The History Of the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Los Angeles, California. Version 2.0 — Transcript

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1. 0:00The Sherman Oaks Galleria is an open air
2. 0:03shopping mall and business center in Los
3. 0:04Angeles, California that opened in 1980.
4. 0:11Were you a kid, teenager, adult, parent,
5. 0:14or grandparent living in Southern
6. 0:16California and would frequent those
7. 0:18malls in your area? Were you a mall rat
8. 0:21like me where you spent your formative
9. 0:23years people watching, socializing, or
10. 0:25shopping at those iconic malls? Let's
11. 0:28take a stroll down memory lane and
12. 0:31relive those moments of yester years.
13. 0:35So, let's take a deep dive into the
14. 0:37history of that mall in your
15. 0:39neighborhood. Please leave a comment or
16. 0:41a memory of this mall and stay tuned
17. 0:43until the end. I want to see if you were
18. 0:47paying attention to my video.
19. 0:50Thanks.
20. 0:58The three-level mall is located at the
21. 1:00present- day intersection of Ventura and
22. 1:02Sepulva Boulevards.
23. 1:05[Music]
24. 1:07The Sherman Oaks Galleria opened on
25. 1:09October 30th, 1980 with two department
26. 1:12stores, Robinson's who anchored the
27. 1:15South, and May Company, who anchored the
28. 1:18North.
29. 1:23The Pacific Theaters Pacific 4 opened in
30. 1:26December of that year and occupied the
31. 1:28uppermost level of the mall.
32. 1:34The mall signified the 1980s culture and
33. 1:37was the inspiration behind Frank Zappa
34. 1:40Moon Unit Zappa's 1982 satirical single
35. 1:44Valley Girl.
36. 1:48If you were a kid in the 1980s, you may
37. 1:50remember watching this iconic movie,
38. 1:52Fast Times at Richmond High. The
39. 1:55interior shots of the mall were featured
40. 1:57in the opening scenes.
41. 2:01In fact, the Sherman Oaks Galleria was
42. 2:04actually featured in quite a few
43. 2:05Hollywood movies, including Valley Girl,
44. 2:08Night of the Comet, Commando, Back to
45. 2:10the Future 2, Terminator 2: Judgement
46. 2:12Day, Albert Brooks's Mother, Phantom of
47. 2:15the Mall: Eric's Revenge, Walk Like a
48. 2:17Man, Inner Space, and Chopping Mall.
49. 2:25The movie Valley Girl, which is credited
50. 2:27with the creation of the socioeconomic
51. 2:30stereotype of the Valley Girl, became
52. 2:32synonymous with the Sherman Oaks
53. 2:33Galleria, which solidified the mall's
54. 2:36position as the epicenter of teenage
55. 2:39mall culture.
56. 2:43Despite its Hollywood fame, the mall was
57. 2:46otherwise a rather small, unremarkable
58. 2:49mall. Although Janet Jackson had been
59. 2:52spotted shopping there on at least one
60. 2:54occasion.
61. 2:56Same with Molly Ringwald who used to
62. 2:58shop there regularly.
63. 3:04As mentioned before, there was a May
64. 3:07company
65. 3:10and a Robinson's.
66. 3:16The first primary challenge the Sherman
67. 3:18Oaks Galleria encountered was the 1992
68. 3:21merger of the mall's two anchors,
69. 3:23Robinson's and May Company.
70. 3:29As a result of the merger, both anchor
71. 3:31spaces were rebranded as Robinson's May
72. 3:34department stores. The merger caused JW
73. 3:38Robinson's to close.
74. 3:43The May company also closed.
75. 3:49Both stores would be rebranded as
76. 3:52Robinson's May.
77. 3:55Robinson's May's northern anchor store
78. 3:58would consist of men's and home
79. 3:59department and their southern anchor
80. 4:02store would consist of women's and
81. 4:04children's department.
82. 4:09The mall's two identically branded
83. 4:11anchor spaces likely didn't arouse much
84. 4:14of the general public's enthusiasm and
85. 4:16excitement. Presented with all of the
86. 4:18San Frernando Valley Shopping Mall
87. 4:20choices, which included Westfield
88. 4:22Fashion Square, Northridge Fashion
89. 4:24Center, and Westfield Topa, there likely
90. 4:27wasn't much of a reason to visit the
91. 4:28only mall with just one department store
92. 4:31brand.
93. 4:33[Music]
94. 4:38In the early hours of January 17th,
95. 4:401994, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake rattled
96. 4:44the San Frernando Valley, resulting in
97. 4:46over 9,000 casualties and $40 billion in
98. 4:50estimated property damage.
99. 4:56The Sherman Oaks Galleria emerged
100. 4:58relatively undamaged by the earthquake
101. 4:59with the mall reopening just 11 days
102. 5:01following the earthquake. However, the
103. 5:04mall's anchor tenant, Robinson's May,
104. 5:06didn't fully reopen its store until more
105. 5:08than four years following the
106. 5:10earthquake.
107. 5:11[Music]
108. 5:14Much to the frustration of the mall's
109. 5:16ownership and the mall's smaller
110. 5:17retailers, the third floor of Robinson's
111. 5:19May Southern Anchor Store wouldn't
112. 5:21reopen until mid 1998. During the 4-year
113. 5:24delay, most of the mall's thirdf flooror
114. 5:26tenants vacated due to the insufficient
115. 5:29traffic on the mall's third floor.
116. 5:38In 1997, Douglas EMTT acquired the
117. 5:41Sherman Oaks Galleria for $51 million.
118. 5:44The off-market transaction reflected a
119. 5:46price per square foot of just $51 from
120. 5:49the mall's 1 million square ft of retail
121. 5:51and office space.
122. 5:55After the acquisition, Douglas EMTT
123. 5:57proceeded to clear out all of the mall's
124. 5:59tenants so it could implement its
125. 6:01redevelopment plans. By 1998, the mall's
126. 6:04occupancy had dwindled to approximately
127. 6:0640%, and Douglas EMTT was now focused on
128. 6:09forcing Robinson's May to vacate both
129. 6:11the south and north anchor spaces of the
130. 6:14mall.
131. 6:17To that end, Douglas EMTT sued
132. 6:19Robinson's May for its unauthorized
133. 6:21closure of the third floor of its
134. 6:23Southern Anchor store, which lasted over
135. 6:25four years, claiming that virtually all
136. 6:27the mall's tenants located adjacent to
137. 6:29the closed third floor, had vacated the
138. 6:32mall due to lack of customer traffic.
139. 6:34Furthermore, Douglas EMTT charged
140. 6:36Robinson's May with failing to
141. 6:38adequately staff and stock its stores,
142. 6:41thereby further contributing to the
143. 6:43mall's decline. They eventually settled
144. 6:46out of court. As a result, both
145. 6:49Robinson's made buildings closed.
146. 7:00The mall closed in April of 1999 for a
147. 7:03major renovation and reopened in 2002 as
148. 7:07an open air center, which was quite
149. 7:09different from its previous incarnation.
150. 7:11The new layout was termed mixed use. The
151. 7:14only remnant of the original mall is the
152. 7:16court where the Pacific 16 theaters is
153. 7:20located which are on the uppermost of
154. 7:22what was previously the southern
155. 7:24Robinson's May store. The majority of
156. 7:26the remaining mall was turned into
157. 7:28offices.
158. 7:34The original Sherman Oaks Galleria was
159. 7:36repeatedly criticized for its
160. 7:38unwelcoming closed off design. The new
161. 7:41design created the opposite effect. The
162. 7:44new Sherman Oaks Galleria turned into a
163. 7:47predominantly outdoor lifestyle center
164. 7:49with three pedestrian entrances.
165. 7:52The price for the renovation was steep,
166. 7:55costing them over $200 million.
167. 8:02Warner Brothers set up offices in what
168. 8:04was once one of the mall entrances.
169. 8:06Several mortgage companies and financial
170. 8:08service providers were headquartered
171. 8:10within the center. Additional tenants
172. 8:12included 24-hour fitness, Burke Williams
173. 8:15Day Spa, DSW Shoe Warehouse, Duvet
174. 8:19University, Paul Mitchell, as well as
175. 8:21several major restaurant chains such as
176. 8:23Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs China
177. 8:26Beastro, Buffalo Wild Wings, Starbucks,
178. 8:29and Freda Mexican Cuisine.
179. 8:34In June of 2007, the Pacific Galleria 16
180. 8:37Theaters changed into the Arklike Cinema
181. 8:39as Pacific Theater owned the Arklike
182. 8:42brand. They would close in 2021 and
183. 8:44Regal Cinemas would take over after. On
184. 8:47June 26, 2023, paramedics took one
185. 8:50person to a hospital and treated five
186. 8:52others at the scene after they reported
187. 8:55an unidentified odor at the Sherman Oaks
188. 8:58Galleria.
189. 9:00In August of 2025, I decided to stop by
190. 9:03this shopping slash business center. I
191. 9:07wouldn't even call this a mall anymore.
192. 9:08In fact, after walking around the lower
193. 9:10level, the security guard informed me
194. 9:12that this wasn't a mall and that I
195. 9:14should go 5 minutes down the freeway to
196. 9:16the other mall, Westfield Fashion
197. 9:18Square. This was my first and probably
198. 9:21last visit to this center.
199. 9:25Aside from the few restaurants, the
200. 9:28shopping center has a Starbucks, Buffalo
201. 9:30Wild Wings, PF Chains, a gym, and a
202. 9:32Regal movie theater. That's it. Aside
203. 9:35from the people going to the gym, the
204. 9:37shopping center was deserted. Probably
205. 9:39because I came on a Sunday.
206. 9:42Back when it was originally a shopping
207. 9:44mall, I can see why many former
208. 9:46customers are disappointed with the way
209. 9:48it looks now. Very sterile and
210. 9:51businesslike.
211. 9:53Congratulations.
212. 9:55[Music]
213. 9:57>> Still here.
214. 10:01>> It's over.
215. 10:06>> When I find you,
216. 10:07>> pop quiz, hot shot.
217. 10:09>> This is only a test.
218. 10:12>> So, if you've gotten this far into the
219. 10:14video, thanks. So, how many anchor
220. 10:16stores closed or changed names at this
221. 10:20mall?
222. 10:24So, if your answer was four,
223. 10:26give yourself a hand. You were paying
224. 10:29attention.
225. 10:31Thanks for watching.
226. 10:39Thank you for watching. If you like this
227. 10:41content, and if you haven't already, hit
228. 10:43that subscribe button. Thanks.