Sunvalley Mall
Encyclopedia
Concord, California
Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California, USA. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 122,067. Originally founded in 1869 as the community of Todos Santos by Salvio Pacheco, the name was changed to Concord within months...
(one of the suburbs in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
, in east central Contra Costa County
Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...
). Sunvalley opened in August 1967 with Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
, JCPenney and Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
as anchor tenants. At its opening it was considered the largest air conditioned regional shopping center in the world.
Among the tenants in the Mall's early days were a Worlds Faire food court made up of international restaurants but also including staples like donuts and Kentucky Fried Chicken; a post office, ice skating rink, piano-organ stores, art gallery, pet shop, and other unusual stores, accented by cages of rare birds connecting both levels and water fountains in numerous locations.
Sunvalley ranks among the top 50 malls in the United States by volume. Shoppers are provided with a dominant merchandise mix of leading national retailers and restaurants. Shops include Bebe, Charlotte Russe, The Buckle, Things Remembered, Abercrombie & Fitch, Forever 21, American Eagle Outfitters, Coach, MAC, Brookstone, and Vans.
Sunvalley is located at the corner of Willow Pass Road and Contra Costa Boulevard, by Interstate 680
Interstate 680 (California)
Interstate 680 is a north–south Interstate Highway in Northern California. It curves around the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area from San Jose to Interstate 80 at Cordelia, bypassing cities along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay such as Oakland and Richmond while serving...
. It was developed by the Taubman Company
A. Alfred Taubman
Adolph Alfred Taubman is an American real estate developer and philanthropist from Michigan. He pioneered the modern shopping mall concept and was described by CBS News as a "legend in retailing" who became wealthy developing upscale shopping malls. He built shopping mall developer Taubman Centers...
, which is still the owner and operator of the mall to this day. The mall's major department stores are two separate locations for Macy's
Macy's West
Macy's West was a longtime division of Macy's, Inc. , representing one of the New York-based department store chain's earliest notable acquisitions and westward expansions...
, and one each for Sears and JCPenney. Sunvalley has 160 stores and a total size of about 1400000 square feet (130,064.3 m²).
1985 Sunvalley plane crash
On the evening of December 23, 1985, two days before ChristmasChristmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, a twin-engine Beechcraft
Beechcraft
Beechcraft is an American manufacturer of general aviation and military aircraft, ranging from light single engine aircraft to business jets and light military transports. Previously a division of Raytheon, it has been a brand of Hawker Beechcraft since 2006....
Baron, executing a missed instrument approach procedure from an approach to runway 19R of Buchanan Field Airport
Buchanan Field Airport
For the other uses, see Concord Airport .Buchanan Field Airport is located in Concord and Pacheco, California, USA, 27 nautical miles northeast of San Francisco International Airport, in Contra Costa County...
, lost control and crashed into the roof of Macys, killing pilot James Graham (age 67) and two passengers and seriously injuring 84 Christmas shoppers in the crowded mall below, mainly by spraying them with burning fuel. Four of the victims on the ground later died from their injuries. One of those injured was 10 year old Meredith Patterson
Meredith Patterson
Meredith Patterson is an American musical theatre actor known for her Broadway performances, as well as her television and film work.-External links:...
, who went on to be a television, film, and Broadway actress. The accident brought increased local opposition to the airport, and caused Pacific Southwest Airlines
Pacific Southwest Airlines
Pacific Southwest Airlines was a United States airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1988. It was one of the first large discount airlines in the United States and is considered a precursor to Southwest Airlines...
(now part of US Airways
US Airways
US Airways, Inc. is a major airline based in the U.S. city of Tempe, Arizona. The airline is an operating unit of US Airways Group and is the sixth largest airline by traffic and eighth largest by market value in the country....
) to delay scheduled passenger service that had been planned to start at the beginning of the new year.
The airport had been closed due to thick fog a few hours earlier and pilot Graham attempted to land anyway. After failing to spot the runway at the point where a missed approach should have been made he continued the approach in the hope of finding the runway farther along. When this failed Graham finally began the procedure for a missed approach. He had to do several things at once: Raising the flaps and landing gear, adding power to both engines, and making a left turn. While Graham was distracted by these activities he failed to notice the nose of the plane dropping. He lost altitude and struck the building. Graham was considered to be an expert pilot; he had been a military pilot, ran a flight school at Buchanan Field, was a Certified Flight Instructor, and performed FAA flight checks of other pilots.
Anchors
- JCPenney (266,000 sq ft.)
- Macy'sMacy'sMacy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
(389,000 sq ft., two locations) - Sears (337,000 sq ft.)
More information
- Oakland Tribune, July 30, 1967, page 14
- Check-Six.com - The Crash at SunValley Mall - Lots of photographs