Through Renovation Turmoil, Fashion Square Trudges On

The most asked question by customers at Draper’s and Damon’s women’s shop in Sherman Oaks Fashion Square during recent months hasn’t been “How much is it?” Rather, it’s been “How can you stand it?”

The customers had been referring to the incessant pounding, whirring and hammering outside the store as the 26-year-old, open-air shopping center was slowly transformed into an enclosed mall in a $50-million expansion project that began in June, 1988.

“The customers just couldn’t believe how we could put up with all the noise,” said Martha Brown, the manager of Draper’s and Damon’s. “Dust was flying in here, and we had to constantly clean the counters and the windows. But when the customers would complain, we’d show them drawings of how beautiful it was going to look when it’s all finished.”

New Look

Some mall merchants who said the remodeling was disrupting business and cutting into sales are optimistic about the prospects and new look, even though the project is months from completion. Other merchants said that the construction has not affected their business, but added that they will be relieved when it’s over.

“It’s made everything dirty, but there hasn’t been any drop in customers,” said Gayle Kikel, manager of Clarie’s Boutiques. “I don’t think the remodeling has been excessive, but I do have to keep cleaning the earrings that are on display.”

When the shopping center has its scheduled “grand reopening” in March, 1990, the merchants say it will retain much of the homey pedestrian flavor that had distinguished it from generic indoor malls, while adding the weather-protected comforts of a roof, new stores and features to attract more customers.

“A lot of the merchants were discouraged with all the work going on, and all the noise and dirt was quite an annoyance,” said Leonard Freedman, co-owner of the Sy Devore men’s store and a member of the board of directors for the mall’s merchant association.

Brown and Freedman said customers would rush in and out of the center instead of leisurely browsing through other shops.

‘Positive Feeling’

“But now everyone has more of a positive feeling,” Freedman said. “There’s excitement with the retailers, and the customers who left are coming back to see how it’s turning out.”

Executives with City Freeholds, the mall’s owner, compared the renovation to major surgery.

“It’s going to hurt a little bit as far as the merchants are concerned, but it will help in the long run,” said Alan Lynn, the firm’s vice president. “We’re trying hard to minimize the effect on the public, but the magnitude of the project is greater than if we were starting a new center from scratch.”

The shopping center, which used to be made up of seven separate buildings, is now under one roof. About 17,846 square feet of leasable floor area is being added. When finished, the mall, which currently has 43 stores, will have 135 stores.

Among the new features are an underground aquarium, fiberglass skylights and 30 trees, some of which will stretch almost to the center’s ceiling.

“We want to put daylight back into the mall,” Lynn said. “But we also keep the heat out.”

As shoppers wandered through the mall one day last week, the sights and sounds of ongoing noisy construction went on around them. Scaffolding from the second level rose high above them and unfinished escalators stood dormant beside them.

Familiar Sights

But aspects of the old mall remained. Pigeons bobbed around park benches and nibbled at food thrown by casual strollers. Young children ran energetically from their mothers and hid behind large trash cans.

Some shoppers seemed bothered by the mall’s transformation. “I remember the way it used to be, and I wasn’t happy when they decided to change it,” said Clay Tripp, 34, of Sherman Oaks, who has frequented the mall for years. “I liked it because it was different. So I hope it doesn’t become just another galleria.”

Friedman said his business dropped about 15% to 20% when the construction started. “People were turned off by all the noise that was going on,” he said. “A lot of folks who had small children were scared because of all the trucks and cranes that were around.

“A number of stores closed because the merchants thought there would be a whole new change in philosophy. Now that there’s more of a finished look, the merchants are happier. And customers are starting to come back. I think it’s going to work out.”