What businesses have helped shape University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto?
Over the past century, University Avenue has been home to department stores, bookstores, theaters, bakeries, restaurants, and retailers that reflected different eras of Palo Alto. Woolworth’s, J.C. Penney, Bell’s Books, Golden Crescent Bakery, the Varsity Theatre, Borders Books & Music, World Wrapps, and Z Gallerie are among the businesses and gathering places that helped define the street.
The stores, restaurants, and gathering places that generations of Palo Alto remember
Walk along University Avenue today and you'll find restaurants, cafés, shops, offices, and people heading in every direction.
But for longtime Palo Alto residents, there's another University Avenue layered underneath the one you see today.
A five-and-dime where generations shopped.
A bakery where people stopped for something sweet.
A movie theater that became a bookstore.
A furniture and design store that eventually gave way to Apple.
A restaurant that captured a particular moment in Silicon Valley.
And businesses like Bell's Books that somehow endured while everything around them changed.
Businesses come and go. But some become so connected to a place that decades later, simply hearing their name can bring back memories.
Here are a few that helped define University Avenue through the years.
Woolworth's — An Earlier University Avenue
Long before University Avenue became known for restaurants, coffee shops, and technology companies, it was the place where Palo Alto residents came to shop for everyday necessities.
Woolworth's arrived in downtown Palo Alto in 1917, eventually moving to a larger location at 352 University Avenue in 1949.
The opening of the new store was a significant downtown event, attended by local civic leaders.
For decades, Woolworth's was part of everyday life on University Avenue—the kind of store where you could find inexpensive household goods, clothing, toys, and countless other necessities.
It remained downtown until 1989, closing just as Palo Alto was entering another period of dramatic change.
Then: A traditional five-and-dime serving the local community.
Now: A downtown increasingly shaped by restaurants, specialty retailers, technology, and visitors from around the world.
J.C. Penney — When Downtown Was the Shopping Center
It's equally surprising to discover that J.C. Penney had a store on University Avenue in the 1930s.
At the time, downtown wasn't simply somewhere to meet for dinner or coffee. It was where Palo Alto residents came to take care of everyday life.
Department stores and independent merchants lined the streets, and a trip downtown might mean buying clothing or household goods while running into neighbors along the way.
The presence of national retailers such as J.C. Penney and Woolworth's reminds us that before suburban shopping centers and online retail, streets like University Avenue really were the community's shopping center.
Bell’s Books - How One Palo Alto Bookstore Endured
Then there are the businesses that somehow remain.
Bell's Books has been part of Palo Alto since 1935.
Walk inside today and you'll find shelves filled with new, used, rare, and antiquarian books—and the unmistakable atmosphere of an independent bookstore that has grown alongside its community.
Think about what Bell's has witnessed.
Woolworth's came and went.
J.C. Penney disappeared from downtown.
Shopping centers were built.
The Internet arrived.
Amazon changed how books were sold.
Borders came—and Borders went.
Yet Bell's is still selling books.
That makes it more than a bookstore.
It has become part of Palo Alto's living history.
Golden Crescent Bakery — A University Avenue Memory
For people who knew Palo Alto in the 1980s, Golden Crescent Bakery is one of those names that can immediately trigger a memory.
Neighborhood bakeries have always been about more than bread and pastries. They're part of the rhythm of a downtown—the places people stop on the way to work, meet a friend, or visit as part of a familiar weekend routine.
Businesses like Golden Crescent helped give University Avenue its neighborhood character before today's extensive café culture took hold.
The bakery may be gone, but for longtime residents, the memory remains part of the street.
The Varsity Theatre - What Happened to Palo Alto’s Historic Movie Theater?
Few buildings on University Avenue illustrate downtown's evolution better than the former Varsity Theatre.
For decades, people came here to see movies beneath its distinctive marquee.
Then, in the 1990s, the historic theater was transformed into something entirely different.
A bookstore.
Borders Books — When a Bookstore Became a Gathering Place
When Borders Books & Music occupied the former Varsity Theatre, the building once again became a place where people gathered.
Visitors browsed books and magazines, listened to music, met friends, worked over coffee, or simply wandered through the enormous store.
For many people who lived in Palo Alto during the 1990s and 2000s, Borders became part of the University Avenue experience.
When the national chain liquidated in 2011, the Palo Alto location closed along with hundreds of Borders stores across the country.
But the building survived.
Today, you can still step through its distinctive entrance and courtyard. The businesses have changed, but the architecture continues to tell the story.
Look Closely: Step into the courtyard and it's remarkably easy to imagine the days when people lingered here with books and coffee.
World Wrapps — A Taste of the 1990s
By the 1990s, Palo Alto was changing rapidly.
Silicon Valley was booming, people were arriving from around the world, and the restaurants and businesses downtown increasingly reflected a more international and experimental culture.
World Wrapps, at 201 University Avenue in the 1990s, fit perfectly into that moment.
Its globally inspired wraps offered something casual, fast, and different—a concept that felt very much at home in the Palo Alto of the era.
The restaurant eventually disappeared from that location and another restaurant took its place.
But for anyone who spent time downtown during the 1990s, seeing an old photograph of World Wrapps can instantly bring back that version of University Avenue.
Z Gallerie - What Was on University Avenue Before the Apple Store?
Long before the glass façade and glowing Apple logo became a familiar sight on University Avenue, this part of the street had a very different look.
For years, Z Gallerie brought contemporary furniture, home décor, and accessories to downtown Palo Alto. Those who spent time on University Avenue during the 1990s and 2000s may remember browsing its displays or simply passing its storefront while walking downtown.
Eventually, the building was demolished and the site was redeveloped for the Apple Store, which opened at 340 University Avenue in 2012.
It's a perfect example of how University Avenue continually reinvents itself.
A home furnishings store gave way to one of the world's most recognizable technology brands—an especially fitting transition in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Then: Z Gallerie and contemporary home furnishings.
Now: Apple and technology recognized around the world.
More Than Storefronts
What makes these businesses interesting isn't necessarily what they sold.
It's what they represented.
- Woolworth's and J.C. Penney tell the story of University Avenue as a traditional American shopping district.
- Golden Crescent Bakery recalls a neighborhood downtown built around everyday routines.
- The Varsity Theatre represents an era when going downtown meant going to the movies.
- Borders reflects a time when large bookstores became social gathering places.
- World Wrapps captures some of the energy and experimentation of Palo Alto during the technology boom.
- Z Gallerie becoming Apple almost perfectly symbolizes downtown's transition into the Silicon Valley era.
- And Bell's Books reminds us that sometimes the businesses that matter most are simply the ones that remain.
Together, they tell the story of a street constantly reinventing itself.
What Do You Remember?
Perhaps that's the most enjoyable thing about looking through old photographs of University Avenue.
Everyone remembers something different.
A restaurant.
A shop.
A first date.
A Saturday afternoon.
A favorite bakery.
A bookstore where you could lose an hour without realizing it.
The businesses may disappear, but the memories attached to them don't disappear quite as easily.
And that's part of what makes a historic downtown feel different from a newly built shopping district.
The buildings have stories.
The sidewalks have memories.
And every generation adds another layer.
University Avenue Today
University Avenue continues to change.
New restaurants open. Shops arrive. Others close. Buildings find new purposes.
That's how downtowns remain alive.
But look closely as you walk along the avenue and you'll find traces of what came before—an old façade, a familiar building, a courtyard, or a storefront that suddenly brings back a memory.
The businesses change.
The street continues.
And more than a century after Palo Alto began growing around it, University Avenue remains the heart of downtown.
Staying in the Middle of the Story
The Cardinal Hotel has watched much of that transformation from just around the corner.
Since opening in 1924, generations of guests have stepped outside the hotel and onto a University Avenue that looked very different depending on the decade.
Some would have shopped at Woolworth's or J.C. Penney.
Others might remember Golden Crescent Bakery.
Guests in the 1990s could have wandered through Borders, eaten at World Wrapps, or browsed Z Gallerie.
And today's guests are creating their own memories at the restaurants, cafés, bookstores, and businesses that now define downtown.
That's one of the pleasures of staying in a historic hotel in a historic downtown.
You're not simply visiting the story.
You're becoming a small part of its next chapter.
Questions About University Avenue History
What stores used to be on University Avenue in Palo Alto?
The article highlights Woolworth’s, J.C. Penney, Bell’s Books, Golden Crescent Bakery, Borders Books & Music, World Wrapps, and Z Gallerie as businesses associated with different eras of University Avenue.
What happened to the Varsity Theatre in Palo Alto?
The former Varsity Theatre was later transformed into Borders Books & Music. Although Borders closed, the distinctive building, entrance, and courtyard remain part of University Avenue.
What was on University Avenue before the Apple Store?
Z Gallerie occupied the site before it was redeveloped for the Apple Store at 340 University Avenue, which the article says opened in 2012.
How is the Cardinal Hotel connected to University Avenue’s history?
The Cardinal Hotel opened in 1924 and has stood near University Avenue through nearly a century of changes in downtown Palo Alto.
Sources and photo credits: Historical information and imagery from the Palo Alto Historical Association and other sources credited throughout the article.
