Lakewood and Firestone Boulevards
Downey, California
Downey, the 50th 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. Inline 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 on October 18, 1965. This store was followed by a 2-level (192,600 square foot) J.C. Penney, which began business on July 30, 1969. It replaced the smaller store that had opened along with the mall in 1958.
The Lippert's Transcontinental Theatres Showcase Cinema had shown a first feature on 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.
A 2-level (80,600 square foot) Mervyn's, and 22,800 square feet of new store space, were added to the north side of the complex and were completed in late 1981. The expanded shopping center now encompassed approximately 858,100 leasable square feet.
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 all of the 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 first customers in September 1990. A mall-wide dedication commenced on October 19th. A fully-enclosed STONEWOOD CENTER enveloped approximately 939,400 leasable square feet and housed over 100 stores and services. The mall 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 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. In September 2024, plans for a Round One Bowling & Entertainment Center were announced. This facility, which will include Spo-Cha (Sports Challenge) entertainment facilities and a Food Hall, would be installed in the vacant Sears.
Sources:
Mall memories of Mitch Glaser and Randy
http://www.downeyca.org / "Stonewood Specific Plan SP-89-1"
http://www.shopstonewoodcenter.com (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://www.shopstonewoodcenter.com
https://assessor.lacounty.gov / Los Angeles County, California
Downey Historical Conservancy Photostream / "RetroCool"
"Stonewood Center" article on Wikipedia