California Apparel News

If introducing new looks and styles is crucial in the retail game, the Glendale Galleria shopping center had been out of step for a long time.

The regional shopping center, which is located some 10 miles north of Los Angeles, could have been characterized as a sleeping giant. The 1.5-million-square-foot retail center opened in 1976, introduced a new retail wing in 1988, and renovated the site’s paint and flooring in 1997. However, there had been no extensive renovation until 2013.

The mall owners, General Growth Properties, spent in excess of $100 million to improve the mall, which serves consumers from all over the San Gabriel Valley and Los Angeles’ Eastside. The mall went over the basics by getting new flooring and paint and replacing the 1970s brick walling, which had made the mall a shadowy place.

The renovation also features several new escalators and elevators, as well as several architectural showcases of the new logo of the mall, which is a letter “G.” One of the showcases, a set of 9-foot-tall brass letters, spells out “Glendale Galleria.”

A new look attracted high-marquee tenants. A new Kitson opened, as well as a BCBGMaxAzria, Porsche Design, Silver Jeans Co., Vilebrequin, Original Penguin and a 15,000-square-foot flagship for Pink, Victoria’s Secret’s sister brand. The most highly anticipated new tenant was a 115,000-square-foot Bloomingdale’s, which was the only full-line Bloomie’s opened this year.

The renovation leaves a question unanswered, though. Who will move into a 140,000-square-foot space that formerly housed the Galleria’s Nordstrom? In a unique deal, the Galleria’s Nordstrom moved across the street to the Americana at Brand retail center. The Americana’s Nordstrom opened in September, and since then its former Galleria address has been vacant. Caruso Affiliated, the landlord of the Galleria Nordstrom space, had no comment on prospective tenants for the vacant space.