At the time of a circa-2018 plan, various stores and restaurants have gone out of business, with some spaces having been retenanted. Mervyn's morphed into a Kohl's in late 2009. Carino's Italian Grill is now a Chick-Fil-A, with Cost Plus World Market being followed by Old Navy.
WHITTWOOD CENTER
Whittier Boulevard and Santa Gertrudes Avenue
Los Angeles County (Whittier), California
The sixth mall-type shopping complex in Los Angeles County was developed by Irvine's John D. Lusk and designed by Herman C. Light. It was built on a 61-acre plot, located 20 miles southeast of center city Los Angeles, in the unincorporated community of East Whittier. This area was annexed into the city of Whittier in 1961.
News of a prospective East Whittier shopping hub had surfaced in January 1954. Ground was broken for the WHITTWOOD CENTER project on February 1, 1956. A 1-level (39,000 square foot) Von's supermarket was dedicated on October 4, 1956. A freestanding Security First National Bank opened on October 21st. Six more businesses had opened their doors by November; Sav-On Drug, Youth Town Children's Clothing, Gallenkamp Shoes, Tops N Bottoms ladies' wear and Gullotti Ross, Optometrist.
By 1958, forty-four stores were in operation. These included Leed's Qualicraft Shoes, Gladys Fowler ladies' wear, Jolly Roger Restaurant, Pearson men's wear, Sherwin-Williams Paints, Graue's Bakery, Mal's Barber Shop, the Whittwood Beauty Salon and a 2-level (28,000 square foot) W.T. Grant. A 1-level (43,500 square foot) J.C. Penney welcomed its first customers on January 21, 1960.
Construction commenced on a 3-level (130,900 square foot) The Broadway in February 1960. The tenth store in the Los Angeles-based chain, it was officially dedicated on February 13, 1961. The Bruen's Whittier Whittwood Theatre opened on July 14, 1964. This single-screen venue was a peripheral structure located in the mall's west parking area.
A major renovation was announced in December 1970. Over 300,000 square feet would be added to WHITTWOOD CENTER. Vons would relocate to a new (31,000 square foot) store, in a freestanding Convenience Center. The original Vons, to be vacated in June 1971, would be demolished and replaced by a 2-level (182,800 square foot) J.C. Penney.
This store would hold its grand opening on April 25, 1973. The original Penney's, at the center of the center, re-opened as a Whittier-based Myers department store. It began business on May 2, 1974. By early 1976, it had been rebranded as an Inglewood, California-based Boston Stores.
The shopping hub was now being promoted as WHITTWOOD MALL. A second major overhaul was made public in March 1978. This project was designed by McClellen, Cruz, Gaylord & Associates, of Pasadena. The mall was being fully-enclosed, 160,000 square feet of retail area added and the cinema reconfigured. Eighteen new stores were signed.
A revitalized -and weatherproof- WHITTWOOD was formally dedicated on November 17, 1979. A 2-level (87,000 square foot) Mervyn's welcomed its first shoppers on November 2, 1981. The 14-bay Food Park, installed in the mall's East Wing, opened for business on November 14 of the same year.
The primary retail rival of WHITTWOOD CENTER was WHITTIER QUAD (1953-1990) {2.1 miles northwest, in Whittier}. There were also WHITTIER DOWNS MALL (1955-1988) {4.6 miles northwest, in Santa Fe Springs} and LA MIRADA CENTER (1959) {3.1 miles southwest, in La Mirada}. PUENTE ["poo-in-tay"] HILLS MALL {5 miles northeast, in the City of Industry} was dedicated in 1974. BREA MALL {6.2 miles southeast, in Orange County} was completed in 1977.
By the early 1990s, WHITTWOOD MALL was being described by the Los Angeles Times as "dowdy." A downward trajectory was hastened by the shuttering of Boston Stores and The Broadway in February 1996. Sears opened a store in the old The Broadway on November 2, 1996. Unfortunately, this did not reverse the decline of the shopping center. The Whittwood Theatre had been shuttered in the mid-1980s. Its replacement, the Krikorian Whittwood Cinema 10, was dedicated on November 23, 1990. This motion picture venue closed for good in 2001.
In April 2002, WHITTWOOD MALL was sold to a joint venture of the Miami Beach-based LNR Property Corporation and Irvine-based Hopkins Real Estate Group. By July 2004, the end was at hand. The bulk of the shopping hub was demolished, save for Sears, Mervyn's, Penney's and the Von's strip center. The northeast store block was temporarily left standing. After Sav-On-CVS Drug relocated into a new outparcel location, it was razed.
Existing structures were worked into a new "urban village" power plaza. Christened WHITTWOOD TOWN CENTER, the 785,700 square foot complex was completed in stages between late 2005 and early 2007. A1-level (142,000 square foot) Target was inaugurated on October 9, 2005. The TOWN CENTER included a (25,000 square foot) PetSmart and 120 "upscale townhomes."
Existing structures were worked into a new "urban village" power plaza. Christened WHITTWOOD TOWN CENTER, the 785,700 square foot complex was completed in stages between late 2005 and early 2007. A1-level (142,000 square foot) Target was inaugurated on October 9, 2005. The TOWN CENTER included a (25,000 square foot) PetSmart and 120 "upscale townhomes."
The demise of Mervyn's, in December 2008, created a vacant anchor space that was filled by Wisconsin-based Kohl's on September 30, 2009. In October 2014, WHITTWOOD TOWN CENTER was acquired by a joint venture of Beachwood, Ohio-based Developers Diversified Realty (DDR) and an affiliate New York City's Blackstone Realty Partners. The shopping hub was sold to the Jericho, New York-based Kimco Realty Corporation in November 2017.
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
The East Whittier Review
The La Habra Star
The Whittier News
The Van Nuys News (Van Nuys, California)
The Daily Breeze
Whittier City Directories 1957, 1965, 1973 and 1976
"TokyoMagic!"
Los Angeles County, California tax assessor website
Whittier City Directories 1957, 1965, 1973 and 1976
"TokyoMagic!"
Los Angeles County, California tax assessor website
http://www.whittwoodtowncenter.com
https://www.costar.com
