Hawthorne Plaza
Encyclopedia
Hawthorne Plaza is a partially abandoned mostly dead mall
along Hawthorne Boulevard between 120th Street and El Segundo Blvd in Hawthorne, California
. The 40 acres (16.2 ha) property opened in 1977 and included an indoor mall and free standing stores at the property's south end. The mall largely catered to the middle class residents living in and around Hawthorne and featured cheaper stores than other nearby malls such as South Bay Galleria
and Manhattan Village.
Despite initial popularity, the mall went into decline in the 1990s due in part to the economic decline of the area after the cutbacks in aerospace jobs and to competition from other shopping centers. The mall's number of occupied stores declined from 130 in the late 80s to 87 in 1994 and around 70 in 1998. By that year only one anchor store was remaining out of the original four. After the Macy's
Clearance Center (which replaced The Broadway
upon the latter's purchase by Federated Department Stores
) closed down in December 1997 there were plans to put in an AMC Theatre on the site and to convert the mall into an open air shopping center. Their plans never came into fruition, however, and the mall portion closed down in 1999.
The property's southern part was redone in 1998 and is still open. It includes a supermarket, a pharmacy, and some small restaurants. The mall building and most of its multistory parking lots are now abandoned except for a Quizno's at 120th and Hawthorne and a police training center that was built in the portion formerly occupied by Montgomery Ward
. On the northern side is an annex administrative office for the Hawthorne school district. The abandoned mall has also been used to film a number of movies, such as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
.
Dead mall
A dead mall or greyfield is a shopping mall with a high vacancy rate or a low consumer traffic level, or that is dated or deteriorating in some manner. Many malls in the United States are considered "dead" when they have no surviving anchor store or successor that could serve as an entry into or...
along Hawthorne Boulevard between 120th Street and El Segundo Blvd in Hawthorne, California
Hawthorne, California
Hawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. The city at the 2010 census had a population of 84,293, up from 84,112 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
. The 40 acres (16.2 ha) property opened in 1977 and included an indoor mall and free standing stores at the property's south end. The mall largely catered to the middle class residents living in and around Hawthorne and featured cheaper stores than other nearby malls such as South Bay Galleria
South Bay Galleria
South Bay Galleria, formerly named Galleria at South Bay, is a mall in Redondo Beach outside of Los Angeles, California. It is anchored by Macy's, Kohl's and Nordstrom, as well as a 16-screen AMC Theatres multiplex.-History:...
and Manhattan Village.
Despite initial popularity, the mall went into decline in the 1990s due in part to the economic decline of the area after the cutbacks in aerospace jobs and to competition from other shopping centers. The mall's number of occupied stores declined from 130 in the late 80s to 87 in 1994 and around 70 in 1998. By that year only one anchor store was remaining out of the original four. After the Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
Clearance Center (which replaced The Broadway
The Broadway
The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States of America. Founded in 1896 by English born Arthur Letts, Sr., who later went on to develop Holmby Hills, The Broadway became one of the dominant retailers in Southern California and the...
upon the latter's purchase by Federated Department Stores
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....
) closed down in December 1997 there were plans to put in an AMC Theatre on the site and to convert the mall into an open air shopping center. Their plans never came into fruition, however, and the mall portion closed down in 1999.
The property's southern part was redone in 1998 and is still open. It includes a supermarket, a pharmacy, and some small restaurants. The mall building and most of its multistory parking lots are now abandoned except for a Quizno's at 120th and Hawthorne and a police training center that was built in the portion formerly occupied by Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is an online retailer that carries the same name as the former American department store chain, founded as the world's #1 mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, and which went out of business in 2001...
. On the northern side is an annex administrative office for the Hawthorne school district. The abandoned mall has also been used to film a number of movies, such as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a 2006 street racing action film directed by Justin Lin. It is the third installment in the The Fast and the Furious film series and currently the sixth in terms of series chronology...
.