West Carson Street and Hawthorne Boulevard
Torrance, California
Developer Guilford Glazer acquired DEL AMO CENTER in 1977. In September, he announced a plan to link the mall and the fully-enclosed DEL AMO FASHION SQUARE into a single entity. This would be done with an enclosed concourse extending south from FASHION SQUARE, over West Carson Street, and connecting to a 2-level (171,400 square foot), Los Angeles-based J.W. Robinson's (which was being added to DEL AMO CENTER).
Construction commenced on the 20 million dollar project in 1978. The amalgamated mall, christened DEL AMO FASHION CENTER, was dedicated on November 20, 1981. With 3 million leasable square feet and 355 stores, it was the largest enclosed shopping center in the United States; a distinction held until the dedication of Minnesota's MALL OF AMERICA, in August 1992.
Regional competitors included CARSON MALL / SOUTHBAY PAVILION (1973) {4.9 miles northeast, in Carson} and SOUTH BAY GALLERIA (1985) {2.3 miles northwest, in Redondo Beach}.
J.C. Penney had, by the late 1980s, been expanded into a 163,300 square foot operation. Anchor nameplate changes got underway in 1987. Ohrbach's was shuttered and re-opened, as a Stor Furnishings, International, in mid-1989. Following this store's closing in 1992, the building was divided between Marshalls (Level 1) and T.J. Maxx (Level 2). T.J. Maxx opened in September 1993; Marshall's in December of the same year.
I. Magnin at DEL AMO FASHION CENTER closed in 1989, with its space sectioned into two restaurants and The Good Guys!, a Brisbane, California-based electronics outlet. Robinson's morphed into Robinsons-May in January 1993. Bullock's was "Macy-ated" in November 1995. The Broadway went dark in November 1996. Its store was divided between Jo-Ann Fabrics (Level 1) and a Macy's Home & Furniture (Levels 2 & 3). The Macy's store opened in July 1999, with the Jo-Ann location holding its grand opening in November.
Meanwhile, a second motion picture venue had opened at the mall. The Mann Del Amo 9 multiplex debuted on March 22, 1991. The theater, an eastern outparcel, operated concurrently with the in-mall United Artists multiplex, on the north end of the shopping hub.
A new century brought more anchor store changes. Montgomery Ward closed in early 2001. Its building was never retenanted. Robinsons-May was rebranded as the mall's third Macy's in September 2006. In the meantime, the shopping center had changed hands. The Arlington, Virginia-based Mills Corporation bought the complex in July 2003 and sold a 50-percent share to J.P. Morgan Fleming Asset Management. In turn, the assets of The Mills Corporation were acquired by the Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group in April 2007.
A 160 million dollar mall renovation got underway in February 2005. The eastern half of the circa-1971 DEL AMO FASHION SQUARE was demolished, including its vacant Montgomery Ward. A 2-level (thirty-five-store) "Outdoor Promenade" was built, which was anchored by the American Multi-Cinema Del Amo 18.
This new lifestyle wing was dedicated September 14, 2006. Inline stores included Cohiba Cigar Lounge, Lazy Dog Cafe, RA Sushi Bar, Urban Outfitters, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, Anthropologie and the Lucky Strike Lanes bowling alley.
In late 2013, the mall housed 314 stores and services, with three separate Macy's locations. The store in the upper levels of the old The Broadway, listed on the Macy's website as the Macy's Del Amo Home Store, was labeled as Macy's Home & Furniture on the Simon Property Group's DEL AMO FASHION CENTER website.
The old Bullock's was listed as Macy's Del Amo Fashion Center (its address being 21600 Hawthorne Boulevard). Simon said the store was Macy's North. The Macy's that had originally opened as a J.W. Robinson's was listed as Macy's Del Amo Fashion Center (at 21760 Hawthorne Boulevard) on www.macys.com. On the Simon site, the same store was Macy's South.
To clear up confusion and consolidate operations, Macy's Inc. announced that, as of late 2014, the three stores would be merged into two. The original Bullock's would become a Macy's Women's, with the old J.W. Robinson's being refashioned into a Macy's Men's & Home. The original Home & Furniture, operating in the upper levels of the old the Broadway, would be shuttered.
As the DEL AMO Macy's operations were reconfigured, a major reworking and refurbishment of the mall was undertaken. The Simon Property Group had originally announced said project in August 2010, but was close-lipped until July 2013, when a more detailed plan was presented.
The 200 million dollar DEL AMO FASHION CENTER renovation was to be done in three phases. The first entailed a relocation of the existing Food Court southward, into a space just north of the J.W. Robinson's / Macy's Men's & Home. The 10-bay culinary complex, officially known as Patio Cafes, included Panda Express, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Sbarro the Italian Eatery, Ginza Grill and Blaze Pizza. These opened for business between December 2013 and May 2014.
At the same time, tenants such as Old Navy, Vans, Hollister, Frederick's of Hollywood, Pac Sun and American Eagle Outfitters moved from the original BULLOCK'S FASHION SQUARE mall into quarters located in other sections of the complex.
Phase Two of the remodeling entailed demolition of the vacant BULLOCK'S FASHION SQUARE structure. This was completed in early 2014. The Bullock's / Macy's Women's building was retained, renovated and worked into a 2-level, "upscale enclosed mall." This would be anchored by a 2-level (138,000 square foot) Nordstrom, a relocation of a circa-1985 store at SOUTH BAY GALLERIA.
The new mall section would encompass approximately 538,000 leasable square feet and ninety-five inline stores. A multilevel parking garage, adjacent to the new Nordstrom, was also built. Sections of the existing mall were renovated with new interior decor, signage and landscaping to make them more consistent with new construction.
Nordstrom welcomed its first shoppers on October 9, 2015. Fifty-five inline stores opened on the same day. These included Kate Spade, Lane Bryant, Zara, Victoria's Secret, Vera Bradley, Nyx Cosmetics and H & M. By November 2015, twenty more upscale enclosed mall retailers had opened their doors.
Phase Three of the renovation was centered on the circa-1961 DEL AMO CENTER section. It was thoroughly remodeled, with new flooring, handrails and mall entrances installed. This final phase of reconstruction was completed in 2016. The vacant upper levels of the old The Broadway building became a Dick's Sporting Goods in the spring of 2017.
DEL AMO FASHION CENTER now consisted of three distinct shopping districts; the new upscale enclosed mall, circa-2006 outdoor village (a.k.a. outdoor promenade) and circa-1960 value-oriented enclosed mall (the old DEL AMO CENTER) The gargantuan complex encompassed approximately 2,608,000 leasable square feet and contained a whopping 240 stores and services. Sears, a charter DEL AMO anchor, went dark on September 6, 2020. The store had operated at the mall for over 60 years.
Sources:
The Torrance Herald (Torrance, California)
The Torrance Press (Torrance, California)
The Press-Herald (Torrance, California)
The Daily Breeze (Hermosa Beach, California)
Cal State University Dominguez Hills Archive website
www.macy's.com
Cal State University Dominguez Hills Archive website
www.macy's.com
www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
www.delamofashioncenter.com
www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
Los Angeles County tax assessor website
www.chainstoreage.com
www.delamofashioncenter.com
www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.movie-theatre.org / Mike Rivest
Los Angeles County tax assessor website
www.chainstoreage.com
FAIR USE OF DEL AMO CENTER PHOTOGRAPHS:
The images from the Cal State University Dominguez Hills Archive illustrates a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are not replaceable with a free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute them in any way. The images are being used for non-profit, informational purposes only and their use is not believed to detract from the original images in any way.