Quote:
Originally Posted by FromSD
The remaining malls in LA are doing well because so many of their former competitors have bitten the dust. Del Amo in Torrance is still a going concern and was revamped a few years ago, though the end of mall anchored by the now shuttered Sears is decrepit. But up Hawthorne Blvd. from Del Amo, several other malls have been shuttered or downsized. The Hawthorne Mall is gone. Old Towne Mall in Torrance was an indoor mall but now has been repurposed as a plain strip mall. The South Bay Galleria where Redondo Beach, Lawndale and Torrance meet, was built in the mid-eighties with a 3 story arcade and 3 department stores. Now 2 of the department stores are gone and there are plans to replace part of the rest of the mall with apartments. This pattern has repeated all over LA County--Long Beach, Baldwin Hills, Pasadena, SF Valley, etc. In general, the less successful malls bite the dust leaving the survivors to divide the remaining shoppers between them.
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I did mentioned some malls have died, and others have moved on to become something else, such as mixed use development of apartments and retail. I just see those as changing with the times, and the majority of those locations are still functioning as retail, restaurants and entertainment. The only one that I can think that shut down is the Hawthorne Mall and a lot of that has to do with very bad mistakes in management and politics.
I doubt that Del Amo Mall will go away, I guarantee if they just look at the example of what Manhattan Beach Mall did, it would be the jewel of the South Bay again. I also don’t think the South Bay Galleria is going to be abandoned, I’ve seen it go through worse situations back in the late 70’s. Both Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach have a lot going for it outside the malls, they have a thriving downtown and restaurant scene, yet the malls still did and do very well in spite of the beach culture entertainment just a mile or two away.
In the San Fernando Valley, some malls have changed, but the majority have weathered the recent storms as they have adapted to the changes. Glendale Galleria is just across the street from the very popular Americana retail/entertainment/apartments development and not to mentioned a very active downtown with Brand Blvd being the main attraction. This mall has definitely seem to be doing well, and I like the fact that it also feels as if it’s just an extension of The Americana, as the flow of pedestrians just blends outside to inside and on down to Glendale’s main downtown street Brand Blvd. Rick Caruso did a much better job on this project than the designed on the The Grove where it’s back is to the street on the west side of LA. The Sherman Oaks Mall also looks very healthy, and also looks as though it bounced back from the pandemic.
Northridge was looking a bit down a few years ago, but not in danger of closing and at the same time I was seeing updates being done to the complex. As of late there has been a lot of development of luxury apartments surrounding that mall. I also don’t think the well to do neighborhoods surrounding the mall will allow it to go down hill. There would be no other spots close by to shop other than Porter Ranch, or all the way across the Valley to my neighborhood where the Topanga Mall is.
North Hollywood had a failed Mall, Laurel Plaza /Valley Plaza. but there is something new in the area that has replaced it (NoHo West) again with retail, restaurants and luxury apartments.
Overall I still believe LA malls still in good shape compared to other cities around the country.
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