North Euclid Street and West Crescent Avenue
Anaheim, California
Orange County's first mall-type shopping hub was built on a 45-acre site, situated 25 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The land parcel, located in the northern environs of suburban Anaheim, was adjacent to the Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5), which opened to traffic in 1956.
An open-air retail complex was designed by Welton Becket & Associates and completed in stages. It was based on a single retail level with a truck tunnel running underneath. Ground was broken for a 4-level (200,000 square foot), Los Angeles-based The Broadway department store in October 1954. Seventh in the chain, Broadway-Anaheim opened for business -on October 14, 1955- as the first Orange County The Broadway operation.
Attending the store's official dedication were Edward C. Carter (president of Broadway-Hale Stores, Incorporated), Prentis C. Hale (chairman of the board), US Congressman James Boyd Utt (R) and Charles Pearson (Mayor of Anaheim). Later in the day, screen actress Natalie Wood signed autographs and previewed fashions.
Broadway-Anaheim was joined by a freestanding Convenience Center. This contained a (35,000 square foot) Ralph's supermarket and (15,000 square foot) Sav-On Drugs. Ralph's welcomed its first patrons on October 11, 1956. These three stores, and the prospective shopping center site, were sold to the Prudential Life Insurance Company of America in December 1956. Prudential completed an open-air mall, which was added to the north side of Broadway-Anaheim.
Silverwoods apparel became one of the first operational BROADWAY ORANGE COUNTY CENTER stores on April 5, 1957. A mall-wide dedication was held on November 18 of the same year. Twelve stores were inaugurated. These included C.H. Baker Shoes, J. Herbert Hall Jewelers, Lerner Shops, Security First National Bank and an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. The mall proper encompassed approximately 477,300 leasable square feet.
The name of the shopping complex had been shortened to BROADWAY CENTER by the time its first expansion got underway, in 1962. A 3-level (170,000 square foot) J.W. Robinson's was built. This was the Los Angeles-based chain's sixth branch and first Orange County location.
Robinson's Anaheim was officially dedicated on February 19, 1963. A ceremonial ribbon was cut by Mrs. Otis Buckingham, granddaughter of Joseph Winchester Robinson. Features of the store included interior murals and chandeliers and a 2-story high bronze fountain, which stood outside, at one of the store's mall entrances. Said water feature was designed by George Tsutakawa.
By early 1963, the official name of the shopping complex had been changed again. Now promoted as ANAHEIM CENTER, it incorporated approximately 642,000 leasable square feet. A (28,000 square foot) S.S. Kresge 5 & 10, installed in exiting store space, had opened for business in March 1962.
El Segundo, California's Ernest W. Hahn, Incorporated embarked upon a 4 million dollar mall renovation in 1973. During the project, courts and concourses were roofed-in. A new entry was cut through existing store space, shopping concourses were refurbished and all parking lot store entries sealed-off. 18,000 square feet of retail space was added.
The newly-enclosed mall, promoted as "a rebirth in retailing," was dedicated on April 10, 1974. New stores included Florsheim Shoes and House of Fabrics. As part of its reinvention, the facility was renamed ANAHEIM PLAZA. Its pre-renovation tenant list of thirty-three stores had been expanded to sixty-five, with its gross leasable area now measuring 740,000 square feet.
Primary competitors were BULLOCK'S FASHION SQUARE (1958) {5.5 miles southeast, in Santa Ana}, ORANGE COUNTY PLAZA (1959) {3.4 miles southwest, in Anaheim}, BUENA PARK MALL (1961) {2.6 miles northwest, in Buena Park} and CITY SHOPPING CENTER (1970) {4.3 miles southeast, in Orange}. These were eventually joined by WESTMINSTER MALL (1974) {7.3 miles southwest, in Westminster} and BREA MALL (1977) {5.8 miles northeast, in Brea}.
A 1-level (80,000 square foot) Mervyn's, added to the east side of ANAHEIM PLAZA, began business om July 9, 1977. This expansion was followed by the opening of a Los Angeles-based Akron store (in a vacated Ralph's supermarket space) in 1983. In October 1984, the mall was sold to a joint venture of the Price Development Company of Salt Lake City and State Teachers Retirement System of Sacramento. The State Teachers Retirement System soon established full ownership.
Commercial competition intensified in the late 1980s, following a renovation of BULLOCK'S FASHION SQUARE (Santa Ana) into MAINPLACE SANTA ANA. On January 23, 1988, the MAINPLACE mall snatched the Robinson's store from ANAHEIM PLAZA.
The State Teachers Retirement System proved to be inept at mall management. They did not renovate the aging shopping hub, which needed to be regularly updated in order to keep up with its many competitors. A remodeling was finally proposed in 1988, which would have installed skylights, a Hall of Banners entryway, two new anchor stores and, possibly, a second retail level. This refurbishment was eventually abandoned.
Newport Beach-based Donahue Schriber was enlisted to conceptualize a total reinvention. A plan was submitted to the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency in November 1991. Under this prospectus, the existing complex would be demalled, using dramatic landscaping and "bold" and "festive" outdoor plazas to create an open-air marketplace.
The existing Mervyn's and The Broadway stores would be joined by an unnamed retailer, who would retenant the vacant Robinson's. This remodeling plan was dealt a blow with the shuttering of The Broadway, on January 31, 1993. There was also considerable opposition from a citizen's group known as Residents For Anaheim Plaza.
Undaunted, Donahue Schriber modified their ANAHEIM PLAZA plan. The mall, including its vacant Broadway and Robinson's buildings, would be bulldozed. Mervyn's was to be left standing, along with three outparcel structures. Demolition of the past-its-prime property commenced in mid-1993. A 30 million dollar reconstruction commenced soon after.
The new ANAHEIM PLAZA was officially dedicated on November 18, 1994. In addition to Mervyn's, the "value-oriented" power center included a (26,000 square foot) CompUSA, (15,900 square foot) Old Navy and (27,200 square foot) Ross Dress For Less. A 1-level (146,000 square foot) Wal-Mart was dedicated on January 28, 1995. It was followed by a Phase II addition, comprised of a (93,000 square foot) Gigante supermarket. This store began business on May 7, 2003.
In October 2006, ANAHEIM PLAZA was acquired by a joint venture of the Newark, New Jersey-based Prudential Insurance Company of America and New Hyde Park, New York-based Kimco Realty. Soon after, CompUSA morphed into a T.J. Maxx and the Gigante supermarket was rebranded as an El Super.
Mervyn's closed in December 2008, with the building being repurposed as a Forever 21. This store was inaugurated on April 3, 2009, but was shuttered in January 2020. Burlington leased a (26,200 square foot) section of the first floor and opened for business on March 31, 2023. Kimco Realty had established 100 percent ownership of ANAHEIM PLAZA in February 2022.
Sources:
The Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Mirror
The Anaheim Gazette
The Citizen News (Hollywood-Los Angeles, California)
The Orange County Business Journal (Irvine, California)
preservenet.cornell.edu/publications/Longstreth Branch Store.doc
http://www.kimcorealty.com
http://www.anaheimplaza.net
http://www.kimcorealty.com
http://www.anaheimplaza.net
https://therealdeal.com
https://www.burlington.com
FAIR USE OF BROADWAY ORANGE COUNTY CENTER IMAGES:
The graphics and renderings from Online Archive of California illustrate a key moment in the mall's history that is described in the article. The images are not replaceable with free-use or public-domain images. The use of the images does not limit the copyright owners' rights to distribute the images 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.
