Santa Monica Place is an outdoor
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
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
. The mall is located at the south end of Santa Monica's
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 ...
shopping district, two blocks from the beach and
Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing.
Attractions Pacific Park
Th ...
. The mall spans 3 levels. The anchor store is
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 ...
. A second vacant anchor space was formerly
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 ...
The mall's tenant mix is predominantly upscale, featuring
Tiffany & Co.,
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
,
Burberry
Burberry is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry headquartered in London, England. It currently designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats (for which it is most famous), leather accessories, ...
,
Emporio Armani
Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and h ...
, and
Diane von Fürstenberg
Diane von Fürstenberg (born Diane Simone Michele Halfin, 31 December 1946) is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence in 1969 when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as ...
.
It underwent a massive, three-year reconstruction process beginning in January 2008 and was re-opened as a modern outdoor shopping mall on August 6, 2010.
History
Santa Monica Place originally opened as an indoor mall in 1980 at the apex of Santa Monica's
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 ...
, developed jointly by
The Rouse Company
The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company.
Beginnings - Moss-Rouse Company
T ...
and
The Hahn Company
The Hahn Company, San Diego, California, alternately known as Ernest W. Hahn, Inc., was a major American shopping center owner and developer from the 1950s to the 1980s. Purchased by the Trizec Corp. in 1980 (which then took the name TrizecHahn), ...
. Originally anchored by
J. W. Robinson's and
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 ...
, it featured 120 shops, restaurants and a food court, spanning three levels. Notably, Santa Monica Place was one of the first works of
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions.
His works are considered ...
and his first shopping mall, after being rejected from designing
The Mall in Columbia
The Mall in Columbia, also known as the Columbia Mall, is the central shopping mall for the planned community of Columbia, Maryland, United States. It has over 200 specialty stores and the anchor stores are AMC Theatres, Lidl, Main Event Entert ...
in
Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a census-designated place in Howard County, Maryland. It is one of the principal communities of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. It is a planned community consisting of 10 self-contained villages.
Columbia began with ...
, early in his professional career with
Gruen Associates. In the 1990s, both anchor stores changed names. In 1993, the Robinson's store rebranded as
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. ...
while The Broadway store rebranded as
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 ...
in 1996.
Macerich
Macerich ( ) is a real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. It is the third-largest owner and operator of shopping centers in the United States. As of December 31, 2020, the company owned interests in 52 properties comprisi ...
purchased Santa Monica Place from Rouse in 1999, and rumors of major changes to the then-flailing shopping center were reported. In 2004, the company proposed tearing down the mall and replacing it with a complex of high-rise condos, shops and offices.
The plan met with strong opposition from local residents who felt the project did not meet the low-rise character of the neighborhood and would worsen traffic. In 2006, Robinsons-May closed as a result of
Federated buying out
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many c ...
in 2005. The store was replaced by
Steve & Barry's
Steve & Barry's was an American retail clothing chain, featuring casual clothing, footwear and accessories. By mid-2008, the chain operated 276 stores in 39 states. The company was headquartered in Port Washington, New York. The company liquidate ...
in 2007. In a second 2007 proposal, Macerich significantly scaled back its plans, which was received as positive by the public, and was passed.
The $265 million project removed the mall's roof and gutted the interior, replacing it with two levels of retail shops and a third-level food court. At the same time,
Kevin Kennon Architects converted the original Macy's into a
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 ...
while the Steve & Barry's was replaced with a
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 ...
. Dallas-based
Omniplan
OmniPlan is a planning and project management software product from The Omni Group, headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The software was released as a public beta on June 6, 2006.
In a June 2007 evaluation of OmniPlan 1.0, Macworld, a web site ...
served as the executive architects in association with The Jerde Partnership who served as the design architects.
The grand reopening occurred on August 6, 2010. The architect for the redesign was
Jon Jerde
Jonathan Adams Jerde, (January 22, 1940 – February 9, 2015) was an American architect based in Venice, Los Angeles, California, founder and chairman of The Jerde Partnership, a design architecture and urban planning firm specializing in the des ...
. It was his last major work before he died. The mall was officially reopened on August 6, 2010.
On November 15, 2015 an
Arclight Cinemas multiples opened in a new structure atop the Bloomingdale's anchor store. The theater closed on March 17, 2020, due to 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 ...
. On April 12, 2021 it was announced that the closure was permanent.
On January 6, 2021, it was announced that the
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 ...
anchor store would close. The store closed on March 28, 2021.
Public Transit Access
The
LACMTA
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), commonly branded as Metro, LA Metro, and L.A. Metro, is the state agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the transportation system in Los Angel ...
E Line terminus station
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...
is located across the street from the former Bloomingdale's.
In addition, many
Santa Monica Big Blue Bus
Big Blue Bus (stylized, big blue bus) is a municipal bus service serving the city of Santa Monica and the greater Westside region of Los Angeles County. The service, operated by the city of Santa Monica, was founded on April 14, 1928 and thro ...
routes serve the mall.
References
External links
*
{{Shopping malls in California
Commercial buildings completed in 1980
Buildings and structures in Santa Monica, California
Landmarks in Los Angeles
Frank Gehry buildings
Shopping malls established in 1980
Macerich
Shopping malls on the Westside, Los Angeles
Tourist attractions in Santa Monica, California
1980 establishments in California