Arizona Contractor & Community Fall 2015 V4 I3 | Page 62

Inn Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge,
Montgomery Ward, Ryan-Evans Drug, S.S.
Kresge Variety, and John F. Long's own
Malcolm's department store.
Four years later, 71,000 square-feet of
retail space designed by architect Thomas
F. Stanley was added to Maryvale Shopping
City. New tenants included a Fry’s Food
Store and what was called “the largest

Walgreen Drug Store in the United States,”
in a January 1964 Arizona Republic article.
“When we started the first phase of this
shopping city, we knew it would be years
before the over-all plan involving many
millions of dollars would be completed,”
John F. Long said in the article.
Mary Heath was 16 when she began
working in the layaway and gift wrapping

Images courtesy of Arizona Contractor & Community

When it opened in 1959, Maryvale
Shopping City featured 19 stores, 111,000
square-feet of retail sales area, and 1,100
parking spaces. The grand opening
celebration’s theme was the "Flavor of the
Old West" and featured performances by
the Arizona Gun Slingers. Businesses
included Bowlero Bowling Lanes, Clip Joint
Barber Shop, El Rancho Market, Lantern

Sixty two

Fall 2015