Lakewood and Firestone Boulevards
Downey, California
Downey, the fiftieth city to be formed in Los Angeles County, was officially incorporated on December 17, 1956. Just east of the new municipality's downtown area, 10 miles southeast of center city Los Angeles, was the intersection of Lakewood and Firestone Boulevards. In Los Angeles' pre-freeway days, it was one of the busiest intersections in the world.
On the northeast corner of the junction was a 63-acre parcel. Part of the Jenison Ranch, it was leased for potential development in 1953. Construction of a freestanding coffee shop commenced in February 1956, followed a (40,000 square foot) Market Basket grocery and Downey Stonewood Community Bank. The supermarket opened for business on February 5, 1958.
Meanwhile, a shopping facility, originally known as LANSDALE CENTER, was being developed by William M. Lansdale and E. Morris Smith. Open-air in format and consisting of a main retail level and basement, the complex had been renamed STONEWOOD CENTER by the time of its official dedication, which was held October 9, 1958.
The complex spanned approximately 355,200 leasable square feet and housed over thirty-five stores and services. These included W.T. Grant, a 2-level (13,500 square foot) F.W. Woolworth and 2-level (60,000 square foot) J.C. Penney. Charter stores included Vincent's Rexall Drug, Helen Grace Candies, Western Auto, Oval Room Fashions, Toyville, Orange Julius, Woody's Men's Store, Stonewood Music Center, the Magic Mirror Beauty Salon and Zella Brumley's Sports Togs.
In its early years, STONEWOOD CENTER did not have conventional anchor stores. Its first, a 3-level (143,400 square foot), Los Angeles-based The Broadway, was dedicated October 18, 1965. This was followed by a 2-level (192,600 square foot) J.C. Penney, which began business on July 30, 1969. It replaced the 60,000 square foot store which had opened along with the mall in 1958.
The single-screen Lippert's Transcontinental Theatres Showcase Cinema had shown its first feature May 26, 1966. It was twinned in 1971 and renamed the Showcase 1 & Showcase 2. Apparently the venue was known as Stonewood Cinemas in its latter days.
Commercial competition for STONEWOOD came from LAKEWOOD CENTER (1951) {5.7 miles south, in Lakewood}, WHITTWOOD CENTER (1956) {6.7 miles east, in Whittier}, LA MIRADA CENTER (1959) {6.7 miles southeast, in La Mirada}, BEUNA PARK MALL (1961) {9.4 miles southeast, in Orange County} and MONTEBELLO TOWN CENTER (1988) {6.9 miles north, in Montebello}.
By the late 1980s, STONEWOOD CENTER, still open-air, had been outpositioned by fully-enclosed shopping centers in its vicinity. The property was acquired by Newport Beach-based Hughes Investments in 1986. They submitted a redevelopment plan to the Downey City Council in February 1989, which was approved in July. Reconstruction of the mall got underway in October of the same year.
A 2-level (146,200 square foot), Los Angeles-based May Company California was added to the south side of the complex, with existing mall space rebuilt to accommodate the new store and its entrance court. The old supermarket, which had housed a Thrifty Drug and furniture store, was remodeled into a 1-level (30,100 square foot) May Company Home Store.
The west end of the mall was refitted with a 12-bay Food Court. Basement retail area was also abandoned. All concourses and atrium areas were fully-enclosed by steel pyramid structures and glass skylights. The mall's exterior was redone in a Post-Modern motif.
May Company and its Home Store welcomed their first customers in September 1990. The fully-enclosed mall's re-dedication began on October 19, 1990, STONEWOOD CENTER now enveloped approximately 939,400 leasable square feet and over 100 stores and services.
STONEWOOD CENTER was acquired by the Santa Monica-based Macerich Company in August 1997. Macerich had owned the nearby LAKEWOOD CENTER since 1975. In May 1999, they also acquired LOS CERRITOS CENTER. The three malls were referred to, henceforth, as the company's Triplets.
May Company and its Home Store became the first mall anchors to be rebranded. They received Robinsons-May nameplates on January 31, 1993. The Broadway was shuttered in 1996. The STONEWOOD location was one of seven Southern California The Broadway stores to be sold to Sears. Included in the transaction were units at TOPANGA PLAZA, LOS ALTOS CENTER and WHITTWOOD CENTER. The STONEWOOD store re-opened -with a Sears nameplate- on November 2, 1996. A freestanding Sears Auto Center had been built in the mall's southeast parking area.
Robinsons-May locations were "Macy-ated" on September 9, 2006. The next STONEWOOD anchor store to receive a new nameplate was Mervyn's, which became a Wisconsin-based Kohl's on September 30, 2009. Sears went dark on November 14, 2021, after 25 years of commerce.
Sources:
The Downey Patriot (Downey, California)
Mall memories of Mitch Glaser
Comment post by Randy
www.downeyca.org / "Stonewood Specific Plan SP-89-1"
www.shopstonewoodcenter.com
Los Angeles County, California property tax assessor website
Downey Historical Conservancy Photostream / "RetroCool"
"Stonewood Center" article on Wikipedia
