In a photo from 1966, a Safeway employee eagerly assists customers with their groceries while fellow Sun City shoppers happily go about their business.
Today, a thrift store occupies the space where Safeway once existed and a dollar store operates on the west end of the plaza.

Plaza del Sol Shopping Center

Plaza del Sol Shopping Center, located on the southeast corner of 107th and Peoria avenues, was built in the early 1960s to serve Sun City’s then-growing population, which at the time was expanding to the south.

When Sun City first opened in 1960, all homes, recreation facilities and the community’s first shopping center were located south of Grand Avenue.

It wasn’t until 1970 that the Webb Corporation crossed over Grand Avenue to expand Sun City to the north.

Safeway, which already had a grocery store in the Grand Shopping Center, opened a second store in the Plaza del Sol Shopping Center.

Today, a thrift store occupies the space where Safeway once existed and a dollar store operates on the west end of the plaza. The structure has been renovated and updated over the years, but still retains much of its original look.

Archive photos courtesy of the Sun Cities Area Historical Society. Current photo by Bret McKeand/Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA