Five Points West Shopping City

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Sign for Five Points West Shopping City

The Five Points West Shopping City is a large shopping center developed in 1941 by A. Page Sloss of Shepherd-Sloss Realty at Five Points West. At the time, the 24-acre project was announced as the largest private development in the region since 1925.

The Thomas Drive-In restaurant was the first new building, constructed on the extreme west corner of the site. The main retail strips were designed by James Gatling, who also designed Shepherd-Sloss' Plaza Stores on Highland Avenue. Construction of the first 400-foot x 800-foot building was begun by the Marbury-Moriss Construction Company on April 15, with the first stores opening on September 1. A 400-space parking lot was laid out to serve the development and a second building, 175 feet by 140 feet, was planned to break ground that summer.

The strip was given a face lift in 1961. A trolley service to carry shoppers around the center was instituted the same year. In 1964 a Britling West cafeteria opened on Avenue V near the shopping center's entrance. On January 1, 1966 the Montgomery-based Farm Bureau Insurance Companies purchased the shopping center from the Shepherd-Sloss Realty Co. for more than $4.5 million. Ferrell Woods managed the property for the company and helped to renew the activities of the Five Points West Chamber of Commerce to keep parking areas clean and secure.

Tenants

1951 advertisement for Five Points West
1950s advertising map
1953 expansion rendering

original tenants

later tenants

References

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