Sprouts Farmers Market assumed a large portion of a vacant Mervyn's in mid-2013.
Photo from http://www.cpexecutive.com / Commercial Property Executive
Our fourth -and final- FALLBROOK plan dates to 2018. Major differences with the circa-2003 plan are the replacement of Big Kmart with Walmart (2004), the rebranding of the multiplex cinema as an AMC operation (2013) and shuttering of Kohl's (2016).
FALLBROOK SQUARE
Victory Boulevard and Fallbrook Avenue
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles County's first shopping mall, LAKEWOOD CENTER, was developed by Joseph K. Eichenbaum between 1949 and 1956. His firm, the Metropolitan Development Corporation, began planning for a San Fernando Valley merchandising mecca, tentatively known as PLATT RANCH CENTER, in the late 1950s.
Eventually renamed FALLBROOK SQUARE, the open-air complex was designed by Maxwell Starkman & Associates. It was built on an 80-acre site, located 27.6 miles northwest of the Los Angeles Central Business District. At the time, the area was considered to be a part of the Canoga Park community. Today, it is considered to be in the West Hills section of Los Angeles.
A groundbreaking was held in October 1963 for a 4 million dollar Sears. Upon its dedication, on October 28, 1964, it was reputedly the largest store in the 750-unit chain. The FALLBROOK SQUARE Sears encompassed 330,000 square feet. There were four structures; the 2-level, main store (with basement, community room and Peggy Kellogg Snackette), 43-bay Auto Center, an Automotive Annex and Seasonal Merchandise Building.
The first operational FALLBROOK SQUARE store was the House of Sight & Sound, which held its grand opening on November 12, 1963. The (10,000 square foot) Moorish Modern-motif store was an early '60s precursor of today's Best Buy. It carried an assortment of 33 & a third and 45 rpm records, open-reel and 4-track cartridge tapes, color and black and white television sets, stereo systems and organs.
The next stores in the first phase of openings included Sav-On Drug, Crocker Citizens National Bank and a Market Basket grocery. These welcomed first shoppers between November 1963 and January 1964. By the end of 1964, there were over forty stores in operation.
The second phase of construction included a (35,000 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10, which held its grand opening on September 8, 1965. This store included an (8,000 square foot) Mezzanine and 100- person-capacity Woolworth Luncheonette.
The 35 million dollar -fifty-six store- FALLBROOK SQUARE was fully realized with the opening of J.C. Penney, on November 9, 1966. This 3-level (180,000 square foot) store was the epitome of "New Generation" Penneys units. It featured a full line of apparel and accessories, cosmetics, "Penncrest" home appliances and electronics, sporting goods, paint and hardware, furniture and bedding, and a freestanding Penneys Auto Center.
FALLBROOK SQUARE, the "complete shopping city," was improved even more by the opening of the National General Corporation Fox Fallbrook Theatre. This single-screen venue showed its first feature on March 16, 1966.
The primary competitors of FALLBROOK SQUARE were TOPANGA PLAZA (1964) {1 mile east, in Los Angeles} and NORTHRIDGE FASHION CENTER (1971) {4.9 miles northeast, also in Los Angeles}.
J.C. Penney's FALLBROOK location was demoted to an Outlet Store in 1981. In April 1984, an enclosing renovation of the open-air FALLBROOK SQUARE was announced. Construction commenced in November. Des Moines-based General Growth Management (which eventually morphed into General Growth Properties) acquired the complex in September 1985.
Two anchor stores were built as part of the roofing renovation; a 2-level (82,600 square foot) Mervyn's and 1-level (100,300 square foot) Target. Target opened its doors on October 13, 1985, with Mervyn's being dedicated on October 18th. The shopping complex emerged from its 40 million dollar makeover on July 15, 1986. There were now eighty stores and services. A new name had been bequeathed; FALLBROOK MALL.
A 14-bay Food Court occupied space at the mall's Main Entrance. A built-in stage area had been set up in Center Court. There was also a 100-seat Community Room. The original cinema, which had been converted to a twinplex, and then triplex, had closed in 1985. The building was razed and replaced by a Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre. A new multiplex, the General Cinema Corporation Fallbrook VI, was built north of J.C. Penney. This venue showed first features on December 9, 1988.
Regretfully, the mall's 1980s reinvention was not entirely successful. By the early 1990s, it was in decline. Major national tenants had bailed out and been replaced by local mom & pop-type retailers, such as Susie's Deals and Hello Kitty. The Northridge Earthquake of January 1994 caused serious damage to the FALLBROOK MALL Sears. The store did not re-open, but relocated into a vacated The Broadway store at TOPANGA PLAZA. The FALLBROOK store sat vacant for over a year.
A 2.5 million dollar renovation rebuilt the structure into a vertically-stacked Burlington Coat Factory and Big Kmart. The (100,000 square foot) Burlington Coat Factory, on the upper level, opened for business on September 29, 1995. Its dedication was followed by one for the (139,600 square foot) Big Kmart, which made its debut on October 1st.
The movie theater was expanded with 7 -and then 10- screens, before being shuttered in 1999. It was sold, downsized and re-opened, as the Laemmle Fallbrook 7, on December 7, 2001. On March 1, 2013, the theater was rebranded as the AMC Fallbrook 7.
Meanwhile, the J.C. Penney Outlet Store had been shuttered on April 27, 2001. In August of the same year, a second major overhaul of the FALLBROOK facility was announced. It was to be demalled, returning it -in essence- to the open-air complex it started out as in the 1960s. Its name would be changed to FALLBROOK CENTER.
The Kmart-Burlington Coat Factory, Mervyn's, Target, Penney's, Fallbrook 7 and northern store block buildings were retained, along with nine outparcels. The remainder of the mall was bulldozed. The first new stores, DSW and a relocated Ross Dress for Less, opened their doors on October 10, 2002. Kohl's, which occupied 113,700 square feet of the old Penney's, began business on March 7, 2003. A 1-level (115,000 square foot) Home Depot was dedicated on November 13, 2003.
Other tenants in the new power plaza were a (24,000 square foot) Michaels, (16,500 square foot) Petco and (35,000 square foot) Linens 'n Things. On January 28, 2004, Wal-Mart opened in store space previously occupied by Big Kmart. Mervyn's, shuttered in early 2009, was temporarily tenanted by a San Diego-based Crown Books Outlet, which occupied the ground floor. On May 22, 2013, a (27,500 square foot), Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Market opened its doors. The remainder of the old Mervyn's ground floor was taken by Ulta Beauty.
San Diego-based Retail Opportunity Investments Corporation bought FALLBROOK CENTER from General Growth Properties in June 2014. At the time, the shopping hub encompassed 1,120,000 leasable square feet and housed fifty-two stores and services.
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
The Valley Times (North Hollywood, California)
Information from Mitch Glaser
Los Angeles County, California tax assessor website
www.ggp.com / General Growth Properties
http://www.fallbrookcenter.com
