floors and Baccarat crystal chandeliers. 

Major shopping venues in the vicinity of COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA included WARD PARKWAY CENTER (1962) {4.6 miles southwest, in Kansas City, Missouri}, BANNISTER MALL (1980) {6.6 miles southeast, also in Kansas City, Missouri} and METCALF SOUTH CENTER (1967) {7 miles southwest, in Overland Park, Kansas}.

Emery, Bird, Thayer was shuttered on August 8, 1968. Its space re-opened as Macy's Plaza, a branch of Macy's Kansas City, on September 12, 1968. Sears shut down their PLAZA store in January 1975.  The building was repurposed as the Seville Square mini-mall, which opened for business on February 1, 1977. This facility included 4 levels and forty-two tenant spaces. These were filled by high-end boutiques, a restaurant and the Mid-America Cinemas Seville Square 4 multiplex (which occupied the basement floor).

In September 1977, tragedy struck. The adjacent Brush Creek overflowed its banks and inundated COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA with several feet of water. Five people drowned, basements flooded and several stores were destroyed. 

A rebuilding effort resulted in a push to make THE PLAZA strictly an upscale shopping venue. Gucci opened a boutique in 1978, followed by Polo / Ralph Lauren, in 1982. Saks Fifth Avenue On The Plaza (assuming a shuttered F.W. Woolworth) was dedicated on August 28, 1982. 

Laura Ashley opened its doors in 1983, followed by Bonwit Teller (in a vacated Harzfeld's space), in 1984. Most of the tony tenants did well. However, Bonwit Teller was shuttered in 1990. Saks persevered until its demise, in February 2005.

Meanwhile, Raleigh, North Carolina-based Highwoods Properties had acquired the retail hub in July 1998. By this time, THE PLAZA was the most exclusive shopping venue in either of the Kansas Cities. The complex, now encompassing fourteen blocks, featured forty statues, twelve towers and 180 stores and services. 

The Seville Square mini-mall was shuttered in the late 1990s. The building was gutted, with its ground floor divided into retail and restaurant space. The 3 upper floors became part of a state-of-the-art, 14-screen multiplex. Additional auditoriums were installed in an adjacent structure, connected to the main complex via skybridge. The new Cinemax Palace At The Plaza 14 showed its first features on May 2, 1999. 

The Plaza Theater, in business since 1928, had operated under the Wesco-Fox Midwest and Dickinson Theatres banners. The facility had been reconfigured as a twin cinema and then as a tri-plex; this known as the Plaza 3 Theatres. The venue shut down in April 1999, with a (21,200 square foot) section opening, as a Restoration Hardware, in the fall of 1999.

Redevelopment and expansion of THE PLAZA continued into the new century. Valencia Place, a 10-story office tower with 80,000 square feet of retail, was completed in January 2000. This was followed by Granada Shops, a refit of the first floor of a parking garage. This project, adding 20,000 square feet of selling space, was completed in 2002.

The circa-1965 Halls On The Plaza store closed for good on August 3, 2014. The building was gutted and a new facade installed. Its (29,000 square foot) first floor was divided into eight tenant spaces and a partial parking deck. The building was renamed Plaza 211. Its first tenant, a relocated Apple Store, opened in August 2016. 

In January of that year, THE PLAZA had changed hands. It was acquired by Country Club Plaza KC Partners, a joint venture of Michigan's Taubman Centers and California's Macerich Company. At the time of the transaction, the complex encompassed 804,000 square feet of retail and 468,000 square feet of office suites.

Seattle's Nordstrom, Incorporated announced plans for a PLAZA store in mid-2018. This would replace a 1998-vintage unit at OAK PARK MALL, in Overland Park, Kansas. The City Plan Commission gave their approval in December. A building housing Capital Grill, Bank of America and auditoriums of the adjacent Cinemark multiplex was demolished to make way for the new Nordstrom. The cafe and bank branch relocated within THE PLAZA. 

The 2-level (116,000 square foot) Nordstrom was originally slated to open for business in September 2021. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this store dedication was moved up to sometime in 2023. In a startling turn of events, Nordstrom backed out of the deal in April 2022. The OAK PARK MALL store would remain in operation.

A new owner came on board in the early 2020s. The Macerich-Taubman joint venture defaulted on their PLAZA loan in May 2023. Texas' HP Village Partners (who owned Greater Dallas' HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE) became the new proprietors. THE PLAZA achieved its 100th anniversary in 2023. A Centennial Celebration was held between May 23rd and June 4th, which included live music, food, beverages, photo ops, free gifts and other events.

Sources:

The Kansas City Star

"J.C. Nichols & the Shaping of Kansas City: Innovation in Planned & Residential Communities" / William S. Worley
The State Historical Society of Missouri / J.C. Nichols Company Scapbook
preservenet.cornell.edu/publications/Longstreth Branch Store.doc
www.cinematreasures.org
www.halls.com
http://www.kansascityhistory.org
www.buildings.com
www.countryclubplaza.com 

www.bizjournals.com

https://www.kcur.org