In October 1987, the WHITTIER QUAD was damaged by the Whittier Narrows Earthquake. The recently-abandoned "May's Whittier" store was severely shaken, with its parking garage collapsing.
Photo from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
What remained of the post-temblor mall was knocked down. Hinshaw's, which had incurred minor damage, was left standing and was incorporated into THE QUAD AT WHITTIER, a new open-air power center. Structures in dark gray were complete by 1991. Those in medium gray were dedicated in 1992, with components indicated in light gray being finished in 1995.
In the year 2021, the physical layout of QUAD AT WHITTIER is identical to that of 1999, but there has been a bit of merchandising musical chairs. Michaels moved from the southwest store block to the northwest. Stores such as Bloom apparel, Anna's Linens, Old Navy and U-Save Furniture have come and gone. Replacement tenants include Marshalls and Five Below.
The Ralph's supermarket at QUAD AT WHITTIER was rebranded by Vallarta Supermarkets in August 2015.
Photo from http://www.terramarcenters.com
WHITTIER QUAD
Whitter Boulevard and Painter Avenue
Whittier, California
Southern California's first mall-type shopping complex, LAKEWOOD CENTER, was completed in phases between 1951 and 1956. The region's second shopping mall was built on a 27-acre parcel, located 19.3 miles southeast of center city Los Angeles, in suburban Whittier.
WHITTIER QUAD was developed by Pasadena's Benjamin Clayton, under the auspices of the Clayton Foundation. Ground was broken for the project on June 4, 1952. The first operational store, a (33,900 square foot) Shopping Bag supermarket, was dedicated on March 12, 1953. A 2-level (43,000 square foot) Hinshaw's department store held its grand opening on March 13th. On hand for the ribbon cutting were Ezra Hinshaw (store co-owner), Jack Powell (store manager) and Ralph Thynnes (of the Whittier Chamber of Commerce).
A 2-level (30,000 square foot) F.C. Nash, became the final operational tenant on November 12, 1954. Charter WHITTIER QUAD stores included Barker Brothers Furniture, Heck's Men's Shop, Crown City Mattress, Westbrook Yardage and a 1-level (29,600 square foot) W.T. Grant variety store.
Hinshaw's built its first expansion between May and November of 1955. 31,000 square feet were added, increasing the store's size to 76,000 square feet. Parking area was also created south of the store; there were now accommodations for 2,500 autos.
Competing shopping hubs included WHITTIER DOWNS MALL (1955-1988) {2.3 miles northwest, in Los Angeles County}, WHITTWOOD CENTER (1956-2003) {2.1 miles southeast, in Whittier} and STONEWOOD CENTER (1958) {5 miles southwest, in Downey}.
The Von's chain built a (30,500 square foot) "superstore" as a freestanding WHITTIER QUAD structure. The new grocery commenced operation on October 4, 1961. It replaced the 7-year-old Shopping Bag market in the mall proper. The original Shopping Bag was repurposed as Family Fair (a Hinshaw's Budget Annex). A re-grand opening took place on May 3, 1962. Hinshaw's now encompassed approximately 101,000 square feet.
May Company California located its 12th Los Angeles store at WHITTIER QUAD. "May's Whittier," built as a freestanding shadow anchor, opened on August 2, 1965. The 4-level (248,000 square foot) structure included a "Maymart" discount floor and freestanding May Company Auto Center. There was also an adjacent, 3-level parking garage, with space for 1,400 autos.
The shopping concourse at WHITTIER QUAD was enclosed and climate-controlled in 1972-'73. A grand re-opening commenced on June 2, 1973. As part of this remodeling, Hinshaw's was physically joined with the old Shopping Bag space. Soon after, new Thrifty Drug and The Akron ["ak-RON"] stores were built near Vons. The new department store and pharmacy each encompassed 33,000 square feet. They were officially dedicated on September 21, 1978.
In March 1987, work commenced on a 2 million dollar mall renovation. This project was abandoned when the Whittier Narrows Earthquake hit, on October 1st of the same year. Several WHITTIER QUAD buildings received major damage. The May Company parking garage collapsed, with the store itself being nearly destroyed (it had been shuttered in 1984). After the quake, the store and garage were never repaired. They were eventually demolished, along with the bulk of the shopping center.
Hinshaw's -not severely shaken- stayed in business until January 1992. The building and its parking structure had been worked into a 467,500 square foot power center, known as THE QUAD AT WHITTIER. This complex, developed by Carlsbad, California's GMS Realty, opened for business in November 1990.
Additional stores were dedicated in stages during the 1990s. These included Ross Dress For Less (25,700 square feet), Staples (17,200 square feet), T.J. Maxx (25,000 square feet) and Burlington Coat Factory (2-levels and 87,400 square feet).
GMS Realty morphed into an entity known as Terramar Retail Centers in May 2007. The official name of the concern eventually morphed into TRC Retail, with the corporate offices moving to Newport Beach, California.
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
The La Habra Star
The Whittier News
The La Mirada Review
The Whittier Historical Society
Los Angeles County, California tax assessor website
Inside Whittier.com
"TokyoMagic!"
http://digi.whittierlibrary.org/awweb/main.jsp
Whittier City Directories 1961, 1963, 1970, 1973 and 1976
Comments posted by Steve Carras, Jeff Arellano and "Tokyo Magic
http://www.terramarcenters.com/properties?property=quad&order=alpha / Terramar Retail Centers
