Sepulveda and Hawthorne Boulevards
Torrance, California
The eleventh mall-type shopping center in Los Angeles County was developed by the Del Amo Estate Company. Open-air in format, the mall was built on a 78-acre site. This was located 20.5 miles southwest of center city Los Angeles, in suburban Torrance. The mall site was part of the 200-acre Del Amo Estate, a Spanish crown land grant dating to 1784.
Ground was broken for the DEL AMO CENTER mall in December 1957. Two department stores anchored the original complex. A 4-level (225,000 square foot) The Broadway was designed by Los Angeles' Welton Becket & Associates. The Broadway opened, as the first operational DEL AMO CENTER store, on February 16, 1959. Sears' 2-level (284,000 square foot) unit was designed by Los Angeles' Stiles Clements. Its grand opening was held on October 1, 1959.
The mall proper was built in two phases. The first developed the West Mall block, which contained seven tenant spaces. Its 2-level (70,000 square foot) J.C. Penney opened for business on March 16, 1961. Other West Mall stores were Silverwood's, Ontra Cafeteria and a 2-level (21,000 square foot) F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10.
Construction of the two East Mall store blocks commenced in the spring of 1960. Ten new stores and services welcomed customers in May 1961, with store dedications continuing into November. East Mall tenants included Thom McAn Shoes, Del Mar Accessories and Foreman & Clark.
There was also a (71,000 square foot) Convenience Center in the northeast parking area which included Thrifty Drug and a (35,000 square foot) Magic Chef Market. This grocery, which featured a gourmet restaurant and Homemaker's Bazaar, had commenced operation on June 9, 1960. Stores continued the open at DEL AMO CENTER through 1962.
When fully-realized, the complex encompassed six store blocks and covered approximately 984,000 leasable square feet. It housed forty stores and services. Apparently, an ownership share in DEL AMO CENTER was sold in September 1964 to a joint venture of Los Angeles' Great Lakes Properties, Incorporated and Guilford Glazer, formerly of Knoxville, Tennessee.
South Bay shopping hubs in the DEL AMO CENTER trade area included PENINSULA CENTER FASHION MALL (1961) {3.8 miles southwest, in Rolling Hills Estates} and COURTYARD MALL (1981) {3.9 miles southwest, also in Rolling Hills Estates}.
A (24,400 square foot) Joseph Magnin opened at DEL AMO CENTER in March 1965. The store was installed in previously-existing East Mall space. A second outparcel structure, in the southeast section of the mall site, originally housed a White Front discount mart. This store opened in 1968. It became a Two Guys operation in 1973, a FedMart in mid-1977, and was rebranded by Target on April 17, 1983.
The 600' by 40' shopping concourse at DEL AMO CENTER. The original mall housed forty stores and services.
Photo from Cal State University Dominguez Hills Archives
A 1962 view of the freestanding Convenience Center. It contained six retail tenants, including Thrifty Drug and a Magic Chef Market grocery. In later years, the building would house a megaplex cinema and fitness center.
Photo from Cal State University Dominguez Hills Archives
Photo from Cal State University Dominguez Hills Archives
The Magic Chef Super Store at DEL AMO was -reputedly- the first supermarket in the nation to combine a gourmet restaurant, coffee shop, delicatessen, on-premises bakery, liquor department and health food section.
Graphic from Magic Chef Markets
DEL AMO CENTER TENANTS 1961:
THE BROADWAY (with Beauty Salon and Chafing Dish restaurant) / SEARS (with Snackette, Catalog Department and freestanding Garden and Auto Centers)
IN WEST MALL:
J.C. PENNEY / F. W. WOOLWORTH 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / Leed's Qualicraft Shoes / Lerner Shops ladies' wear / Ontra Cafeteria / Silverwood's
IN EAST MALL:
Children's Shoe Corral / Del Mar Accessories / Foreman & Clark men's wear / Gallenkamp Shoes / International House of Pancakes / Leroy's Jewelers / Morgan's Jewelers / National Shirt Shops / Singer Sewing Center and Fashion Fabrics / Tamara's ladies' wear / Thom McAn Shoes / Tot Toggery / Toy World / Young Maternity
IN CONVENIENCE CENTER:
THRIFTY DRUG (with luncheonette) / MAGIC CHEF MARKET (with gourmet restaurant, coffee shop, delicatessen, on-premises bakery, liquor department, health food section, flower shop, donut shop and Homemaker's Bazaar) / Curl'N Comb Beauty Salon / Del Amo Barber Shop / Model Finance Company / Vogue Cleaners & Launderers
