Then and Now: Shadle Center
1961: Spokane’s new North Side shopping area, Shadle Center, is located southeast of the Wellesley Avenue and Alberta Street intersection. Already open are Safeway Foods, left, and Pay Less Drug. Excavations for two more stores, J.J. Newberry’s and JCPenney’s can be seen at upper left. At top right is Glover Junior High School. H. Halvorsen was the contractor and brothers Robert, Nolan and Martin Brown were developers of the project. (Spokesman-Review photo archives)
After World War II, Spokane boomed with new retail centers starting in the 1950s. It drew established downtown stores to suburban shopping centers like NorthTown and University City.
In 1958, Colfax auto dealer Robert N. Brown, with brothers Nolan and Martin, took out an option on 30 acres at Wellesley Avenue and Alberta Street for a new shopping development. Shadle Center was laid out between Belt and Alberta streets, and ground was broken in 1960.
Thousands attended the opening of the new shopping center in 1961, which was anchored by a JCPenney department store. At its height, it housed more than 40 stores, including a Pay Less Drug store, an Ernst Hardware and a Lamont’s.
The complex featured outdoor walkways, some covered and connected stores, and over the years, the center has included Chuck E. Cheese, Book Nook, Pet World, Premier Video and many others. It garnered a loyal North Side clientele for its fashion outlets, restaurants, hair salons and specialty shops.
Through the 1960s to the 1990s, Spokane’s major malls at NorthTown, U-City and Shadle competed for shoppers and new stores. Some stores moved from mall to mall searching for a customer base.
In 1976, the Shadle complex was sold to Century Properties, a real estate partnership based in California, for $7 million. Plans to enlarge and enclose the mall never came about.
In 1985, the shopping center was sold to Standard Management Co., with plans to rehabilitate the center. Standard painted some buildings, added vinyl canopies and landscaping.
In the 1990s, major changes were taking place because of changing demographics and national shopping trends. U-City was declining and anchor stores were faltering.
NorthTown began a major expansion in 1989, adding a second story and enclosing the complex. In 1991, JCPenney left Shadle for NorthTown. Shortly after that, Shadle’s owners filed for bankruptcy. In 1993, ownership was sold back to Century Properties.
A Puget Sound area company, P2J2 Associates, bought Shadle Center in 1997, the same year Ernst and Newberry’s closed their stores.
In 2000, a new Walmart opened at Shadle, and a new Safeway was built. Some smaller buildings were torn down. The Walmart store was remodeled and expanded in 2003.
Today, Rite Aid, Dollar Tree, beauty salons and several restaurants fill out the center.