Jeff Arellano's Commentary

Built in the 1960's as direct competition to The Quad at Whittier, this mall originally opened with three anchors, JCPenney on the East end, The Broadway on the west end, and a Boston Store in the center. A Sav-On Drugs was located in the mall next to JCPenney

This mall originally was open air and was an inital success. Sometime around the late 70's, early 80's, the mall was enclosed and remodeled inside to dark browns and brick work. This will be the only interior remodel to the mall.

The mall in the early 80s added a 4th department store (Mervyns) in the back near The Broadway. It also added a small food court across from the Sav-On Drug store and next to JCPenney. This mall was already on a downhill struggle.

Boston Stores closed for good in the early 90s and nothing ever replaced it. This will be the first blow to the mall.

The mall remodeled the exterior in the late 80's as it was trying to lure shops from the Quad, which had just closed down. Krikorian Theatres built a 10 screen Premium movie theatre on the back lot. This was sold a few years later to Regal Cinemas, who closed the theatre by the mid 90's.

In 1996, The Broadway, was bought out by Federated. They decided not to convert this store to a Macy's, and it was closed and immediately sold to Sears. Sears moved in by 1998 and the mall was on a rebound, or so it seemed.

The department stores continued to thrive, but the mall continued to decline. Failed attempts to lure a bookstore (it opened, then closed ) and an Old Navy (it opened, then moved to the redeveloped Quad) suffered, and the dark wood and brick inside was uninviting.

Stores on the inside of the mall contined to fail.

Finally in 2004, the mall closed for good. However, the Department Stores remained open. Sears was bustling. Mervyns busier than ever. JCPenney was strong, and the only shop open left in the mall was Sav-On Drugs.

Not long after closing, the entire mall minus the department stores was torn down. Sav-On moved to a new location on the same property.

The mall was replaced by big box retailers. Today, JCPenney, Sears, and Mervyns continue to thrive along with a new Target, Cost Plus and Petco. The site has been renamed Whitwood Town Center, and new condos are being built where the theatre once stood. If you stand in the parking lot, you can imagine where the mall once stood, as the mall enterances from all three department stores are now entrances to the free standing stores.

Steve Carras' Commentary

The mall was built in 1955-58 and the oldest store was the (circa 1961) Broadway now Sears (Broadway seemed to have sold their business to no less than THREE companies; Bloomingdales, Macy's, and here, and a few places elsewhere, Sears!). The Regal was closed in 2001.

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