Manchester Center BEFORE it was a Mall
Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:18 pm
In the late 50’s and 60’s the place to go shopping was Manchester Center on Blackstone and Shields. Yes, we got the Fulton Mall in 1964 but that was downtown and there was the parking issues. With Manchester Center you just pulled up in front of any store you wanted to visit. And what a collection of stores it had. The two anchors as I remember was Sears on the North end and Thrifty’s Drug Store at the South end. I see from reading other posts here by Frodoboy whose grandfather owned Kaden Neon and Plastic Sign, also says that his uncle made the old Manchester Center sign. That sign was very representative of “modern” Fresno and Manchester was the place to go! There was no mall, no covered walk ways, just store after store whose storefronts were open to the pleasures of the Central Valley’s 103 degree summers. No wonder modern cities went to climate controlled malls!
Anyway, Perry Boy’s Okie Frijole all-you-can-eat was a big favorite with family and friends. Later there was dust up about the name, seems that some folks took offense. My buddy was a runty, skinny guy that I swear had a tape worm. He could out eat 4 fat guys at Okie Frijolle’s. I didn’t even try to keep up with him. When Saturday rolled around and us kids went to the downtown theaters for the children’s matinees, we stocked up on cheap candy at Thrifty’s.
My very first apartment was the Manchester Apartments directly behind the shopping center. It was a huge affair and little did I know that some day they would put a freeway right through my living room. For that matter, they put a freeway through my girlfriends living room too (who lived nearby in a family home they bought new in the 50’s). When I was in high school they started to enclosed more stores with a central walkway. Fashion Faire had put pressure on Manchester Center to get with the times. That didn’t seem to help a lot as the Center really needed to start over from scratch but they tried. Anybody remember the ‘ol Manchester Center?
.
Anyway, Perry Boy’s Okie Frijole all-you-can-eat was a big favorite with family and friends. Later there was dust up about the name, seems that some folks took offense. My buddy was a runty, skinny guy that I swear had a tape worm. He could out eat 4 fat guys at Okie Frijolle’s. I didn’t even try to keep up with him. When Saturday rolled around and us kids went to the downtown theaters for the children’s matinees, we stocked up on cheap candy at Thrifty’s.
My very first apartment was the Manchester Apartments directly behind the shopping center. It was a huge affair and little did I know that some day they would put a freeway right through my living room. For that matter, they put a freeway through my girlfriends living room too (who lived nearby in a family home they bought new in the 50’s). When I was in high school they started to enclosed more stores with a central walkway. Fashion Faire had put pressure on Manchester Center to get with the times. That didn’t seem to help a lot as the Center really needed to start over from scratch but they tried. Anybody remember the ‘ol Manchester Center?
.