Nordstrom to Anchor Renovated Mall in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
The city of Thousand Oaks, Calif., has traditionally been leery of development.
But residents will likely welcome the Nordstrom department store scheduled to move into The Oaks shopping center in 2008, said Scott Mitnick, assistant city manager.
“If there wasn’t a new Nordstrom, getting community support would be difficult. Development is almost always resisted,” Mitnick said. “The community does not want to become the San Fernando Valley.”
But 55 percent of Thousand Oaks residents polled by the city last year said they would support the building of a new Nordstrom. The 144,000-square-foot Nordstrom will be a high-profile part of the renovation and expansion of the 1.9-million-square-foot mall, operated by The Macerich Co., a major shopping center owner based in Santa Monica, Calif.
The facelift will cost an estimated $150 million, according to city sources. Macerich Senior Vice President Randy Brant would neither confirm nor deny that figure. Nordstrom did not return phone calls.
Macerich’s plan calls for knocking down a Robinsons-May store at the east end of the shopping center and building a Nordstrom in its place. The luxury department store will anchor a new wing dedicated to specialty retailers and restaurants.
On the west end of the mall is another Robinsons-May, which will be expanded to 240,000 square feet during the renovation.
Already, high-end retailers such as Coach, Anthropologie and L’Occitane have moved into the mall, believing that Thousand Oaks is ripe for new retail stores, Mitnick said. The main reason for their interest is the fact that residents are getting wealthier. The median household income in this Ventura County city of 126,081 people is $76,815, according to the 2000 census, compared with $56,856 in 1990.
The only way Thousand Oaks residents can shop at Nordstrom stores now is by traveling north to Santa Barbara or south to Canoga Park. The Nordstrom in Thousand Oaks will most likely retain local shoppers and draw customers from the surrounding towns of Malibu, Simi Valley, Agoura Hills and Oxnard. It will also add $500,000 to $750,000 in sales tax to the city’s coffers.
Macerich bought the mall in 2002. Since then, average sales at the shopping center have gone from $420 per square foot to $500 per square foot, Brant said.
The renovation also will provide a badly needed facelift. The design and architecture of The Oaks has not changed since the mall was completed in 1980, according to Brant. The new look will have a California Spanish design featuring red tile roofs. Macerich will add skylights, up to two elevators and more than three fountains in the shopping center’s interior.
Nevertheless, the refurbished mall will have competition. More than 20 miles to the south, the Westfield Group started a $300 million renovation and expansion of the Westfield Topanga shopping center in Canoga Park. This shopping center, scheduled to be completed in 2008, will be anchored by a Neiman Marcus, a Nordstrom and a Target.
More than 15 miles north of The Oaks, Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises is building the Simi Valley Town Center. The regional center, anchored by Macy’s and Robinsons-May, is scheduled to open in October.
Brant said competition will not be fierce with the Simi Valley Town Center and Westfield Topanga because The Oaks expects to attract a wealthier customer.
“Topanga always will be a good mall,” Brant said. “But Nordstrom understands Thousand Oaks has been underserved, and we think there’s a big enough market for everyone.” —Andrew Asch
