By the mid-1990s, the shopping hub -a victim of the over-malling of Greater Los Angeles- had outlived its purpose as a retail center. It was reconfigured as an educational, office and tech center. In the 21st century, the facility is known as THE VILLAGE @ INDIAN HILL.
Graphic from http://villageatindianhill.com
Photos from Jeff Arellano
POMONA VALLEY CENTER
East Holt Avenue and Indian Hill Boulevard
Pomona and Montclair, California
Three open-air malls were dedicated in Los Angeles County during 1955; LOS ALTOS CENTER {in Long Beach}, WHITTIER DOWNS MALL {in Los Angeles County} and POMONA VALLEY CENTER {predominantly in Pomona}.
POMONA VALLEY CENTER (a.k.a. THE PVC) was built on 50 acres straddling the Los Angeles and San Bernardino county line. It was located 33.8 miles east of center city Los Angeles. The bulk of the 20 million dollar complex was within the city limits of Pomona, with half of its Sears anchor store lying within the city of Montclair.
The complex was developed by a joint venture of John S. Griffith, William A. Johnson, John D. Gregg and William Pempel. Its design was envisaged by Sterling Leach and the Barondon Corporation of Los Angeles.
Construction commenced on the PVC Sears in March 1954. The 2-level (139,000 square foot) store opened for business on November 10, 1954. A (38,000 square foot) Market Basket supermarket opened its doors on September 22, 1955, with a 2-level (30,000 square foot) J.J. Newberry 5 & 10 making its debut on November 3rd of the same year. One of the final new stores was a 2-level (43,000 square foot) F.C. Nash department store, which was dedicated on April 6, 1956.
THE PVC mall consisted of a main retail level and basement. The below-grade portion of the complex housed lower levels for tenants, such as Sears, Newberry's and Nash's. There was also a subterranean shopping arcade, which included a cafe and US Post Office.
An expansion was built on the mall's west end in 1967, which included a new stores for Longs Drugs and Market Basket. This addition was followed by the construction of a 1-level (100,800 square foot), Los Angeles-based Zodys discount mart. It opened, as the chain's fifteenth location, on June 8, 1969. With these improvements, POMONA VALLEY CENTER housed seventy-five stores and services.
Major commercial competitors for were POMONA MALL (1962) {1.6 miles southwest, in downtown Pomona} and MONTCLAIR PLAZA (1968) {2 miles northeast, in Montclair}.
The PVC Nash's store was shuttered in 1970. It re-opened as a Los Angeles-based Roberts department store. Inline stores at this time included Harris & Frank, Moran's Drapery, Sally Shops of California, Melody Dress Shop, David Platt Music & Appliance and Empire Silk Stores.
A renovation and retenanting commenced in the early '70s. Based around a mall-wide face lift, the remodeling installed The Village -a mall within a mall- in existing space. Boutiques included House of 1001 Wigs, Morning Star Jewelry, Reed Family Candies, the Plantasia plant & terrarium store and Joshua T. dress shop. The Village was dedicated in November 1974. At this time, the name of the entire shopping venue was changed to INDIAN HILL VILLAGE.
A 15 million dollar roofing renovation was done in the early 1980s. The newly-enclosed complex held a grand opening on September 26, 1982. Unfortunately, the proliferation of bigger and better shopping venues in the trade area caused the revitalized INDIAN HILL VILLAGE to enter a downward spiral.
This was exacerbated by an expansion of MONTCLAIR PLAZA that was dedicated in October 1985. The newly-enlarged shopping hub snatched the 30-year-old Sears at INDIAN HILL VILLAGE. In 1986, the mall's Zody's and Robert's stores closed for good.
Over the next 5 years, the old Zodys store was retenanted as The Giant and then Ralphs supermarkets. The Super Saver Cinemas 8 opened, in the East Wing of the mall, on February 1, 1990. This venue was shuttered in 2005.
POMONA VALLEY CENTER
East Holt Avenue and Indian Hill Boulevard
Pomona and Montclair, California
Three open-air malls were dedicated in Los Angeles County during 1955; LOS ALTOS CENTER {in Long Beach}, WHITTIER DOWNS MALL {in Los Angeles County} and POMONA VALLEY CENTER {predominantly in Pomona}.
POMONA VALLEY CENTER (a.k.a. THE PVC) was built on 50 acres straddling the Los Angeles and San Bernardino county line. It was located 33.8 miles east of center city Los Angeles. The bulk of the 20 million dollar complex was within the city limits of Pomona, with half of its Sears anchor store lying within the city of Montclair.
The complex was developed by a joint venture of John S. Griffith, William A. Johnson, John D. Gregg and William Pempel. Its design was envisaged by Sterling Leach and the Barondon Corporation of Los Angeles.
Construction commenced on the PVC Sears in March 1954. The 2-level (139,000 square foot) store opened for business on November 10, 1954. A (38,000 square foot) Market Basket supermarket opened its doors on September 22, 1955, with a 2-level (30,000 square foot) J.J. Newberry 5 & 10 making its debut on November 3rd of the same year. One of the final new stores was a 2-level (43,000 square foot) F.C. Nash department store, which was dedicated on April 6, 1956.
THE PVC mall consisted of a main retail level and basement. The below-grade portion of the complex housed lower levels for tenants, such as Sears, Newberry's and Nash's. There was also a subterranean shopping arcade, which included a cafe and US Post Office.
An expansion was built on the mall's west end in 1967, which included a new stores for Longs Drugs and Market Basket. This addition was followed by the construction of a 1-level (100,800 square foot), Los Angeles-based Zodys discount mart. It opened, as the chain's fifteenth location, on June 8, 1969. With these improvements, POMONA VALLEY CENTER housed seventy-five stores and services.
Major commercial competitors for were POMONA MALL (1962) {1.6 miles southwest, in downtown Pomona} and MONTCLAIR PLAZA (1968) {2 miles northeast, in Montclair}.
The PVC Nash's store was shuttered in 1970. It re-opened as a Los Angeles-based Roberts department store. Inline stores at this time included Harris & Frank, Moran's Drapery, Sally Shops of California, Melody Dress Shop, David Platt Music & Appliance and Empire Silk Stores.
A renovation and retenanting commenced in the early '70s. Based around a mall-wide face lift, the remodeling installed The Village -a mall within a mall- in existing space. Boutiques included House of 1001 Wigs, Morning Star Jewelry, Reed Family Candies, the Plantasia plant & terrarium store and Joshua T. dress shop. The Village was dedicated in November 1974. At this time, the name of the entire shopping venue was changed to INDIAN HILL VILLAGE.
A 15 million dollar roofing renovation was done in the early 1980s. The newly-enclosed complex held a grand opening on September 26, 1982. Unfortunately, the proliferation of bigger and better shopping venues in the trade area caused the revitalized INDIAN HILL VILLAGE to enter a downward spiral.
This was exacerbated by an expansion of MONTCLAIR PLAZA that was dedicated in October 1985. The newly-enlarged shopping hub snatched the 30-year-old Sears at INDIAN HILL VILLAGE. In 1986, the mall's Zody's and Robert's stores closed for good.
Over the next 5 years, the old Zodys store was retenanted as The Giant and then Ralphs supermarkets. The Super Saver Cinemas 8 opened, in the East Wing of the mall, on February 1, 1990. This venue was shuttered in 2005.
During the closing years of the 20th century, the mall was renamed three times. It became INDIAN HILL MARKETPLACE in the late 1980s, PLAZA AZTECA in 1993 and THE VILLAGE @ INDIAN HILL around the year 2000.
In 1995, the West Wing of the mall had been purchased by the Pomona Unified School
District, who renovated the space for educational purposes. Eventually, the shopping hub morphed into an educational institution and office complex.
In the early 2020s, VILLAGE @ INDIAN HILL housed a campus of the Pomona Unified School District, a Conference & Technical Center and retail tenants such as Cal Western Visuals, Ikon Incorporated, Crittenton and the Indian Hill Indoor Swap Meet (in the old Sears building).
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
Pomona Progress Bulletin (Pomona, California)
In the early 2020s, VILLAGE @ INDIAN HILL housed a campus of the Pomona Unified School District, a Conference & Technical Center and retail tenants such as Cal Western Visuals, Ikon Incorporated, Crittenton and the Indian Hill Indoor Swap Meet (in the old Sears building).
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
Pomona Progress Bulletin (Pomona, California)
The Daily Bulletin (Ontario, California)
Information and photos from Jeff Arellano
https://assessor.lacounty.gov / Los Angeles County, California
http://villageatindianhill.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.cinematreasures.org
Information and photos from Jeff Arellano
https://assessor.lacounty.gov / Los Angeles County, California
http://villageatindianhill.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.cinematreasures.org
