Santa Monica Place: Shopping by the Sea

Santa Monica Place is identified as the shopping mall by the sea--by its stores and by the number of beach-going visitors that pass through its doors.

The mall has followed the trend toward specialty stores, adding a Pacific Sunwear outlet (hip surf garb). It also boasts two environmentally sensitive retail outlets in the Heal the Bay Museum and Nature’s Own. The great outdoors theme is also reflected in its Eddie Bauer store.

Developed and operated by the Rouse Co. of Columbia, Md., the center recently remodeled its facade and interior with an eye toward shedding its generic mall image. The mall has been aided greatly in that regard by the recently completed renovation of the adjacent Third Street Promenade, which has added several upscale restaurants and three new movie theaters within a two-block radius.

The $15-million remodeling job, which took nearly 11 months to complete, included the addition of several skylights and other decorative touches that brightened both the inside and exterior of the beach-side shopping center. Marketing officials, however, say the real upgrade involved the addition of several new stores, such as Imaginerium, which they are banking on to boost sales.

Mall officials say the shopping center is more community-minded than most, in part because of its location in downtown Santa Monica and its proximity to the city’s Civic Center.

As a reflection of the city’s landscape, mall officials recently planted palm trees inside and added a drip fountain in the center court.

“We have certain natural advantages here because of our location,” said Robin Faulk, marketing director. “A lot of the reasons Santa Monica is great is the reason why Santa Monica Place is great.”

During the holidays, mall employees are required to park in the Santa Monica Civic Center parking lot a few blocks away. Even so, the mall tends to suffer from insufficient parking. The problem is sometimes worse on summer weekends than during the Christmas season because beach-goers find the mall’s lot a free and convenient place to leave their cars.

Although the mall competes primarily with Westside Pavilion, its target audience is located along the coast, the affluent residents from Malibu to Los Angeles International Airport.

In 1989, Santa Monica Place ranked 15th in total sales among the 45 largest malls in Los Angeles County.

SANTA MONICA PLACE, SANTA MONICA

Year opened: 1980

Retail square footage: 570,000

Anchor stores: the Broadway, Robinson’s

Number of stores: 160

Memorable feature: New fountain in center court