Pioneer Fitness morphed into a Planet Fitness facility.
Photo from https://merlonegeier.propertycapsule.com / MerloneGeier Partners
Peck Road and Stewart Street
El Monte, California
Ground was broken for Los Angeles County's ninth mall-type shopping hub in November 1957. Like EASTLAND CENTER in West Covina, SEARS EL MONTE CENTER was adjacent to the San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10). The retail venue was developed on a 28.8-acre tract, located 14.6 miles east of center city Los Angeles, in suburban El Monte ["Mon-tay"] .
The complex was designed by Stiles & Robert Clement Architects. This firm envisaged several shopping complexes in -and around- Los Angeles. These included VALLEY PLAZA (1951), WASHINGTON SQUARE (1964), SAN BERNARDINO PLAZA (1965) and CANDLEWOOD CENTER (1967).
SEARS EL MONTE CENTER evolved from a freestanding Sears. This 2-level (263,900 square foot) store, and its 29-bay Auto Center, were officially dedicated on November 5, 1958. A small open air-mall was added to Sears, whose stores opened between 1959 and 1961.
A (36,000 square foot) Food Giant grocery commenced operation on July 8, 1959. Inline stores included Bond Clothes, Singer Sewing Center, Gallenkamp Shoes, Barnett's Shoes, Rand Jewelers, Thrifty Drug, the California Bank and an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. In its original state, SEARS EL MONTE CENTER covered approximately 392,000 leasable square feet.
By the 1970s, a Smith's Food King supermarket was in operation. Other contemporary tenants were Empire Silk Stores, Windsor Fashions ladies' wear, Hallmark Cards, Leed's Qualicraft Shoes, Fabric Mountain, Everett's Magnavox and a J.J. Newberry 5 & 10.
The primary retail rival of SEARS EL MONTE CENTER was VALLEY MALL (1965) {.7 of a mile northwest}, which was a redevelopment of El Monte's downtown area. Next in line was SANTA ANITA FASHION PARK {4.6 miles northwest, in Arcadia}, which opened in 1974. MONTEBELLO TOWN CENTER {4 miles southwest, in Montebello} opened its doors in 1988.
Sears pulled up stakes in mid-1984. By this time, much inline store space was vacant. The empty Sears and adjacent shopping center were to be part of a redevelopment, tentatively known as EL MONTE TOWN CENTER. This project never got off the ground.
The Vons supermarket chain considered buying the abandoned Sears and renovating its 2 levels into a combination food retail-soft lines superstore and corporate headquarters-distribution center. However, this never came to fruition. Instead, Fullerton, California's HomeClub established a store in the ground level of the old Sears in mid-1985.
Big Kmart was shuttered and reconfigured as one of the original Sears Essentials units. This store began business in mid-2005, but closed for good in early 2012. It re-opened, as a Sears Outlet, on May 24, 2012 and closed for good on January 21, 2017.
Meanwhile, between 2004 and 2005, the auto dealership underwent a 10 million dollar renovation and expansion. A 5-level parking garage was built and the vacant Sears-HomeClub-HomeBase reconfigured as a Lexus dealership. The Longo organization, reputedly the largest automobile dealer in the United States, included Starbucks Coffee and Subway sandwich stores, as well as two car rental agencies.
By the 1970s, a Smith's Food King supermarket was in operation. Other contemporary tenants were Empire Silk Stores, Windsor Fashions ladies' wear, Hallmark Cards, Leed's Qualicraft Shoes, Fabric Mountain, Everett's Magnavox and a J.J. Newberry 5 & 10.
The primary retail rival of SEARS EL MONTE CENTER was VALLEY MALL (1965) {.7 of a mile northwest}, which was a redevelopment of El Monte's downtown area. Next in line was SANTA ANITA FASHION PARK {4.6 miles northwest, in Arcadia}, which opened in 1974. MONTEBELLO TOWN CENTER {4 miles southwest, in Montebello} opened its doors in 1988.
Sears pulled up stakes in mid-1984. By this time, much inline store space was vacant. The empty Sears and adjacent shopping center were to be part of a redevelopment, tentatively known as EL MONTE TOWN CENTER. This project never got off the ground.
The Vons supermarket chain considered buying the abandoned Sears and renovating its 2 levels into a combination food retail-soft lines superstore and corporate headquarters-distribution center. However, this never came to fruition. Instead, Fullerton, California's HomeClub established a store in the ground level of the old Sears in mid-1985.
This was rebranded as a HomeBase store in 1991, which closed in 2001. The shopping hub was now promoted as EL MONTE CENTER. Longo Toyota had been in business in El Monte since 1967. In 1986, they bought the vacant eastern half of the mall. After over a year of renovations, they opened a dealership on January 4, 1988.
Eventually, the Vons chain did business at EL MONTE CENTER. Instead of a superstore format, they opened Tianguis ["Tee-AHN-gees"], a supermarket specializing in Mexican cuisine. The (80,000 square foot) groceteria opened for business in June 1988, as part of a three-store Northwest Wing. Although initially successful, the nine Tianguis locations were shuttered in late 1993, with the El Monte store being converted to an Expo Market (another Vons division). This went out of business on January 22, 1995, with a Big Kmart taking its place.
Big Kmart was shuttered and reconfigured as one of the original Sears Essentials units. This store began business in mid-2005, but closed for good in early 2012. It re-opened, as a Sears Outlet, on May 24, 2012 and closed for good on January 21, 2017.
Meanwhile, between 2004 and 2005, the auto dealership underwent a 10 million dollar renovation and expansion. A 5-level parking garage was built and the vacant Sears-HomeClub-HomeBase reconfigured as a Lexus dealership. The Longo organization, reputedly the largest automobile dealer in the United States, included Starbucks Coffee and Subway sandwich stores, as well as two car rental agencies.
By this time, the Northwest Wing was being promoted as EL MONTE CENTER. The 15.9-acre facility encompassed approximately 180,800 leasable square feet and housed twelve store spaces. The (80,000 square foot) building, that had housed a Sears Outlet, was leased by Target. Their new discount department store welcomed first shoppers in October 2024.
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times
The Long Beach Independent
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune (Monrovia, California)
The Star-News (Pasadena, California)
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune (Monrovia, California)
The Star-News (Pasadena, California)
The Torrance Press (Torrance, California)
www.penskegroup.com
www.penskegroup.com
https://planning.lacity.org / "Environmental Impact Analysis Historic Resources" / January 2010
Information and photos from Jeff Arellano
Los Angeles County, California tax assessor website
www.longotoyota.com
Information and photos from Jeff Arellano
Los Angeles County, California tax assessor website
www.longotoyota.com
https://merlonegeier.propertycapsule.com (Merlone Geier Partners)
https://www.californiacitynews.org