In October 1987, the WHITTIER QUAD was damaged by the Whittier Narrows Earthquake. The recently-abandoned "May's Whittier" store was severely shaken, with its parking garage collapsing.
Photo from NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
What remained of the post-quake mall was knocked down. Hinshaw's, which had incurred minor damage, was left standing and was incorporated into THE QUAD AT WHITTIER, a new open-air power center. Structures in dark gray were complete by 1991. Those in medium gray were dedicated in 1992, with those indicated in light gray being finished in 1995.
In 2021, QUAD AT WHITTIER covers around 433,500 leasable square feet. A contemporary physical layout is identical to that of 1999. However, there has been a bit of merchandising musical chairs. Michaels moved from the southwest store block to the northwest. Bloom apparel, Anna's Linens, Old Navy and U-Save Furniture have come and gone. Replacement tenants include Marshalls and Five Below.
The Ralphs QUAD AT WHITTIER store opened its doors in November 1990. It closed for good in the mid-2010s and re-opened, as a Vallarta Supermarket, in August 2015.
Photo from http://www.terramarcenters.com
WHITTIER QUAD
Whitter Boulevard and Painter Avenue
Whittier, California
Southern California's first mall-type shopping complex, LAKEWOOD CENTER, was completed in phases between 1951 and 1964. The region's second shopping mall was built on a 27-acre parcel, located 19.3 miles southeast of center city Los Angeles, in suburban Whittier.
WHITTIER QUAD was developed by Pasadena's Benjamin Clayton, under the auspices of the Clayton Foundation. Apparently, the complex was named after its 4-sided, open-air concourse, which was similar to a quadrangle.
Ground was broken on June 4, 1952. The first operational store, a (33,900 square foot) Shopping Bag supermarket, was dedicated on March 12, 1953. A 2-level (43,000 square foot) Hinshaw's department store held its grand opening on March 13th. On hand for the ribbon cutting were Ezra Hinshaw (store co-owner), Jack Powell (store manager) and Ralph Thynnes (of the Whittier Chamber of Commerce).
A 2-level (30,000 square foot) F.C. Nash, became the final operational tenant on November 12, 1954. Charter WHITTIER QUAD stores included Barker Brothers Furniture, Heck's Men's Shop, Crown City Mattress, Westbrook Yardage and a 1-level (29,600 square foot) W.T. Grant variety store.
Hinshaw's built its first expansion between May and November of 1955. 31,000 square feet were added, increasing the store's size to 76,000 square feet. Additional parking was created south of the store. There was now free parking for 2,500 autos.
Shopping hubs in the mall's trade area included WHITTIER DOWNS MALL (1955-1988) {2.3 miles northwest, in Los Angeles County}, WHITTWOOD CENTER (1956-2003) {2.1 miles southeast, in Whittier} and STONEWOOD CENTER (1958) {5 miles southwest, in Downey}.
The Von's chain built a (30,500 square foot) "superstore" as a freestanding WHITTIER QUAD structure. The new grocery commenced operation on October 4, 1961. It replaced the 7-year-old Shopping Bag market in the mall proper. The original Shopping Bag was repurposed as a Hinshaw's Budget Store. A re-grand opening took place on May 3, 1962. Hinshaw's now encompassed approximately 101,000 square feet.
May Company California located its 12th Los Angeles store at WHITTIER QUAD. "May's Whittier," built as a freestanding shadow anchor, opened on August 2, 1965. The 4-level (248,000 square foot) structure included a "Maymart" discount floor and freestanding May Company Auto Center. There was also an adjacent, 3-level parking garage, with space for 1,400 autos.
The shopping concourse at WHITTIER QUAD was enclosed and climate-controlled in the early '70s. A grand re-opening was held on June 2, 1973. As part of the remodeling, Hinshaw's was physically joined with the old Shopping Bag space. Soon after, new Thrifty Drug and The Akron ["ak-RON"] stores were built near Vons. These stores, encompassing a total of 66,000 square feet, were dedicated on September 21, 1978.
In March 1987, work commenced on a 2 million dollar mall renovation. This project was abandoned when the Whittier Narrows Earthquake hit, on October 1st of the same year. Several WHITTIER QUAD buildings received major damage. The May Company parking garage collapsed, with the store itself being nearly destroyed (it had been shuttered in 1984). After the quake, the store and garage were never repaired. They were eventually demolished, along with the bulk of the shopping center.
Hinshaw's -not severely shaken- stayed in business until January 1992. The building and its parking structure had been worked into THE QUAD AT WHITTIER, an open-air power center. This complex was developed by Carlsbad, California's GMS Realty. The first new stores opened in November 1990.
Additional stores were dedicated in stages during the 1990s. These included Ross Dress For Less (25,700 square feet), Staples (17,200 square feet), T.J. Maxx (25,000 square feet) and Burlington Coat Factory (2-levels and 87,400 square feet). The fully-realized shopping hub encompassed approximately 443,500 leasable square feet and contained forty-nine store spaces.
GMS Realty morphed into Terramar Retail Centers in May 2007 and eventually became TRC Retail. Corporate offices moved to Newport Beach, California.
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
The La Habra Star (La Habra, California)
The Whittier News
The La Mirada Review
The Whittier Historical Society
https://assessor.lacounty.gov / Los Angeles County, California
http://digi.whittierlibrary.org/awweb/main.jsp
Whittier City Directories 1961, 1963, 1970, 1973 and 1976
Comments from Steve Carras, Jeff Arellano and "Tokyo Magic"
http://www.terramarcenters.com / Terramar Retail Centers (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://trcretail.com / TRC Retail
