Northridge Fashion Center

Northridge Fashion Center
Level 2 entrance
Map
LocationNorthridge, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Coordinates34°14′21″N 118°33′21″W / 34.23917°N 118.55583°W / 34.23917; -118.55583
Opening date1971; 53 years ago (1971)
DeveloperJ. David Gladstone
ManagementBrookfield Properties
OwnerBrookfield Properties
No. of stores and services184
No. of anchor tenants5
Total retail floor area1,407,532 sq ft (130,000 m2)
No. of floors2 (3 in main Macy's and former Sears, 4 in JCPenney)
Websitenorthridgefashioncenter.com
[1]

Northridge Fashion Center is a large shopping mall located in Northridge, Los Angeles, California. It opened in 1971. It was severely damaged during the Northridge earthquake in 1994, but renovated extensively in 1995, 1998, and 2003. The mall features J. C. Penney, Macy's, and Macy's Furniture Gallery, Dick's Sporting Goods, in addition to an AMC Theatres.

History

[edit]

The mall’s original anchors were JCPenney, Sears, Bullock's, and The Broadway.

The first store to open at the mall was a Bullock's department store, in September 1971.[2] The Broadway followed in October,[3] and Sears in November; after the rest of the mall opened in 1971, J. C. Penney was added as a fourth anchor in 1972.[4] An expansion was announced in 1985, comprising J. W. Robinson's and May Company California.[5] Both stores were the anchors to two new wings added in 1988.[6] When those chains merged in 1993, they both operated as Robinsons-May.[7]

In January 1994, the mall was damaged by the Northridge earthquake. The earthquake severely damaged several parking structures, caused damage to the interior mall, and all six anchor stores, including the Bullock's store, which was condemned soon afterward.[8] Although The Broadway and Sears reopened in late 1994, renovation was further delayed through mid-1995.[9] By June 1995, J. C. Penney was gutted and rebuilt.[10][11] Bullock's was completely demolished and rebuilt from the ground up as a result of the earthquake.[12][13]

One of the mall's interiors

Federated Department Stores, then-owners of the Bullock's and Broadway chains, converted the Bullock's to Macy's in 1996 and closed the Broadway, although it was planned to become a Bloomingdale's.[14] A year later, Robinsons-May consolidated its two stores into the store at the southwest corner of the mall. The Robinsons-May at the northwest end was demolished for a movie theater, while the former Broadway store was subdivided for smaller mall shops.[15] General Growth Properties acquired the mall and began construction on the outdoor promenade that replaced the former Broadway. It opened in 1999 with Borders Books & Music and several restaurants.[16] When Macy's acquired Robinsons-May in 2006, the Robinsons-May store became a Macy's Home Store.[17] The mall was renovated in 2013,[18][19] including new tile and paint throughout the mall concourses, redesign of the common spaces, upgrades to the main courts, food court and an outdoor patio expansion. The entire mall was brought up to ADA standards.[20]

Borders closed and became Sports Authority in 2011, but it too went out of business in 2016 and the space was taken over by Dave & Buster's.[21]

In 2013, Ross Stores took over the space vacated by Circuit City.[22]

In 2015, Sears Holdings spun off its 235 properties, including the Sears at Northridge Fashion Center, into Seritage Growth Properties.[23]

Sears closed this location on January 5, 2020, after an announcement in November 2019 that the chain would be shutting down 96 stores nationwide.[24] The former Sears was replaced in May 2021 by a new Dick's Sporting Goods store on the lower level and a Curacao store on the upper level.[25] Other tenants that now occupy the former space are Gold's Gym and Blaze Pizza.

On April 7, 2022, two robbery suspects ran through the mall after a report of a robbery was received by the Los Angeles Police Department.[26]

On April 12, 2022, Porto's Bakery took over the space vacated by Sears Auto Center.

[edit]

In the 1987 sci-fi comedy film Innerspace, the mall's interior was used as the fictional "Santa Clara Fashion Square" in which the climax of a chase sequence took place early in the film.[27]

The mall appeared in the 2020 film The Prom. The scene takes place in the center of the mall along with the fountain.

Anchors

[edit]
View of one of the Macy's anchor tenants (formerly Bullock's) located next to Lids

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Northridge Fashion Center". Brookfield Properties.
  2. ^ Apodaca, Patrice (January 19, 1994). "Bullock's Store Will Probably Be Razed". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ Dick, Turpin (October 17, 1971). "$4.5 Million Broadway to open". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ "New Penney store slated to open". Los Angeles Times. April 9, 1972.
  5. ^ Jalon, Allan (April 16, 1985). "Robinson's, May Co. Keystones in Northridge Mall Expansion". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ Sullivan, Meg (July 20, 1987). "As Fashion Center Grows to Size XL, Some Shoppers Feel Pinch in Parking". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ^ SCHEERES, JULIA (June 18, 1997). "Mall Lot Demolished; Store Starts Merger". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ "Northridge Mall Reopening Delayed Until October". Los Angeles Times. March 22, 1994.
  9. ^ "Northridge Mall Reopening Pushed Back to Summer". Los Angeles Times. January 17, 1995.
  10. ^ Bond, Ed (June 14, 1995). "NORTHRIDGE : Rebuilt Penney's Reopens Today". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ Riccardi, Nicholas (May 10, 1995). "NORTHRIDGE : New J.C. Penney Nearly Ready to Open Doors". Los Angeles Times.
  12. ^ Leovy, Jill (February 23, 1994). "NORTHRIDGE : Few Gather for Demolition of Bullock's Store". Los Angeles Times.
  13. ^ "Retail". Los Angeles Times. 10 August 1995.
  14. ^ Apodaca, Patrice (March 9, 1996). "Northridge : Store May Become Entertainment Center". Los Angeles Times.
  15. ^ Scheeres, Julia (June 18, 1997). "Mall Lot Demolished; Store Starts Merger". Los Angeles Times.
  16. ^ Robinson-Jacobs, Karen (May 4, 1999). "New Mall Tenants to Fill Space, Stomachs". Los Angeles Times.
  17. ^ "Federatrf Planning to Sell Off 20 Stores". Daily News of Los Angeles. July 29, 2005.
  18. ^ Daily News Coverage of Makeover
  19. ^ Remodel Completion in 2013
  20. ^ Remodel by KTGY Architecture + Planning 2013
  21. ^ Melero, Angela (November 29, 2011). "Sports Authority to Open New Location in Northridge Fashion Center". American City Business Journals.
  22. ^ Daniels, Saul (February 25, 2013). "Ross Dress for Less Coming to Northridge Fashion Center". Patch Media.
  23. ^ "Sears at Northridge Fashion Center | Seritage". www.seritage.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-17.
  24. ^ "Sears and Kmart closing more stores in late 2019 and early 2020. Is your location closing?". USA Today.
  25. ^ Dick’s SG Announces Grand Opening Of Four Stores SGB Media, May 4, 2021
  26. ^ Yee, Gregory. "2 robbery suspects captured at Northridge mall". 2 men captured, 2 at large after report of robbery at Northridge Fashion Center. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  27. ^ Cowan, Jared. "A Brief History of L.A. Malls in Movies, Music Videos, and TV Shows". LA Mag.com. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  28. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (2021-12-21). "AMC Entertainment Takes Over Two More Arclight Cinemas And Pacific Theatres – In LA, Chicago". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
[edit]