Broadway Reopens in Damaged Mall
The Broadway today will become the first department store to reopen in the heavily quake-damaged Northridge Fashion Center, launching a high-tech retail operation.
The redesigned store, a prototype for the 83 Broadways throughout the Western states, features touch-screen computerized directories, a video wall made up of nine television screens, interactive computer games for children and electronic ticker tapes that list current merchandise specials, said spokesman William J. Ihle.
“It signifies a new beginning for us,” said Lloyd Miller, general manager of the Northridge Fashion Center. “We are rebuilding and getting better.”
Former customers will notice a few changes, too.
The store has eliminated its furniture and electronics departments and devoted most of the freed-up 10,000 square feet to expanding the women’s apparel and accessories departments, Ihle said.
“The store is laid out in a much more shopper-friendly environment,” Ihle said. “If you follow the racetrack lighting around, all departments lead off the central oval.”
An automated teller machine and telephones for free local calls were designed into the main service center on the first floor, he said.
Two innovative additions are the Walk of Stars, a mini-version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame that will spotlight five community heroes annually--their names will be engraved on floor plaques--and the Kids Fun Zone, with a mechanical tree and condor that spout facts about the environment while Mom is shopping nearby in the intimate apparel department.
One of the few things left from the old store is the building itself, said Broadway manager Tom MacKay.
“The exterior of the building and escalator are from the old store,” MacKay said, as busy workers put merchandise on nearby shelves and swept up trappings from the floor. “That is about it. Everything else is brand-new.”
In the months since the Jan. 17 earthquake, The Broadway operated out of the “Home Dome,” a 36,000-square-foot tent stationed in the parking lot. But now that they are back inside, MacKay said, “This ain’t your ol’ Broadway anymore.”
