Anaheim Plaza

Last updated
Anaheim Plaza
Anaheim Plaza
Coordinates 33°50′20″N117°56′23″W / 33.8388832°N 117.9396274°W / 33.8388832; -117.9396274
Address510 N Euclid St, Anaheim, CA 92801, USA
Opening dateOctober 14, 1955 (Broadway), as power center 1994
ManagementKimco Realty [1]
Architect Welton Becket
No. of stores and services28
No. of anchor tenants 5
Public transit access OCTA Route 37
Website shopanaheimplaza.com
Location map Anaheim.png
Red pog.svg
Anaheim Plaza
Location in northern Orange County

Anaheim Plaza, originally Broadway Orange County Center, then Anaheim Center, in Anaheim, California, was the first shopping mall in Orange County. It was a regional mall from 1955 to 1993 and is now a power center anchored by big-box stores.

The Broadway was the original anchor department store opening October 14, 1955, [2] with the mall shops opening gradually in the following weeks and months. Both The Broadway and the center as a whole were designed by renowned Los Angeles architect Welton Becket. [3] The store cost $8.5 million to build, was 208,000 square feet (19,300 m2) in size, employed around 1,000 people and had parking for 5,000 cars. Brown McPherson was the first store manager [4]

In February 1963, a J.W. Robinson's was added as the mall's second anchor store.

In 1974, the center's owner, Prudential Life Insurance Co., completed a $4 million renovation, including enclosing the center and renaming it Anaheim Plaza. [5] [6] In July 1977, a Mervyn's was added as the mall's third anchor store.

By the 1980s, better-off patrons had moved out of the surrounding area for Anaheim Hills and southern Orange County and the area were becoming more working-class and Hispanic. [5] In September 1987, business at Anaheim Plaza started to decline which was caused by the grand opening of MainPlace Mall in nearby Santa Ana, California. Robinson's opened a store at MainPlace Mall also in September 1987 and closed its Anaheim Plaza store in January 1988. By 1992, the mall was only 35% occupied. In January 1993, the mall's original anchor store The Broadway closed for good and in August of that same year, the mall was bulldozed except for the Mervyn's store. [7]

A new strip mall, all new except for the Mervyn's, was opened in November 1994, 547,000 square feet (50,800 m2) in size and costing $30 million. Mervyn's closed in late 2008 due to the chain being liquidated and has been replaced by Forever 21 (now closed since 2020, now Burlington). [7]

Currently (as of 2023), anchor stores include El Super (formerly OSH and Gigante), Smart & Final (formerly OfficeMax), Petco, Ross, TJ Maxx (formerly CompUSA), Walmart (which opened in January 1995), and Burlington Coat Factory (former Mervyn's and Forever 21). [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fashion Island</span> Shopping mall in California, U.S.

Fashion Island is an outdoor regional shopping mall in Newport Beach, California. Opened in 1967 by The Irvine Company as the anchor to their master-planned Newport Center district, Fashion Island is anchored by Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Outlets at Orange</span> Shopping mall in Orange, California

The Outlets at Orange is an open-air outlet mall in the city of Orange, California, in northern Orange County developed by The Mills Corporation and now owned by Simon Property Group. The anchor stores in this outlet are Dave & Buster's, Guitar Center, AMC Theatres, Neiman Marcus Last Call, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom Rack, Gap, and Bloomingdale's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puente Hills Mall</span> Shopping mall is Los Angeles County, California, U.S.

Puente Hills Mall, located in City of Industry, California, United States, is a major regional shopping center in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County. It is most notable for serving as the filming site for the Twin Pines/Lone Pine Mall for the 1985 movie Back to the Future starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. Anchor tenants are Round 1 Entertainment, AMC Theatres, 24 Hour Fitness, and Ross Dress For Less.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brea Mall</span> Shopping mall in California, United States

The Brea Mall is an enclosed shopping mall located in the Orange County city of Brea, California. Since 1998, the mall has been owned and operated by the Simon Property Group. It is home to four major department stores, 179 specialty shops and boutiques, and a food court. It is 1,281,795 sq ft (119,083 m2). The anchors are Macy's, Macy's Men's & Home, JCPenney, and Nordstrom with one vacant anchor last occupied by Sears that has yet to be redeveloped into Life Time Fitness, retail, entertainment, and apartments.

The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1896 by English-born Arthur Letts Sr., and named after what was once the city's main shopping street, the Broadway became a dominant retailer in Southern California and the Southwest. Its fortunes eventually declined, and Federated Department Stores bought the chain in 1995. In 1996, Broadway stores were either closed or converted into Macy's and Bloomingdales, some of which were sold and converted to Sears, including the Stonewood Center and Whittwood Town Center locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MainPlace Mall</span> Shopping mall in California, United States

MainPlace Mall is an enclosed shopping mall at the north edge of Santa Ana, California, adjacent to the City of Orange and the Orange Crush interchange of the Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Orange freeways. The anchor stores are JCPenney, 24 Hour Fitness, Ashley HomeStore, Round 1 Entertainment, DXL Mens Apparel, and Macy's. There is 1 vacant anchor store that was once Nordstrom.

The Shops at Santa Anita is a super-regional shopping mall located in Arcadia, California, adjacent to the Santa Anita Race Track.

Plaza West Covina is a large regional shopping mall in West Covina, California, owned by the Starwood Capital Group. Its anchor stores are Macy's, JCPenney, XXI Forever, Nordstrom Rack, Best Buy, and Gold's Gym with one vacant space last occupied by Sears. Westfield America, Inc., a precursor to Westfield Group, acquired the shopping center in 1998 and renamed it "Westfield Shoppingtown West Covina", dropping the "Shoppingtown" name in June 2005. In October 2013, the Westfield Group sold the mall to Starwood Capital Group and the mall is now managed by Pacific Retail Capital Partners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Plaza Bonita</span> Shopping mall in National City, California

Westfield Plaza Bonita, commonly known as Plaza Bonita and Plaza, is a shopping mall in National City, California. It is owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. Anchor stores at the center include Macy's, JCPenney, Target, Crunch Fitness, Nordstrom Rack and Round1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tucson Mall</span> Shopping mall in Tucson, Arizona

Tucson Mall is the largest shopping mall in Tucson, Arizona. Tucson Mall features over 170 stores and two levels of indoor shopping. It is anchored by Forever 21, J. C. Penney, Macy's, and Dillard's. Tucson Mall contains a food court containing several fast food restaurants, as well as "Arizona Avenue," an arcade containing Southwestern-themed items. The mall is located on the north side of Tucson, bounded by Oracle Road, Wetmore Road, Stone Avenue, and the Rillito River.

Lakewood Center is a super-regional shopping mall in Lakewood, California. Lakewood Center opened in 1952 and was enclosed in 1978.

Inland Center is a regional shopping mall owned and operated by Macerich, located in San Bernardino, California along the southwest border adjacent to Interstate 215 and the city of Colton. The mall is within one mile of three bordering cities on the southern end of San Bernardino. Inland Center is a single-level mall anchored by, JCPenney, Forever 21 and Macy's, plus 110 specialty shops and services.

Stonewood Center, sometimes referred to as Stonewood Mall, is a shopping mall located in Downey, California, which is one of the Gateway Cities of Southeastern Los Angeles County. It is located at the intersection of Firestone and Lakewood Boulevards, and it is from this intersection that the mall's name is derived. It is within a few miles of many freeways in the area: I-5 and I-605, I-710 and I-105 freeways. The mall is owned and operated by The Macerich Company and is part of its trifecta of malls in southeast Los Angeles County along with the Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos and the Lakewood Center in Lakewood. Stonewood Center comprises 145 stores, including several restaurants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burbank Town Center</span> Shopping complex in Southern California

Burbank Town Center is a large shopping mall complex that opened in August 1991 in Burbank, California, United States. The three-level indoor mall is anchored by Macy's, Burlington, Sears, and ROUND1 Bowling & Amusement, with an open air shopping plaza anchored by Office Depot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bella Terra</span> Shopping mall in California, United States

Bella Terra is a power center in Huntington Beach, California. It was built on the site of the former Huntington Center. The center's current anchors are; Kohl's, Burlington, Barnes & Noble, Cinemark Theaters, Whole Foods Market, and Costco Wholesale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific View Mall</span> Shopping mall in California, United States

Pacific View Mall is a regional, enclosed mall located on the West Coast in Ventura, California. It covers a leasable area of almost 1,000,000 sq ft (93,000 m2).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panorama Mall</span> Shopping mall in California, United States

Panorama Mall is a mall in Panorama City, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California. It is an enclosed mall anchored by two large discount stores, Walmart and Curacao, aimed primarily at a Hispanic customer base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange County Plaza</span> Shopping mall in Garden Grove, California

Orange County Plaza, later Garden Grove Mall, Garden Promenade, now The Promenade at Garden Grove, was upon its expansion in 1959, with sixty stores, the largest shopping center in Orange County, California, and at the time billed itself as "Orange County's first regional shopping center". However, Anaheim Plaza had in fact already opened In 1955, four years prior, and had an anchor department store.

Orangefair Marketplace is a community shopping center in Fullerton, California which when built was one of the earliest large shopping centers in Orange County, California. along with Anaheim Plaza and Orange County Plaza. It is located at the southeast corner of Harbor Boulevard and Orangethorpe Avenue, a mile south of Fullerton's historic downtown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of retail in Southern California</span> Department stores list in Los Angeles

Retail in Southern California dates back to its first dry goods store that Jonathan Temple opened in 1827 on Calle Principal, when Los Angeles was still a Mexican village. After the American conquest, as the pueblo grew into a small town surpassing 4,000 population in 1860, dry goods stores continued to open, including the forerunners of what would be local chains. Larger retailers moved progressively further south to the 1880s-1890s Central Business District, which was later razed to become the Civic Center. Starting in the mid-1890s, major stores moved ever southward, first onto Broadway around 3rd, then starting in 1905 to Broadway between 4th and 9th, then starting in 1915 westward onto West Seventh Street up to Figueroa. For half a century Broadway and Seventh streets together formed one of America's largest and busiest downtown shopping districts.

References

  1. "Anaheim Plaza, Anaheim, California".
  2. "Anaheim Fetes New Broadway Store Opening". Los Angeles Times. October 15, 1955.
  3. "Work Begun on Large Building". Los Angeles Times. August 12, 1956.
  4. "Broadway to Open Anaheim Store Today". Los Angeles. October 14, 1955.
  5. 1 2 Anaheim Plaza: Mall That's Been Mauled", Los Angeles Times, December 2, 1990
  6. "Anaheim Plaza - Once an Indoor Mall?", Orange County Register
  7. 1 2 Jennifer Lowe, "Orange County`s 1st Mall Faces An Overhaul", Chicago Tribune, August 16, 1992
  8. Anaheim Plaza official website