 Sign over Carson Street | |
 | |
| Location | Torrance, California, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°49′41″N118°20′59″W / 33.828072°N 118.349796°W /33.828072; -118.349796 |
| Opening date | March 16, 1961; 62 years ago |
| Developer | Guilford Glazer |
| Management | Simon Property Group |
| Owner | JPMorgan Fleming Funds (25%), Simon Property Group (50%), & Farallon Cap. Mgt. (25%) |
| No. of stores and services | 255 (as of 2025) |
| No. ofanchor tenants | 9 (7 open, 2 vacant) |
| Total retail floor area | 2,519,601 sq ft (234,079 m2)[1] |
| No. of floors | 3 (2 in Dick's Sporting Goods, and Nordstrom, and former Sears, 4 in Macy's North) |
| Parking | 12,000 |
| Website | www |
Del Amo Fashion Center is a three-level regionalshopping mall inTorrance, California, United States. It is currently managed and co-owned bySimon Property Group.
With agross leasable area (GLA) of 2,519,601 sq ft (234,079 m2), it is theseventh largest shopping mall in the United States. The mall featuresNordstrom,Dick's Sporting Goods,JCPenney,Macy's Men's and Home Store, and Macy's Women's Store.
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 byGuilford Glazer (#384 on Forbes Richest 400).[2] From 1981 to 1992 it was the largest shopping mall in the United States, reaching 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 square meters) in size at its largest. It was eclipsed as the largest with the opening ofMall of America on August 11, 1992.[citation needed]
On February 16, 1959,The Broadway opened its store at Hawthorne and Sepulveda boulevards, the ninth inGreater Los Angeles, and over the next two years the open-airDel Amo Shopping Center was built adjacent to it,[3] south of Carson Street.[4]Silverwoods opened what was also its ninth L.A.-area store here in November 1960.[5] Most of the rest of the center opened in stages in early 1961 with additional anchorsJCPenney,Sears andWoolworth's. Other stores that opened in 1961 wereLerner's, Leed's Shoes and Ontra Cafeteria;[6] 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 Sewing Shop,Mandel's Shoes, Varon's Jewelry, and Children's Shoe Store.[7]
In 1966,Bullock's opened at a small open-air shopping center it had developed north of Carson Street calledBullock's Fashion Square — advertising and editorial in the first years referred to "Bullock's Fashion Square in Torrance", not Del Amo.[8] Bullock's developed several similarly named Fashion Squares, including ones in Sherman Oaks, La Habra and Santa Ana.[9]I. Magnin, owned by Bullock's, opened a store on March 6, 1967.[10]
Desmond's department store was actually the first anchor to open at Fashion Square in 1966.[11][12]
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;[13] Transwest sold the Torrance Fashion Square in March of that year to new co-owners Great Lakes and Guilford Glazer and Associates,[14] while selling the three other Fashion Squares to Urban Investment and Development Company (UIDC).[9]
In 1971, the center was rebaptizedDel Amo Fashion Square and added a $3.75 million, 177,000-square-foot (16,400 m2)Montgomery Ward, a 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m2)Ohrbach's and an expanded I. Magnin,[12] as well as aUnited Artists fourplex theater which later received 2 additional larger auditoriums, and aWoolworth's, both of which were in the Montgomery Ward wing. Glazer acquired neighboring Del Amo Center in 1978.
In November 1981, the two formerly separate centers were officially merged in the "marriage of the malls"[15] 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 newJ. 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.[citation needed]
The center continued to evolve over the years as Ohrbach's closed in 1987 and became Swedish style furniture retailerSTØR. In 1991, the United Artists theater closed when a 9-screenMann theater opened outside of the mall on Del Amo Circle to the east of J. W. Robinson's. WhenSTØR went out of business in the early 1990s, the property was used as a clearance center for STØR merchandise before being subdivided intoMarshalls andTJ Maxx in the late 1990s.[16] I. Magnin followed in 1989 with part of their store eventually occupied byOld Navy, whileBurlington Coat Factory opened in the basement of the former Del Amo Center. J. W. Robinson's becameRobinsons-May in 1993.[citation needed]
In 1996, following the merger of Bullocks and The Broadway intoMacy's West, 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 toBloomingdale's, 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 (4,600-square-meter) ground floor became aJo-Ann's fabric and crafts store.[4] In 1997, Woolworth's becameVenator in accordance with the chain's renaming.[citation needed]
Faced with a change in consumer shopping patterns, the consolidation of the department store industry, the existence of too many malls fragmenting the greaterLos Angeles retail marketplace, lack of highway access and competition from the neighboringNordstrom-anchoredSouth Bay Galleria that opened in 1985, Del Amo began to suffer. In 2000, the Mann theater closed in accordance with the chain's folding and becameLA Fitness. 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-levelBarnes & Noble bookstore opened on the mall's perimeter.[citation needed]
In early 2002,The Mills Corporation acquired Del Amo Fashion Center from Glazer's family for $420 million (USD).[17] Subsequently, Mills sold a half-interest in the property toinstitutional investor 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 square feet (62,000 square meters) of existing space and the addition of another 100,000 square feet (9,300 square meters).Robinsons-May converted to a second full-lineMacy's West on September 9, 2006, called Macy's South, while Macy's Apparel was renamed Macy's North.
The new open-airlifestyle center opened on September 14, 2006, anchored by a two-story flagshipForever 21), aLucky Strike Lanes, and anAMC Theatres 18-screen multiplex to the mall. ACrate & Barrel home furnishings store opened adjacent to the mall in 2007.
In 2007, The Mills Corporation was jointly acquired bySimon Property Group andFarallon Capital Management. 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, likeOntario Mills, Hilltop Mall, the Block at Orange and Great Mall.
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.[18][19][20]
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 (namelyWestfield Century City andThird Street Promenade) and Orange County (namely theIrvine Spectrum,Fashion Island, andSouth Coast Plaza).[21] In conjunction with the renovation,Nordstrom announced it would relocate its store from theSouth Bay Galleria in nearbyRedondo Beach to Del Amo, anchoring the new wing.[22] 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, renamedPatio 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.[23]
Plans to consolidate the mall's threeMacy's 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.[24]Dick's Sporting Goods moved into the former Macy's Home space in early 2017 meanwhile theJo-Ann Fabrics store on the ground floor of said began began renovation in early 2019 and completed in mid 2020.[25]
After 18 months of construction, the northern portion of the mall officially opened on October 9, 2015.[26] 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.[27] The wing featured a mix of new-to-market retailers and holdovers from the former north end, including aDin Tai Fung restaurant and luxury retailersBOSS Hugo Boss,Kate Spade New York,Michael Kors,Tumi, andBrooks Brothers[28]
Several new and relocated restaurants fronted the new wing: a relocatedLucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, and now-closed locations forBrio Tuscan Grille and locally owned restaurants EMC Seafood & Raw Bar and Great Maple.[29][30]
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 withDave & Buster's and a relocatedMarshalls store.[31] Outback Steakhouse, which was displaced by construction on the south end, reopened in the Outdoor Village on July 7, 2018.
In November 2019, the former Orbach's building, which previously housed Marshalls on the first floor and TJ Maxx on the second floor, became aMitsuwa Marketplace 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.[32]
On July 1, 2020, it was announced thatSears would be shutting down as part of an ongoing decision to eliminate its traditional brick-and-mortar format.[32] 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 bought bySimon Property Group 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 standaloneBlack Angus Steakhouse 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".[33]
In January 2022, aSweetgreen and a Keisuke Ramen King eatery is slated to replace the former Great Maple, which closed down in 2017.
On March 1, 2024, the mall started a new chaperone policy after recent months of incidents at that mall, meaning that all visitors under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or adult, age 21 or older, after 3 PM on Fridays and Saturdays.[34]
On September 20, 2024, a newApple Store opened at the mall followed by the release of theiPhone 16 andiPhone 16 Pro models.[35] The new store was taken over by the combined space of two side-by-side units formerly occupied byJ.Crew andChico's, located on the main level in the Nordstrom wing.[36]
On February 25, 2025, it was announced that Jo-Ann Fabrics would close this location as part of a plan to close all stores nationwide after filing for bankruptcy.[37]
The Del Amo Fashion Center was a central location and plot element of the 1997Quentin Tarantino filmJackie Brown, 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 inMartha Coolidge'sValley Girl, the mall's abandoned Montgomery Ward wing was used as the "Saguaro Square Mall" backdrop for the 2003 filmBad Santa 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 filmWhy Him?. The mall was also used in Season 1, Episodes 2 and 3 ofHBO seriesEuphoria.
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.
In 2024, AmericanYouTuberiJustine went to the mall to celebrate the grand opening of the newApple Store and got her newiPhone 16 Pro Max and theUSB-C version of theAirPods Max.[38]
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.
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