Here is a post I made some time back on the "Wheaton Plaza in 1975" thread:
My comments refer to a photo which was posted, but no longer available.
... The picture was taken at what is referred to in some of these posts as the mall center or fountain area. Behind the photographer was one of the large end stores, Woodward and Lothrop (aka "Woodies").
The scene is of the fountain area where the Easter Bunny display was set up and where Sheila and Kate were last seen by their brother Jay and by another boy.
In the background is the Montgomery Ward Company (aka Wards), which was the other large "end store". Woodies was in the East end of Wheaton Plaza, and Wards was in the West end.
The Mall was sort of "T" shaped. You are looking West at the main avenue between the End stores, but there was also an avenue of stores which extended South, toward the left of the photo.
Between the fountain and Wards was the Orange Bowl pizza takeout restaurant and the brick planter where Sheila and Kate were seen talking to the "Tape Recorder Man" (aka TRM) by the eyewitness known as "Jimmy" and his friend.
"Jimmy" stated that immediately afterward, he saw the TRM walking away toward Wards and the girls walking in the opposite direction toward the Fountain.
There were parking lots in almost any direction from which you could exit the mall. At that time, there were quite a number of different entrances and exits to Wheaton Plaza, some led directly from the parking lots to the open area shown in the photo, while others led directly into stores - particularly into the end stores of Wards and Woodies.
It is most likely that Sheila and Kate entered Wheaton Plaza through Wards, OR through the Mall entrance just to the left of Wards in the photo, as their home was to the West of Wheaton Plaza, and the path they usually took led directly to Wards' back door.
