Del Amo Fashion Center is a three-level regional
shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
in
Torrance, California
Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the m ...
, United States. It is currently managed and co-owned by
Simon Property Group
Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...
.
With a
gross leasable area
In architecture, construction, and real estate, floor area, floor space, or floorspace is the area (measured as square feet or square metres) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the buil ...
(GLA) of , it is the
sixth largest shopping mall in the United States. The mall is anchored by
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...
,
Dick's Sporting Goods
Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...
,
JCPenney
Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...
, and two
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
stores - a Women's store, and a Men's, Children's, and Home store.
History
Del Amo Fashion Center has evolved from an amalgamation of several developments on the eastern side of the intersection of Hawthorne Boulevard and Carson Street in Torrance, California by
Guilford Glazer
Guilford Glazer (July 17, 1921 – December 23, 2014) was an American real estate developer and philanthropist.
Early life
Glazer was born to a Jewish immigrant family[Mall of America
Mall of America (MOA) is a large shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States. Located within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the mall lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway ...]
on August 11, 1992.
South side: Broadway/Del Amo Shopping Center
On February 16, 1959,
The Broadway
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 reta ...
opened its store at Hawthorne and Sepulveda boulevards, the ninth in
Greater Los Angeles
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
, and over the next two years the open-air Del Amo Shopping Center was built adjacent to it, south of Carson Street.
Silverwoods Silverwoods, originally promoted as F. B. Silverwood, after its founder, was a men's clothing store chain founded in Los Angeles in 1894 by Francis Bernard (F.B. "Daddy") Silverwood, a Canadian-American originally from near Lindsay, Ontario. He was ...
opened what was also its ninth L.A.-area store here in November 1960. Most of the rest of the center opened in stages in early 1961 with additional anchors
JCPenney
Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...
,
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
and
Woolworth's
Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to:
Businesses
* F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores
* Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...
. Other stores that opened in 1961 were
Lerner's
New York & Company, Inc. (NY&C) is an American workwear retailer for women. New York & Company apparel and accessories are sold through a nationwide network of retail stores, and through its e-commerce site.
New York & Company was founded ...
, Leed's Shoes and Ontra Cafeteria; and later C. H. Baker Shoes, Judy's Sportwear, Helen Morgan Women's Shop, The Men's Shop, Tot's Toggery and Suburban Shop,
Singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
Sewing Shop,
Mandel's Mandel's (a.k.a. Mandel's Shoe Stores and Mandel's Fascinating Slippers) was a chain of shoe stores in the Southwestern United States for many decades of the 20th century. For a time it advertised its wares as "Mandel's Fascinating Slippers". Mauric ...
Shoes, Varon's Jewelry, and Children's Shoe Store.
North side: Bullock's/Del Amo Fashion Square
In 1966,
Bullock's
Bullock's was a chain of full-line department stores from 1907 through 1995, headquartered in Los Angeles, growing to operate across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated as many as seven more upscale Bullocks Wilshire specialty ...
opened at a small open-air shopping center it had developed north of Carson Street called Bullock's Fashion Square — advertising and editorial in the first years referred to "Bullock's Fashion Square in Torrance", not Del Amo. Bullock's developed several similarly named Fashion Squares, including ones in Sherman Oaks, La Habra and Santa Ana.
I. Magnin
I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, ...
, owned by Bullock's, opened a store on March 6, 1967.
Desmond's
''Desmond's'' is a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. Conceived and co-written by Trix Worrell, and produced by Charlie Hanson and Humphrey Barclay, ''Desmond's'' stars Norman Beaton as barber Desmond ...
department store was actually the first anchor to open at Fashion Square in 1966.
In February 1970, Federated Department Stores replaced its Bullock's Realty Corporation, which owned and managed the Fashion Squares, with an organization called Transwest Management; Transwest sold the Torrance Fashion Square in March of that year to new co-owners Great Lakes and Guilford Glazer and Associates, while selling the three other Fashion Squares to Urban Investment and Development Company (UIDC).
![Delamocentre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Delamocentre.png)
In 1971, the center was rebaptized Del Amo Fashion Square and added a $3.75 million,
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later also a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The curren ...
, a
Ohrbach's
Ohrbach's was a moderate-priced department store with a merchandising focus primarily on clothing and accessories. From its modest start in 1923 until the chain's demise in 1987, Ohrbach's expanded dramatically after World War II, and opened numer ...
and an expanded I. Magnin,
[ as well as a ]United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
fourplex theater which later received 2 additional larger auditoriums, and a Woolworth's
Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to:
Businesses
* F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores
* Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shops ...
, both of which were in the Montgomery Ward wing. Glazer acquired neighboring Del Amo Center in 1978.
"Marriage of the malls"
In November 1981, the two formerly separate centers were officially merged in the "marriage of the malls" to form the Del Amo Fashion Center, with the opening of a concourse over Carson Street that linked the Del Amo Fashion Square to a new J. W. Robinson's built at the northern end of the Del Amo Center. The existing infrastructure was also renovated at this time and included a food court (the "International Food Court") and a then-state-of-the-art computerized help system. Del Amo became the largest indoor shopping center in the world.
The center continued to evolve over the years as Ohrbach's closed in 1987 and became Swedish style furniture retailer STØR
STØR Furnishings International Inc. was an American furniture chain based in City of Industry, California, that opened in 1987. It sold European-style furniture and ready-to-assemble furnishings. Advertisements for the chain ended with the stat ...
. In 1991, the United Artists theater closed when a 9-screen Mann
Mann may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Mann (chess), a variant chess piece which moves as a king
* ''Mann'' (film), a 1999 Bollywood motion picture
* ''Mann'' (magazine), a Norwegian magazine
* Mann Theatres, a theatre chain corp ...
theater opened outside of the mall on Del Amo Circle to the east of J. W. Robinson's. When STØR
STØR Furnishings International Inc. was an American furniture chain based in City of Industry, California, that opened in 1987. It sold European-style furniture and ready-to-assemble furnishings. Advertisements for the chain ended with the stat ...
went out of business in the early 1990s, the property was used as a clearance center for STØR merchandise before being subdivided into Marshall's
Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. Mar ...
and TJ Maxx
TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American department store chain, selling at prices generally lower than other major similar stores. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in ...
in the late 1990s. I. Magnin followed in 1989 with part of their store eventually occupied by Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...
, while Burlington Coat Factory
Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,000 stores in 40 states and Puerto Rico, with it ...
opened in the basement of the former Del Amo Center. J. W. Robinson's became Robinsons-May
Robinsons-May was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, from 1993 until 2006. It was created when May Department Stores combined two of its chains, May Company California and J. W. Robinson's chains. ...
in 1993.
In 1996, following the merger of Bullocks and The Broadway into Macy's West
Macy's West is a longtime division of Macy's, Inc. (formerly Federated Department Stores), representing one of the New York-based department store chain's earliest notable acquisitions and westward expansions. Headquartered in San Francisco, C ...
, the former Bullock's became Macy's Apparel store, while the Macy's south store (where the Broadway resided) was closed. At first, the company attempted to sell the building to Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...
, but after three years reopened it in July 1999 as a Macy's home and furniture gallery, its largest stand-alone home furnishing store in Southern California. The 50,000 square foot ground floor became a Jo-Ann's fabric and crafts store. In 1997, Woolworth's became Venator in accordance with the chain's renaming.
Faced with a change in consumer shopping patterns, the consolidation of the department store industry, the existence of too many malls fragmenting the greater Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
retail marketplace, lack of highway access and competition from the neighboring Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...
-anchored South Bay Galleria
South Bay Galleria, formerly named Galleria at South Bay, is a shopping mall located in Redondo Beach, California, United States. It is anchored by Macy's, Kohl's, Target, Q, Wonder of Dinosaurs, and a 16-screen AMC Theatres multiplex. It also inc ...
that opened in 1985, Del Amo began to suffer. In 2000, the Mann theater closed in accordance with the chain's folding and became LA Fitness
LA Fitness (doing business as LA Fitness International LLC) is an American gym chain with more than 700 clubs across the United States and Canada. The company was formed in 1984 and is based in Irvine, California.
History
LA Fitness was founde ...
. Two anchors on the property's northern side - Montgomery Ward and Woolworth's - closed due to bankruptcy and left the mall's north wing without an anchor. At the same time, a two-level Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...
bookstore opened on the mall's perimeter.
Mills renovation
In early 2002, The Mills Corporation
The Mills Corporation was a publicly traded real estate investment trust headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States, acquired on April 3, 2007 by an investment group composed of Simon Property Group and Farallon Capital Management. Th ...
acquired Del Amo Fashion Center from Glazer's family for $420 million (USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
). Subsequently, Mills sold a half-interest in the property to institutional investor
An institutional investor is an entity which pools money to purchase securities, real property, and other investment assets or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial banks, central banks, credit unions, government-linked co ...
funds managed by JPMorgan Fleming, before, in June 2005, initiating a $160 million redevelopment including demolition and redevelopment of the former northeastern wing where Montgomery Ward and Woolworth's had been located, the renovation of 670,000 ft² (62,000 m2) of existing space and the addition of another 100,000 ft² (9,300 m2). Robinsons-May
Robinsons-May was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, from 1993 until 2006. It was created when May Department Stores combined two of its chains, May Company California and J. W. Robinson's chains. ...
converted to a second full-line Macy's West
Macy's West is a longtime division of Macy's, Inc. (formerly Federated Department Stores), representing one of the New York-based department store chain's earliest notable acquisitions and westward expansions. Headquartered in San Francisco, C ...
on September 9, 2006 called Macy's South, while Macy's Apparel was renamed Macy's North.
The new open-air lifestyle center
A lifestyle center (American English), or lifestyle centre (Commonwealth English), is a shopping center or mixed-used commercial development that combines the traditional retail functions of a shopping mall with leisure amenities oriented toward ...
opened on September 14, 2006, anchored by a two-story flagship Forever 21
Forever 21 is a multinational fast fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. Originally founded as the store Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984,Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved 27 April 2014 ...
), a Lucky Strike Lanes
Lucky Strike is a bowling alley chain operated by Lucky Strike Entertainment, LLC, which owns and operates a chain of facilities that include bowling alleys and billiard parlors, bars, lounges, restaurants and venues for art and music. Founded in ...
, and an AMC Theatres
AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC and known in some countries as AMC Cinemas or AMC Multi-Cinemas) is an American movie theater chain fou ...
18-screen multiplex to the mall. A Crate & Barrel
Euromarket Designs Inc., doing business as Crate & Barrel (stylized as Crate&Barrel), is an international furniture and home décor retail store headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. They employ 8200 employees across over 100 stores in the Uni ...
home furnishings store opened adjacent to the mall in 2007.
In 2007, The Mills Corporation was jointly acquired by Simon Property Group
Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...
and Farallon Capital Management
Farallon Capital Management, L.L.C. is an American multi-strategy hedge fund headquartered in San Francisco, California. Founded by Tom Steyer in 1986, the firm employs approximately 230 professionals in eight countries around the world.
Farall ...
. Simon assumed management of Del Amo Fashion Center at this time. In April 2008, the mall's website was placed under the Simon.com format along with sister Simon/Mills malls, like Ontario Mills
Ontario Mills is a shopping and outlet mall located in Ontario, California, within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. With 28 million annual visitors, it is one of the top shopping and tourist destinations in California. It is one of three Mil ...
, Hilltop Mall, the Block at Orange and Great Mall.
Simon expansion
After increasing its ownership stake in the property, Simon presented preliminary plans to revamp Del Amo. The plans were considered vague and underwhelming by Torrance residents.
In late 2012, detailed plans to redevelop Del Amo on a much larger scale were unveiled. These latest design efforts were led by Hollywood-based architecture firm, 5+design. The mall's north end would be demolished entirely, replaced by a new two-level Californian coastal-designed wing of luxury shops, expanding this mall into one of the largest malls in Southern California and back to the top 10 largest malls in the United States with the intention to stop the leaking of and to gain market share from the more affluent shopping centers in West LA (namely Westfield Century City
Westfield Century City (formerly known as the Century Square Shopping Center) is a two-level, 1.3 million-square-foot outdoor shopping mall in the Century City commercial district in Los Angeles, California. A property of the Westfield Corporatio ...
and Third Street Promenade
The Third Street Promenade is a pedestrian mall esplanade, shopping, dining and entertainment complex in the downtown area of Santa Monica, California which originally opened as the Santa Monica Mall on November 8, 1965. It is considered a premier ...
) and Orange County (namely the Irvine Spectrum
Irvine Spectrum is a district in southeastern Irvine, Orange County, California, centered on the Irvine Spectrum Center shopping and lifestyle center. It is also an edge city, a concentration of business, shopping, and entertainment outside a tr ...
, Fashion Island
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 Ma ...
, and South Coast Plaza
South Coast Plaza is a regional shopping mall in Costa Mesa, California. The largest shopping center on the West Coast of the United States, its pre-COVID sales of over $1.5 billion annually were the highest in the United States. Its 275 retail ...
) In conjunction with the renovation, Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and ...
announced it would relocate its store from the South Bay Galleria
South Bay Galleria, formerly named Galleria at South Bay, is a shopping mall located in Redondo Beach, California, United States. It is anchored by Macy's, Kohl's, Target, Q, Wonder of Dinosaurs, and a 16-screen AMC Theatres multiplex. It also inc ...
in nearby Redondo Beach to Del Amo, anchoring the new wing. This much grander plan was meant to finally re-establish this property as the premier shopping center of the South Bay region of Los Angeles and revitalize this long-neglected, massive mall into one cohesive property with one distinct architectural style.
The first phase of the project, redeveloping the wing of shops above Carson Street into a new food court, renamed ''Patio Cafes'', began in 2013. Work was completed in the spring of the following year, as retailers began vacating the north wing to make way for the renovation.
Plans to consolidate the mall's three Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
stores into two were confirmed in 2014, with Macy's consolidating its standalone Macy's Home store into the existing Macy's Men's store. Simon then traded ownership of the Macy's Men's building for the Macy's Home building. Dick's Sporting Goods
Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...
moved into the former Macy's Home space in early 2017 meanwhile the Jo-Ann Fabrics
Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann (stylized as JOANN), is an American specialty retailer of crafts and fabrics based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains ''JOANN Fabrics and Crafts'' and ''Jo-Ann Etc''. The headquarter ...
store on the ground floor of said began began renovation in early 2019 and completed in mid 2020.
After 18 months of construction, the northern portion of the mall officially opened on October 9, 2015. A medical building on the north end of the property and the existing one-story northern section were replaced with a two-story Fashion Wing, featuring a brighter and open "beach elegance" aesthetic to bring in more natural light and a mid-century modern look. The wing featured a mix of new-to-market retailers and holdovers from the former north end, including a Din Tai Fung
Din Tai Fung (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Tín-thai-fûng) is a Taiwanese restaurant chain. Outside Taiwan, Din Tai Fung also has branches in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, ...
restaurant and luxury retailers BOSS Hugo Boss, Kate Spade New York
Kate Spade New York is an American fashion house founded in January 1993 by Kate and Andy Spade. Kate Spade New York competes with Michael Kors. In 2017, the company was purchased by Tapestry, Inc., formerly known as Coach, Inc.
Business hist ...
, Michael Kors
Michael David Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr. August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and f ...
, Tumi
Tumi ( ''Quechua'' for 'Knife', ''variants'': 'Tome', 'Tume'), is a generic term encompassing the many kinds of sharp tools utilized in pre- and post-colonial eras of the Central Andes region, Tumis were employed for a diverse set of purposes s ...
, and Brooks Brothers
Brooks Brothers, founded in Manhattan, New York, in 1818, is the oldest apparel brand in continuous operation in America. Originally a family business, Brooks Brothers produces clothing for men, women and children, as well as home furnishings. B ...
Several new and relocated restaurants fronted the new wing: a relocated Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que
Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que is a chain of restaurants founded in Signal Hill, California specializing in barbecue cuisine as well as southern and Cajun style meals. The restaurants feature a southern American and Blues theme. The chain has l ...
, and now-closed locations for Brio Tuscan Grille
Brio (stylized BRIO) is a wooden toy company founded in Sweden. The company was founded in the small town of Boalt, Scania, Götaland in 1884 by basket maker Ivar Bengtsson. For a long time the company was based in Osby, Scania, in southern Swede ...
and locally-owned restaurants EMC Seafood & Raw Bar and Great Maple.
The south end of the property experienced minor renovations in line with the more elaborate north end changes, including signs delineating the wing "Del Amo Shopping Center" with a focus on general-purpose retail. In 2018, renovation plans were completed to replace a significant portion of the south end's inline retail space with Dave & Buster's
Dave & Buster's is an American restaurant and entertainment business headquartered in Dallas. Each Dave & Buster's has a full-service restaurant and a video arcade. As of October 2022, the company has 151 locations in the United States and two i ...
and a relocated Marshalls
Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. Mar ...
store. Outback Steakhouse, which was displaced by construction on the south end, reopened in the Outdoor Village on July 7, 2018.
In November of 2019, the former Orbach's building, which previously housed Marshalls on the first floor and TJ Maxx on the second floor, became a Mitsuwa Marketplace
is a Asian supermarket, Japanese supermarket chain in America, with locations in California, Illinois, Texas, Hawaii, and New Jersey.
History
As a subsidiary of Yaohan, ''Yaohan USA'' opened its first supermarket in Fresno, California, Fresno ...
supermarket. The second floor remains vacant after TJ Maxx left Del Amo in Spring 2016. The following year, the property's Sears store closed and its real estate purchased by mall owner Simon for future use.
As casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
-induced recession, and California statewide closures, the prototypical BRIO Tuscan Grille closed in mid-March, along with Guess, Me Undies, Innisfree, and New York and Company. On July 1, 2020, it was announced that Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
would be closing after nearly 61 years of serving the South Bay. This store along with 28 other stores nationwide shuttered on September 6, 2020. Said 22.4 acre Sears property (which includes the Original Sears Building, the branded auto shops, adjacent office building, and the surrounding parking lot) is set to be liquidated and bought by Simon Property Group
Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...
by ~$110 million. Meanwhile, Fasha Mahjoor, who, in May 2014, bought the 16-acre property that SunCal once owned, intends to build housing near Del Amo Mall. Said property includes the standalone Black Angus Steakhouse
Black Angus Steakhouse, also known before 2005 as Stuart Anderson's Black Angus, is an American restaurant chain that specializes in steaks, headquartered in Sherman Oaks, California. The chain was founded on April 3, 1964, by Stuart Anderson of ...
restaurant, the former Montgomery Ward department store (now parking for Del Amo), and the abandoned Wards auto shop. However, Mahjoor announced that said project will not be "high-density housing at the mall", calling it a "political no-go".
Despite these closures, Italian retailer Intimissimi
Intimissimi is an Italian clothing label founded in 1996, which specializes in bras, briefs, lingerie, vests, and pyjamas for women and men.
Intimissimi clothing was sold through Victoria's Secret's in a third-party partnership arrangement. In ...
& Calzedonia
Calzedonia () is an Italian fashion group founded in Verona by Sandro Veronesi in 1986, with over 5,000 shops worldwide as of 2021. Besides the Calzedonia brand, the group also owns the Intimissimi, Tezenis, Falconeri, Atelier Emé, Progetto Q ...
opened a store in the new luxury wing in October 2020 while American burger restaurateur Slater 50/50 is set to open Spring 2023.
In January 2022, LA Fitness gym closed their doors. Around the same time, a Sweetgreen
Sweetgreen (legally Sweetgreen, Inc., stylized as sweetgreen, previously swɘetgreen) is an American fast casual restaurant chain that serves salads. It was founded in November 2006 by Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru, and Jonathan Neman. In August ...
and a Keisuke Ramen King eatery is slated to replace the former Great Maple, which closed down in 2017.
In media
The Del Amo Fashion Center was a central location and plot element of the 1997 Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
film ''Jackie Brown
''Jackie Brown'' is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on Elmore Leonard's 1992 novel ''Rum Punch.'' It stars Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, a flight attendant who is caught smuggling money. Samuel L. Ja ...
'', though most of the mall scenes took place at a fictional department store in the mall, called Billingsley, which was actually just the north Macy's store with a prop Billingsley sign put up over the Macy's sign. In addition, the mall was prominently featured in Martha Coolidge
Martha Coolidge (born August 17, 1946) is an American film director and former President of the Directors Guild of America. She has directed such films as ''Valley Girl'', ''Real Genius'' and '' Rambling Rose''.
Early life
Coolidge was born in N ...
's ''Valley Girl
A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, fr ...
'', the mall's abandoned Montgomery Ward wing was used as the "Saguaro Square Mall" backdrop for the 2003 film ''Bad Santa
''Bad Santa'' is a 2003 American Christmas black comedy film directed by Terry Zwigoff and written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. It stars Billy Bob Thornton, with a supporting cast of Tony Cox, Lauren Graham, Brett Kelly, Lauren Tom, John ...
'' with a fictional department store called Chamberlain's put up in the vacant Montgomery Ward building, and the mall was also used for scenes in the comedy film ''Why Him?
''Why Him?'' is a 2016 American buddy comedy film written and directed by John Hamburg, co-written by Ian Helfer, and starring James Franco and Bryan Cranston with Zoey Deutch, Megan Mullally, Griffin Gluck and Keegan-Michael Key in supporting ro ...
''. The mall was also used in Season 1, Episodes 2 and 3 of HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
series ''Euphoria
Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...
''.
The Barnes & Noble store located in the northwest parking lot of the mall was the location used for the chain's 2012 holiday TV ad.
Transit Access
Torrance Transit as well as Los Angeles Metro operate to the Del Amo Fashion Center. Torrance Transit Rapid Line 3 and Local Lines 3, 6, and 7 operate along Carson Street. Los Angeles Metro Bus Line 344 and Torrance Transit Local Lines 4X and 8 operate along Hawthorne Boulevard.
See also
* List of largest shopping malls in the world
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
* List of largest shopping malls in the United States
This is a list of shopping malls in the United States and its territories that have at least 2,000,000 total square feet of retail space (gross leasable area). The list is based in part on information provided by the International Council of Shopp ...
References
External links
Del Amo Fashion Center
{{Simon Property Group, west
Shopping malls in the South Bay, Los Angeles
Buildings and structures in Torrance, California
Economy of Torrance, California
Shopping malls established in 1961