Seminary South Shopping Center

Anyone who grew up in Fort Worth in the 1960s has great memories of the Seminary South Shopping Center. Built on a location previously occupied by Katy Lake, Seminary South opened in 1962, and offered a vastly superior shopping experience to the strip centers of the day. It was the first commercial venue in the area that encouraged shoppers to browse many stores, all in a beautiful open-air setting. While often described today as a “mall”, I don’t recall that name applied to it at the time. The first true mall, the fully-enclosed Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, opened in 1956.
One of the most appealing aspects of Seminary South was the diverse selection of stores, ranging from the large department stores like Striplings, Sears, J.C. Penny, Leonard’s and G.C. Murphy, to smaller establishments like Spencer’s Gifts, Chess King, Kinney Shoes, Hobby Hub and the Book Oasis. There was truly something for everyone.
At the south-west corner of Seminary South was a Buddie’s Supermarket and Wyatt’s Cafeteria. While we didn’t frequent either establishment, we did patronize other locations of both Buddie’s and Wyatt’s. Our grocery shopping was always done at the Buddie’s on Trail Lake Drive in the Wedgwood area, and we frequently followed church (the old Mathews Memorial Methodist at Berry and McCart) with a meal at the Wyatt’s Cafeteria off of Camp Bowie Boulevard, near the Italian Inn. (opened in 1967, it’s still the best Italian food in Fort Worth) Besides Wyatt’s Cafeteria, there was also a Wyatt’s Grocery. The one we sometimes shopped at was in the Westcliff Shopping Center, near TCU (it was a Minyard’s Grocery in recent years), but I have no idea if the cafeteria and grocery had common owners or if the common name was a coincidence.
The two-level Striplings was at the north-east corner of Seminary South, and I remember well the impressive pool/fountain that was between the up and down escalators. That was the first time I saw a fountain that was loaded with coins people had tossed in, and I always looked forward to contributing a penny. I also remember when they had an exhibit of life-sized dinosaurs in the parking lot just outside of Striplings. Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to recall that the huge dinosaur statues (with none of the animatronic movement that we would see today) had previously been displayed elsewhere…perhaps Hemisfair ‘68? Accompanying the enormous statues were vending machines that would make plastic dinosaurs while you waited. I have today, secured in a closet, a large plastic bag that’s loaded with those dinosaurs.
The various stores changed over time, and as a child there were many that held no interest for me. But among the ones I remember well are the Book Oasis, which was located just past Wyatt’s. A small book store, they had an excellent selection of Peanuts books, and I was a huge Charlie Brown/Snoopy fan in those days. Typically mom and my sister Gail would go one way, and dad and I would go another, and the Book Oasis would always be our first stop. Further into the center, on the left past Buddie’s (and possibly not opened until the early ’70s) was an import store, and while I can’t say for sure, I believe it was called World Imports. It was loaded with incense and brass stuff from India. On down was a record store (I don’t remember the name) and Spencer’s Gifts. I also remember a large toy store that was, I think, near J.C. Penny. Was it called the Toy Chest? I can’t say for sure. There was also an El Chico Mexican Restaurant.
Seminary South rocked along for a number of years, with various changes made over time. J.C. Penny built an automotive center in a satellite building on the north side of the center, and I remember coveting the mini-bikes in the showroom. Not only did they have their own brand of the basic “lawnmower-engined” mini-bikes, but they also had Benelli’s…honest-to-goodness Italian bikes! They came in several models, including the Buzzer (kind of wimpy), the Hornet, and the Dynamo, 65cc of tire-shredding power. There was also the Dynamo Trail, who’s only difference, I think, was that it was fitted with knobby tires for off-road use. I had read about another Benelli, the Volcano, that had a huge engine for a minibike: 180cc.  I never saw one of those at Penny’s, and assumed they were so potent that the fed’s wouldn’t let them into the country. I’ve since learned that only 200 of them made it to our shores. If you’d like to learn more, much more, about Benelli motorcycles and minibikes, you need to check out this site: My Benellis, by Steven Salemi.
Eventually a movie theater popped up in the north-west corner of the property, and I honestly can’t recall whether it started as a single-screen and then went to two and finally to three, or if it started as two. In any event it had three screens when it was closed and was, I think, the first theater in the area with more than one screen. At some point one of those huge “multi-lane” slides was erected in the south-west corner of the parking lot. Remember those? Just like the one attached to the tower at Six Flags Over Texas, you zipped down the undulating slide with your legs in some sort of bag. Woo Hoo! The slide was removed at some point, the York Steak House taking its place.
Seminary South was fun, loads of fun, but it slowly started to unravel with the 1971 opening of North East Mall in Hurst. Sure, it was a long ways from our southwest Fort Worth home, but North East Mall was a true Mall, and shopping of that magnitude was worth the drive. Ridgemar Mall opened in 1976 followed by Hulen Mall a year later, and Seminary South began to really struggle. Once a haven for affluent white shoppers, Seminary South saw an increasingly Latino clientele in the late 1970s and early ’80s, a reflection of the changing demographic of the surrounding neighborhood. More than one attempt has been made to revitalize the shopping center, including renaming it Fort Worth Town Center in 1987. Today it is Mexican-themed, and called La Gran Plaza. Millions have been thrown at the center over the past few years, but the down-market stores and high crime assures that it will never be even a small part of what it once was.
Do you have any additions, stories or photos of Seminary South that I might include? I’d love to hear from you!