Sanger-Harris was a regional department store chain in Texas and Oklahoma, known nearly as much for the large mosaic murals that adorned the façades of its stores as for any of the clothes it carried. As a child, I remember being frightened of the mural at North Hills Mall—I’m not sure why—but I was shocked and a little bit saddened when I went by one day and found only some overgrown parking lots and a concrete slab where the mall, and the Sanger’s mural, used to be.
In 1987, Sanger’s rebranded as Foley’s, and in 2006, Foley’s became Macy’s, so Sanger’s lives on only in memory, some slowly deteriorating clothing labels, some promotional comic books, and the few murals that remain.
One day, my wife and I passed the old Sanger’s at Valley View Center. Macy’s had recently closed its store there, and I said, “I should really stop and photograph that mural before they tear it down.” My wife encouraged me to stop there and then, but I was in a hurry, and despite passing it every day on my way home from work, it was nearly 6 months before I finally stopped…
Continue reading “a cautionary tale”