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Originally Posted by MallRat2020
A little something fun stashed away, a vintage Scarbroughs stationary set in box.
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Less about malls and more about Scarbroughs, but here's an interesting article about the history of Scarbroughs.
The story of Scarbroughs, Austin's lost department store empire
Things I didn't know:
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Emerson Monroe Scarbrough did not set out to create what we would recognize today as a department store. Rather, the shop that he built in the booming town of Rockdale in 1883 was a dry goods store, a place to buy everything from groceries to apparel.
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Although now lost in Austin's 21st-century skyline, at the time, the Scarbrough Building was the tallest "skyscraper" in the city and the state. It was quickly superseded, however, by the nine-story Littlefield Building, finished in 1912 and graced with an additional floor by its competitive owner, Col. George Littlefield, to make sure his was the tallest.
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E.M. Scarbrough died in 1925.
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While his offspring inherited the business and title to the office building, his 175 employees received from $50 to $250 each in his will.
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Business improved a bit in the late 1950s, but Scarbroughs declined to join other retailers at the new shopping centers at Capitol Plaza and Hancock Center.
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Downtown was their only store until 1971 when Highland Mall opened.
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In 1969, Scarbroughs signed a letter of intent with the developers of the as of yet unnamed "Austin Mall," which became Highland Mall, the city's first entirely enclosed shopping center. While the branch store would come in at 80,000 square feet, Joske's and J.C. Penney made larger bets on 200,000 square feet each. The mall opened in 1971.
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Lots of good photos in this article, too.
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