The Esplanade Shopping Center is a power center in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

. It replaced the Esplanade Mall which was

Ventura County Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...

's first fully enclosed shopping center and was anchored by

May Company California May Company California was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California and Nevada, with headquarters in North Hollywood, California. It was a subsidiary of May Department Stores and merged with May's other Southern California s ...

and

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 ...

. Anchor stores include

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement r ...

Nordstrom Rack Nordstrom Rack is an American off-price department store chain founded in 1973. It is a sister brand to the luxury department store chain Nordstrom. As of 2021, Nordstrom Rack operates 352 stores in 41 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces ...

, Staples, Dick's Sporting Goods,

Party City Party City Holdco Inc. is an American publicly traded retail chain of party stores founded in 1986 by Steve Mandell in East Hanover, New Jersey. Party City’s parent organization is Party City Holdings Inc. Based in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, the comp ...

and

Food 4 Less Food 4 Less is the name of several grocery store chains, the largest of which is currently owned by Kroger. It is a no-frills grocery store where the customers bag their own groceries at the checkout. Kroger operates Food 4 Less stores in the ...

Description

The enclosed mall was demolished in August 2000 and replaced by ay open-air center, known as the Esplanade Shopping Center, the first stores opening in September 2001. These included

Cost Plus World Market, formerly Cost Plus World Market until 2021, is an American chain of specialty/import retail stores, selling home furniture, decor, curtains, rugs, gifts, apparel, coffee, wine, craft beer, and international food products. The bran ...

World Market and

Bed Bath & Beyond Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Bed Bath & Beyond was founded in 1971. It is counted among the Fortune 5 ...

. A 136,000-square-foot Home Depot opened later in February 2002. The Target store (built in 1983), which relocated to

The Collection at RiverPark The Collection at RiverPark is an outdoor lifestyle center located east of the 101 Freeway in Oxnard, California. The shopping center held its grand opening on November 15, 2012; and is anchored by Target, Whole Foods Market, REI, The Container ...

in 2012, was demolished for a new Food 4 Less market.

Esplanade Mall

Construction began on September 16, 1968, on a $3-million

with two above-ground levels and a basement. The store welcomed its first shoppers in February, 1970. The single-level wing of specialty stores opened, with thirty-four initial stores, on March 5, 1970. The architect for both was Burke, Kober, Nicolais & Archuleta. S. H. Kress & Co.

five-and-dime A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, automotive parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, home furnishings, and a selection of groceries. It us ...

, Harris & Frank and

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 ...

were among the junior department stores at the mall's launch. In total the mall sat on . Alongside the mall existed Disco Fair, which later rebranded as Two Guys and FedMart in the 1970's and

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

in 1983. A 2-level,

was the final original anchor to open on November 2, 1970 and was rebranded

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 cha ...

in 1993. The 2-story emporium was designed by Pasadena architects Ladd and Kelsey. In 1999, the anchors Robinsons-May and Sears moved from Esplanade to the Buenaventura Mall in Ventura.

References

{{Shopping malls in California Oxnard, California Shopping malls in Ventura County, California Demolished buildings and structures in California Buildings and structures demolished in 2000