pathway was an open-air plaza, lined with boxed evergreen trees. At the time of its opening, Wheaton Plaza was the largest shopping center in the Washington Metropolitan Area and the sixth largest in the United States. 411,000 people visited Wheaton Plaza during its first week. By March 1960, stores at Wheaton Plaza included Strosnider's Hardware, Bank of Silver Spring, Lamp & Shade Center, Raleigh's Haberdasher, Baker Shoes, E. D. Edwards Shoe Store, Embassy Men's Wear, Hanover Shoes, Peoples Drug Store, Dolls and Dames, Miles Shoes, Happy Time Togs, Hahn Shoes, Variety Records, Fannie May Candy Store, Lerner Shops, National Shirt Shops, Vincent & Vincent, Webster Clothes, Winthrop Jewelers, Kay Jewelers, and Hot Shoppes. Unconventionally, the developers decided where tenants' stores needed to be located, rather than allow tenants to choose. Rents were relatively high. Store owners in downtown Silver Spring considered Wheaton Plaza to be an economic threat. Developer Theodore N. Lerner said Wheaton Plaza "is the way the future's going to be—a suburban 'downtown' with a mall and free parking." In May 1960, John F. Kennedy visited Wheaton Plaza during his presidential campaign. Eleanor Roosevelt spoke at a campaign rally for Kennedy in November 1960. In 1962, construction started on Wheaton Plaza's second office building. At ten stories high, it was the largest office building in Montgomery County. Hechinger opened a store at Wheaton Plaza on December 13, 1963. In 1964, the nation's first self-service post office opened in Wheaton Plaza. The post office had vending machines for stamps and envelopes, and scales for customers to use. It was located in a plywood shelter in the parking lot. Wheaton Plaza remained the largest shopping center in the area until the Lerner-Gudelsky development Tysons Corner Center opened in 1968. Wheaton Plaza was the site of the 1975 disappearance of the Lyon Sisters. Their case was not solved until 2015. In 1974, a plan to enclose the mall was initiated. The seven-year delay to enclose the mall and anchor expansion by business partner Lerner, who also had interests in nearby White Flint Mall, caused a $30 million lawsuit between partners. A new wing, anchored by Hecht's, was built in 1987. Target replaced Montgomery Ward after the latter chain ceased operations. In 2005, the service tunnel beneath the mall was converted to retail space. Macy's opened a new store, shortly before Macy's owner Federated Department Stores purchased Hecht's owner May Department Stores.