In early February 1981, Sunrise Mall opened as something new for Corpus Christi. It was a two-story enclosed shopping mall with skylights, geometric tile floors, and fountains in the center court.
Large anchor stores stood at the corners, and an H-E-B grocery store was part of the property. The mall stood on about 34.55 acres at 5858 South Padre Island Drive, less than 1,000 feet from the older Padre-Staples Mall.
From the beginning, the two malls competed for the same shoppers. People who had gone to Padre-Staples for years now had a new place to visit…