San Diego Shopping 1950s-1980s If you want to shop ‘til you drop, there’s no better place to do that than in San Diego. There are several large malls throughout the county. Many have thrived throughout the years, but some haven’t survived. JC Penney in North Park and Walker Scott were standalone department stores and were very popular before shopping malls emerged. It’s the proverbial: when one door closes, another opens. When Walker Scott downtown closed, Horton Plaza opened. When North County Fair opened in 1986, downtown Escondido businesses suffered. These stories from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s are nostalgia overload… JC Penney in 1954, Grossmont Center in 1969 and 1981, UTC when it opened in 1977 and back to school shopping in 1978, Fashion Valley in 1983, Horton Plaza grand opening in 1985, and an in-depth report on county malls in 1979.