The Los Cerritos Center is a super regional shopping mall located in

Cerritos, California Cerritos (Spanish for "Little hills") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is one of several cities that constitute the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. It was incorporated on April 24, 1956. As of 20 ...

. Since September 1971, the Los Cerritos Center has been an integral part of the city of Cerritos' tax revenue. The mall is the city's largest revenue source, producing $581 per square foot in sales ($296 million total) in 2010. The tax revenue generated from the Los Cerritos Center for its host city totals to approximately $3 million a year. The facility is owned by

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 ...

& GIC Private Limited.

History

Development

The Cerritos Redevelopment Agency initially invested $30 million for the development of the Los Cerritos Center area. The shopping area built at Gridley Road and South Street was developed by Ernest M. Hahn, Inc. in September 1971 with the Phase I opening of the corridor from

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 ...

department store (currently

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 ...

) to

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 ...

(first became Mervyn's in 1987, currently a Forever 21) and 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 cha ...

in 1993) in addition to having an initial 150 specialty stores. Phase II followed in 1971 with the opening of the wing from Ohrbach's to

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 ...

. In 1981, Phase III saw the opening of

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, a ...

and its first wing. In November 1993, Phase IV was completed when the Palm Court Cafes debuted in the center with 14 eateries.

At opening

At its opening, the Los Cerritos Center was one of the area's first shopping malls and was noted for its high quality maintenance and complete climate-controlled environment. The original goal of the center was to bring thousands of dollars of sales tax revenue to the city of Cerritos. In its first four years, the city of Cerritos' retail sales grew tenfold, topping over $207 million in 1974.

Old tenants

Previous tenants of the Los Cerritos Center include:

Palm Court Cafes

The Palm Court Cafes was a food court with restaurants such as McDonalds, Steak Escape, Subway, and more. The Food Court had a lavish entrance in my opinion, featuring yellow letters, a bunch of trees, and a cool design. Even the mall entrance was lavish. In 2015 however, the mall renovated it, turning it into the Dining Court and closing the McDonalds.

Today

In 2015,

Sears Holdings Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th- ...

spun off its 235 properties, including the Sears at Los Cerritos Center, into Sertiage Growth Properties. Since the end of 2015, the center has been undergoing a large-scale renovation, which brought in new anchors such as Dick's Sporting Goods and

Harkins Theatres Harkins Theatres is an American movie theater chain with locations throughout the Southwestern United States. Harkins Theatres is privately owned and operated by its parent company, Harkins Enterprises, LLC. The company currently operates 33 t ...

, in-line stores, remodeled interiors, new furnishings and lighting, exterior landscaping, as well as art work and overall re-branding. The Macy's wing houses merchandise, confectionery, and services for the family, the main concourse holds more upscale fashion stores, restaurants and boutiques, and the Sears wing focuses on specialty shops in entertainment, younger consumers, as well as the newly renovated Dining Court. Forever 21, which opened in January 2010 from the old Mervyn's store, was the first flagship styled store for the retailer in the United States and opened to much acclaim. A brand new, relocated

department store and wing opened in May 2010 on the site of the former Robinsons-May store (closed in 2006 due to Federated acquiring

May Department Stores Company 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 ...

). The added wing made room for nine additional in-line shops and restaurants. The old Nordstrom site was demolished for redevelopment and is now the site of a 16-screen

which opened in spring 2016, as well as The Cheesecake Factory, which opened in November 2015. Realizing the importance of multiculturalism and diversity in the region today, the Los Cerritos Center, in conjunction with the city of Cerritos, is home to the Festival of Friendship held every February. Cultural booths and performances are held annually with the goal of reaching out to the various diverse communities the center serves. In 2010, 8.5 million shoppers visited the mall with November 26 (Black Friday (shopping), Black Friday) marking the biggest day of the year with 79,682 visitors. The daily average attendance from January through November 2010 was 22,133 people a day. December 2010 saw an average of 35,631 a day. Los Cerritos Center is the most financially successful mall in the Gateway Cities, Southeast Los Angeles region. In early 2017, Red Robin closed to make way for a P. F. Chang's, which was opened in late 2017. On October 15, 2018, it was announced that Sears would be closing as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide. The store closed on January 6, 2019.

Transit access

The mall is accessible by Metro Local Line 62, Long Beach Transit Routes 141, 172, 173, 192, Norwalk Transit (California), Norwalk Transit Route 2, OCTA Route 30, and Cerritos on Wheels Line 2B.

References

Sources

*Eftychiou, A., & Cenovich, M. (2006). ''Cerritos at 50: celebrating our past and our future.'' Virginia Beach, VA: The Donning Company Publishers.

External links

Los Cerritos Center Official SiteLos Cerritos - Nordstrom
at Nordstrom website
The City of Cerritos State of the City 2011
{{Shopping malls in California Cerritos, California Macerich Shopping malls in the South Bay, Los Angeles Shopping malls established in 1971 1971 establishments in California