And to the people who keep blaming “the homeless”, this is an enclosed area. There are no homeless here and you do not need to leave the mall if you don’t want to. Nobody is coming.
Fox Hills has really high occupancy and a lot of high-traffic stores. I would’ve agreed about it being ass 3 years ago but I think they’ve had a good comeback
It also has a lot of kid stores, so it draws more young families. Carters and children’s place and H&M Kids and build a bear and a bookstore and a bunch of places when you can buy toys and puzzles. The Santa Monica mall and promenade have almost nothing like that apart from the Cayton Museum.
It took me 25 minutes to find parking today at Santa Anita just to go in and pick up an order at one store, and then another 20 just to leave the parking lot. They had guys directing traffic all over and around the entire mall so it helped some. Crazy that some malls are dead while others are still living their 80s “busy mall” phase.
Santa Anita feels much more like one of those malls in Asia thanks to 99 Ranch Market opening its doors right in the building. It's generally a great place to go to.
I went yesterday and the absolute JOY I felt when I found parking right next to an elevator, let me tell you. I was planning on dropping my family off and then circling for 45 min until finding parking. It was a Christmas miracle! And yes, it was PACKED.
Century city around Christmas time is the only time in my life I’ve ever been stuck in a parking garage looking for parking so long that by the time I decided to give up and leave I was past the grace period.
SMP isn’t the best location for retail because literally there is nobody to the west of it due to the Pacific Ocean. That significantly reduces the number of people within driving distance.
Then layer on the fact that people North (Topanga Westfield), East (Century City/Grove), and South (Westfield Culver City mall), have good shopping options, it’s inherently not going to draw as many people.
What’s makes SM so livable (weather, fewer people) is what makes it not the best shopping district.
This is also what screws up the Bev Center. Just go to Century City, Rodeo, the Grove, or walk Melrose. Or hell, cross the street to the Beverly Connection.
Before they tore down the traditional mall and made this open air thing, it was pretty popular and it had a great food court. I think it may have died after Sears left. By that time, I was gone and moved across town.
I think the mall lacks traditional stores like target and Macy’s and JCPenney and Dick’s Sporting Goods. You know, all the stores that make malls popular as opposed to overpriced handbag stores.
I still remember getting free orange chicken samples and then hitting up the hot dog on a stick place across the hall, then going upstairs to get a warm chocolate chip cookie at Mrs Fields’s for $1. Best time of my life
To many, the SMP and its adjacent mall are some sort of “hidden secret” of Malibu bougie stores, hence why it’s relatively quieter than other westside shopping centers.
Yeah, the Westfield Topanga, Topanga Village, Westfield Century City, Glendale Galleria, Glendale Americana, Burbank Town Center, and Northridge Fashion Center malls have all been fairly busy when I've been to them these past few weeks.
And there was a literal panhandler holding out a rattling cup of change on the sidewalk at the crosswalk between the Glendale Galleria and the Glendale Americana, plus a couple of busking musicians too.
My personal hell on earth was working retail management in a giant outlet mall in a really busy tourist area near my hometown on Black Friday. It’s not as bad these days, but when I was still there about ten years ago, it was impossible to describe how insane it got. I managed a shoe store, and we averaged around $150k in sales PER DAY through the entire Black Friday weekend, and some of the bigger stores around us in the mall were pulling in a half a million per day easily.
The parking lot was so horrific that the local police dept. actually had to come every year and control the traffic just to let people in and out onto the highway, and one year in particular, it took me over an hour and a half just to get out of the parking lot when I was done working and trying to get home. The following years after that, I actually left my car there and walked because it was seriously quicker than dealing with the horrendous traffic.
Do they still have that store with all the old typewriters on display? Or were they sewing machines? I thought it was gong to be cool and then it was just some overpriced designer clothes
The failure of the SM place is due to a curse I placed on it when the original mall closed and took down that amazing cheap and tasty Mongolian bbq place with it. Hope replacing it with a Gucci store was worth it!
No doubt about it. I grew up in SM and it’s really sad how bland and uninteresting, yet prohibitively expensive it’s become. Can’t really think of anyone who I went to school with who even lives there anymore. Priced out of the city we grew up in by people with more money than taste.
My feelings exactly. Every time I see this place I'm like "They got rid of the Mongolian BBQ for this?" I know there are a few Genghis Khan BBQ places around, but I think that one was a Great Khan's Mongolian BBQ. There appears to be one on Montebello and one in Cerritos.
They chased out all the good stores from third Street like the comic book stores and puzzle stores and knickknack places and they brought in a bunch of high dollar craziness into the mall. Barnes & Noble is gone Starbucks down on that end is gone. When I first moved to Los Angeles 20+ years ago, the third street promenade was packed all the time you were hard pressed to find a seat add a table.
It’s kind of silly to blame it on the homeless. When any place empties out and becomes unpopular, the unhoused will fill the void. There was probably just as many unhoused people 20 years ago, but they were living among thousands and thousands of people enjoying the space. The same amount of unhoused people today looks like they’re the only ones they are because they are the only ones there.
Agreed! It was the beach version of Melrose back in the 80’s. It’s was cool and fun. Greed gets the best of all of these places. The mom and pops will always stick around. For big business, that location is just a blip on a spreadsheet and when the numbers don’t work anymore, the location is done. Sad.
Also, can we remember when Pee Wee’s Big Adventure was shot there! That’s where the bike store was.
As someone who has lived, visited and/or worked in Santa Monica for 20 years, IMO this is the most accurate response. I would add the fear of becoming trapped by the 10 freeway traffic leaving the area is also a factor, as are the other options elsewhere close by (Fox Hills, Century City).
But it’s not the same as the one where the Apple Store is now. The good Barnes and Noble had a cafe and you could read magazines while sipping on a latte
They made some efforts on the third street promenade, and it is nicer now. Places to eat, Barnes and nobles, sport shops (adidas, culto futbol,..) Uniqlo, Apple Store, Sephora… pretty happy with it. The Santa Monica place was always “luxury shops”, which I barely need. Also, I have made my shopping early to avoid the big last weekend crowds.
Nah, I think the timeline of events is a bit misplaced.
Third Street Promenade (pre 2000) was once a treasure of unique shops and restaurants. It was posh. It was eclectic. It was romance. It was chill and vibey.
Because it attracted so many people, the big corporations moved in, like Barnes and Noble and Starbucks. Third Street became the mediocre shit that you find in every other mall. It lost its voice.
Why would I go there? There's nothing special drawing me to it.
It happens to all of time, like Haight Street in SF. Corporations kill.
Nothing on the promenade or in SMP appeals. I live close to it but there are no interesting stores. I always go to Abbott-Kinney or Century City for what I need.
Century City was a nightmare earlier today. So crowded. I should have gone to Santa Monica Place; at least I could have parked easily and gotten some of the things.
It's so depressing. We went a few weeks ago on a Sunday and it was dead. Didn't really help that PETA was in there with a megaphone and projector showing videos of animals dying in slaughterhouses and handing out leaflets. One of the shops also has a huge poster of Stephen Miller, calling him "Patron Saint of Santa Monica"
I think the fact that it's really the only mall in the LA area without a movie theater and extensive dining options is the reason more people don't go there. At least for me, I only go to malls when I'm going to see a movie. People don't really go to malls just for shopping when they can do that online with less hassle. Century City as a contrast has multiple grocery stores, many restaurants and a food court, cafes, gyms, a movie theater, and tons of other non-shopping activities. The Grove has the movie theater and massive farmers market. Especially because of the current economic climate, most people aren't clamoring to spend all of their money on shopping.
EDIT TO ADD: A friend of mine posted a photo from there today around 7pm and it looked completely packed.
That’s why I decided to stay home, I remember last year and the parking situation for both malls, no way in hell I would put myself through that again, all my shopping is done including the food I’ll be cooking, whole foods and trader joe’s is a disaster too right now.
I knew this design would fail the first time I walked through it when it was redone over a decade ago. Something about it just doesn't work. Having Nordstrom as an anchor tenant certainly didn't help though.
I think, as others may have suggested, that if anyone was to make the trip to Santa Monica, they would prefer to go to the promenade, the pier, the boardwalk and walkway. No one goes to Santa Monica for the mall. They are passing by several more iconic malls to get there, so its not a primary destination.
The entire 3rd street promenade is a stark example of late stage capitalism run amok.
The stores aren't empty because no one goes there, they're empty because the rent is too expensive for anyone to run a business and make a profit. But the "landlords" (aka mega real-estate investment firms) benefit from this because they become a giant tax write off for the owners.
They are also disincentivized from renting them at a lower (actual market) rate because the banks would want to reassess the value of the property.
So this is a case where the state needs to step in and do something. Prohibit banks from reassessment, and threaten real-estate companies with eminent domain for properties left empty for more than 6-12 months. The state can turn around and rent them for cheap to small businesses.
That's the solution - just need someone bold enough to do it.
It’s an overpriced bore of a mall. I remember the old SMP mall. Everything about it was better. I went to the new mall when it opened, and hated it. Even the food court was boring.
I was honestly shocked by how empty it was on a Saturday when I went recently. Din Tai Fung was EMPTY. Walked right in at 1pm and there were maybe two other people in our section. Every two stores on 3rd street were shuttered. Sad. I could also be that parking in the structure was $40 for 5 hours and no one validated.
This is this specific development issue. I’m in Orange County and there’s people everywhere. Spectrum mall is packed, people in shops, theaters, restaurants. Went to total wine and very difficult to find parking. Retail isn’t dead everywhere.
I was just reading the Santa Monica Daily Press (no shade), and on Thursday, they had articles about bringing olympic events and a music festival to the city and I really do wonder if it would boost business like the promoters promised. I used to be in SM all the time for shopping. But with the death of the SM Place and the Third Street Promenade, I shop at the Grove or Century City (when I shop in person).
My son's in school there and I bike, so it's not as if I'm never over that way. I miss the hustle and bustle of the city 20 years ago.
Santa Monica Place is an empty shell compared to what it used to be. No dept stores. Uniqlo moved to the Promenade. Not enough draw with the Promenade too.
It’s a bummer because it was fun when it was busy especially with the live musicians on 3rd.
Context is everything, this could be 8 AM or whenever they just opened. I went to the West Covina mall on Thursday around noon and it was packed, and had to park on the outskirts of the huge parking area. Last year I went to Montebello mall a week before Christmas and I could barely find parking. Malls being dead, at least in the LA area, is a little exaggerated imo. Same with the Arcadia, Santa Anita Mall, it’s usually quite busy there regardless of the time of the year.
Still have to deal with the homeless walking to your car at the promenade. Was there on Thursday and saw many individuals who should have been in a mental hospital. Reminded me why don’t go there anymore. Felt unsafe.
The downvotes are funny. Look at century city mall and the grove—people go there because it’s SAFE! Little kids running around. Meanwhile it’s a dystopian nightmare of meth addicts and the enabling of street drugs in SM. It’s not heathy.
Homelessness has always been a problem on 3rd Street. I remember calling the police as a naive college student thinking someone was dead only to find out they were just drunk. The stairwells in the parking lot was always a gamble.
What a fall from how it was 10 years ago. Third Street Promenade feels unsafe due to homeless, plus Century City had its renovation, so now there’s no reason to visit the Promenade when you could just shop at Century City and feel safe…
and without visitors to the Promenade, there aren’t visitors to the small mall next door. Santa Monica Place is a victim of its surroundings. It’s not a big enough mall to attract visitors on its own, it only really works as a bookend to the Promenade.
It use to be glorious. Walk from Barnes and Noble on one end and the Place mall at the other. Street performers, shoppers, families, big window displays.
God I miss those days. The beautiful 90’s growing up and then the 2000’s smoking cigarettes and hanging out outside the AMC. It used to be the spot. Now it ….. is not?
I was just here last night and thinking about how liminal it was. I didnt even know there was an outdoor mall here. The missus went to blow up the cheesecake factory bathroom then when we walked out there was a whole ass DTF and all these weirdly spread out stores. It was also cold and no music playing or much lighting. It was odd
I have fond memories of this very spot in the 80s. They would build giant sand sculptures and Santa would be here as well for the kids. Absolutely bustling!
Took half an hour to park at Empire Center in Burbank tonight. I only came because nowhere else had a certain gift in stock and Empire was the closest the box store would order it to, but damn was it packed.
In a normal and healthy economy, it would be full of shoppers, Santa's tingling their bells, music and the smell of food stands in the air, etc. That place is dead - and it's Santa Monica. Wow.
There's nothing at smo to go to. Back when they first opened they had Nordstroms, Bloomingdales and Barney's new York. Now? Just din Tai Fung and Uniqlo really that's it. They need more tenants. Nordstroms leaving a few months ago was the kiss of death.
I know it’s not a shopping mall, but Citadel Outlets was insanely packed yesterday. They had multiple overflow parking lots with shuttles to drop you off in front.
century city is PACKED and parking is impossible
Retail isnt dead. The bad malls are dead.
This. You make a touristy mall, you'll suffer when the tourist don't show up.
Also the locals don't want to go there because everything is overpriced and there are a lot of homeless in the area.
bring back gotham hall and midnight express.
I loved these places on the promenade! Child of the '80's/90's?
yeah. both eras. i missed the old place. i went back recently and i was super bummed out. went on countless dates there.
I worked at Yankee Doodles from the day it opened :)
i loved playing billiards there.
And the Broadway Deli too!!
I don't even work at a touristy mall and we're dead at Nordstrom
I don’t know, the Fox Hills mall is ass but it’s packed as fuck this weekend
Fox Hills has really high occupancy and a lot of high-traffic stores. I would’ve agreed about it being ass 3 years ago but I think they’ve had a good comeback
It also has a lot of kid stores, so it draws more young families. Carters and children’s place and H&M Kids and build a bear and a bookstore and a bunch of places when you can buy toys and puzzles. The Santa Monica mall and promenade have almost nothing like that apart from the Cayton Museum.
Free parking that's close to the stores is also a plus. I hate the principle of paying to park just to shop.
Yeah, I paid $5 for an hour of parking at Century city today just to do returns (…and get a cheese tart). What a waste
3rd St doesn’t have very many “average person” stores. It’s too bougie.
I was at Costco today. It was absolute madness.
I only go to Century City right when they open during this time of the year
My wife loves to arrive at century city at the crack of dawn too 😭
If you do that, it’s zen
Yeah it’s lovely to grab an early coffee and pastry and walk around, and we basically have a preferred parking spot 😂
Yup. Same with Americana/galleria.
Santa Anita is also jammed. And Old Town Pasadena is solid.
It took me 25 minutes to find parking today at Santa Anita just to go in and pick up an order at one store, and then another 20 just to leave the parking lot. They had guys directing traffic all over and around the entire mall so it helped some. Crazy that some malls are dead while others are still living their 80s “busy mall” phase.
Santa Anita feels much more like one of those malls in Asia thanks to 99 Ranch Market opening its doors right in the building. It's generally a great place to go to.
Same with citadel outlets drove by and it looked slammed
That place is evil. Lures you in with 20$ Chinos but steals your ability to leave
The Citadel around Christmas is one of the circles of Hell.
100000%! Like any idea of “hell” that’s written in any book- they spent a holiday weekend at citadel for inspo.
I like the citadel outlets a lot, but at this time of year I stay far away!
Money pouring in for Caruso.
Im not proud of it but I literally rage quit the Americana today. 🙈
I went yesterday and the absolute JOY I felt when I found parking right next to an elevator, let me tell you. I was planning on dropping my family off and then circling for 45 min until finding parking. It was a Christmas miracle! And yes, it was PACKED.
Burbank town center was also crazy when i went last Thursday. It’s a Santa Monica problem for sure
Santa Monica is terrible to get in and out of.
Ugh I have to go pick up something there this afternoon and I am dreading it
Park in the CPK structure and avoid all headaches
Thank you!
Yeah, parking by Barnes and Noble and you walk an extra 2 mins to get into the mall
i love working in the area, free and easy mall parking whenever lol
Century city around Christmas time is the only time in my life I’ve ever been stuck in a parking garage looking for parking so long that by the time I decided to give up and leave I was past the grace period.
I biked there at 11am on a Thursday to avoid that
I went to Topanga Westfield yesterday and today Sherman oaks Westfield. Pretty packed over here
even today the 3Ls is always key: Location, Location, Location and apparently Santa Monica Place aint it :/
SMP isn’t the best location for retail because literally there is nobody to the west of it due to the Pacific Ocean. That significantly reduces the number of people within driving distance.
Then layer on the fact that people North (Topanga Westfield), East (Century City/Grove), and South (Westfield Culver City mall), have good shopping options, it’s inherently not going to draw as many people.
What’s makes SM so livable (weather, fewer people) is what makes it not the best shopping district.
This is also what screws up the Bev Center. Just go to Century City, Rodeo, the Grove, or walk Melrose. Or hell, cross the street to the Beverly Connection.
Bev Center was doing ok today. Not crammed but well populated.
Id argue it has more to do with the fact that parking sucks and there's basically 1 way in and 1 way out. It was poorly designed in that sense.
Hasn’t been for decades.
Has it even been open for decades?
Before they tore down the traditional mall and made this open air thing, it was pretty popular and it had a great food court. I think it may have died after Sears left. By that time, I was gone and moved across town.
I think the mall lacks traditional stores like target and Macy’s and JCPenney and Dick’s Sporting Goods. You know, all the stores that make malls popular as opposed to overpriced handbag stores.
Yes! I worked at the Gap there many, many years ago and it was hopping!
Lived on the east side and loved going all that way to shop and eat here.
One of the best food courts in the entire city
I still remember getting free orange chicken samples and then hitting up the hot dog on a stick place across the hall, then going upstairs to get a warm chocolate chip cookie at Mrs Fields’s for $1. Best time of my life
My mom and I would shop and then get sushi; some of my best memories of just normal times with her.
That’s exactly it, whenever Im there all I can think is I cant afford any of these shops.
I miss the mall that was there before the Grove like thing that’s there now was put in. It was there for so many decades.
To many, the SMP and its adjacent mall are some sort of “hidden secret” of Malibu bougie stores, hence why it’s relatively quieter than other westside shopping centers.
Now do the grove lol
I live on the west side and my preferred mall these days is the Fox Hills Mall. Close by, has everything. Seemingly crowded all the time
has a Cinnabon. mmm...Cinnabon...
Century City was vibing.
Yup. Went to the Northridge mall yesterday and it was packed. Even Target is insane right now 😅
Northridge Mall is thriving! So glad to have seen that! Have fun shopping! = )
Drove past the Westfield Culver City last night and it was packed to the gills.
Fox Hills Mall if you are a local
Insane. I live nearby and it has been packed like mad. Crazier than ever. I even went a weekday early and loads of people
My problem with 3rd street has always been parking... will go elsewhere for easy access
Yeah, the Westfield Topanga, Topanga Village, Westfield Century City, Glendale Galleria, Glendale Americana, Burbank Town Center, and Northridge Fashion Center malls have all been fairly busy when I've been to them these past few weeks.
And there was a literal panhandler holding out a rattling cup of change on the sidewalk at the crosswalk between the Glendale Galleria and the Glendale Americana, plus a couple of busking musicians too.
Don’t even TRY to drive thru Arcadia this weekend…Santa Anita mall is PACKED.
topanga westfield was a nightmare yesterday
It’s been almost impossible to park at the Topanga mall since early November. If there’s a recession brewing it has not hit suburban Los Angeles yet.
Some lady was following me bc she thought I was heading to my car. Lady I took the bus to avoid the parking situation 😭😭
Glendale Galleria was insane yesterday.
Hell on earth is the crowded Galleria in December
My personal hell on earth was working retail management in a giant outlet mall in a really busy tourist area near my hometown on Black Friday. It’s not as bad these days, but when I was still there about ten years ago, it was impossible to describe how insane it got. I managed a shoe store, and we averaged around $150k in sales PER DAY through the entire Black Friday weekend, and some of the bigger stores around us in the mall were pulling in a half a million per day easily.
The parking lot was so horrific that the local police dept. actually had to come every year and control the traffic just to let people in and out onto the highway, and one year in particular, it took me over an hour and a half just to get out of the parking lot when I was done working and trying to get home. The following years after that, I actually left my car there and walked because it was seriously quicker than dealing with the horrendous traffic.
I normally agree but this wasn’t so bad because I was with my gf and we were shopping for family which I like.
What stores are people supposed to shop at? 2/3 of the storefronts there are empty including the anchors.
That’s a failed mall.
Do they still have that store with all the old typewriters on display? Or were they sewing machines? I thought it was gong to be cool and then it was just some overpriced designer clothes
AllSaints I think, looks like it's still there.
Sewing machines. Jeans store? Looked cool but $$$
The failure of the SM place is due to a curse I placed on it when the original mall closed and took down that amazing cheap and tasty Mongolian bbq place with it. Hope replacing it with a Gucci store was worth it!
That was a better mall
No doubt about it. I grew up in SM and it’s really sad how bland and uninteresting, yet prohibitively expensive it’s become. Can’t really think of anyone who I went to school with who even lives there anymore. Priced out of the city we grew up in by people with more money than taste.
mongolian bbq in fox hills
Lmao I came here to lament the Mongolian bbq place too. 😭
I will say the new mall used to have the best Louis Vuitton in LA, but it closed a while ago… like everything else there…
Did you also curse Westside Pavilion?
My feelings exactly. Every time I see this place I'm like "They got rid of the Mongolian BBQ for this?" I know there are a few Genghis Khan BBQ places around, but I think that one was a Great Khan's Mongolian BBQ. There appears to be one on Montebello and one in Cerritos.
They chased out all the good stores from third Street like the comic book stores and puzzle stores and knickknack places and they brought in a bunch of high dollar craziness into the mall. Barnes & Noble is gone Starbucks down on that end is gone. When I first moved to Los Angeles 20+ years ago, the third street promenade was packed all the time you were hard pressed to find a seat add a table.
It’s kind of silly to blame it on the homeless. When any place empties out and becomes unpopular, the unhoused will fill the void. There was probably just as many unhoused people 20 years ago, but they were living among thousands and thousands of people enjoying the space. The same amount of unhoused people today looks like they’re the only ones they are because they are the only ones there.
3rd Street promenade was book heaven. Midnight Special, Hennessy and Ingalls, Arcana. Many other used book stores. That was the old days.
Agreed! It was the beach version of Melrose back in the 80’s. It’s was cool and fun. Greed gets the best of all of these places. The mom and pops will always stick around. For big business, that location is just a blip on a spreadsheet and when the numbers don’t work anymore, the location is done. Sad.
Also, can we remember when Pee Wee’s Big Adventure was shot there! That’s where the bike store was.
As someone who has lived, visited and/or worked in Santa Monica for 20 years, IMO this is the most accurate response. I would add the fear of becoming trapped by the 10 freeway traffic leaving the area is also a factor, as are the other options elsewhere close by (Fox Hills, Century City).
You are woefully out of date. There is a Barnes and Nobles open on the third street promenade and there is a puzzle zoo toy store too.
But it’s not the same as the one where the Apple Store is now. The good Barnes and Noble had a cafe and you could read magazines while sipping on a latte
They made some efforts on the third street promenade, and it is nicer now. Places to eat, Barnes and nobles, sport shops (adidas, culto futbol,..) Uniqlo, Apple Store, Sephora… pretty happy with it. The Santa Monica place was always “luxury shops”, which I barely need. Also, I have made my shopping early to avoid the big last weekend crowds.
Nah, I think the timeline of events is a bit misplaced.
Third Street Promenade (pre 2000) was once a treasure of unique shops and restaurants. It was posh. It was eclectic. It was romance. It was chill and vibey.
Because it attracted so many people, the big corporations moved in, like Barnes and Noble and Starbucks. Third Street became the mediocre shit that you find in every other mall. It lost its voice.
Why would I go there? There's nothing special drawing me to it.
It happens to all of time, like Haight Street in SF. Corporations kill.
Old Town Pasadena used to be pawn shops and dirty bookstores.
While I agree with your general sentiment, Barnes and Noble and Starbucks both currently have locations on the promenade.
Everyone who lives on that side is home for Christmas.
And tourists are traveling for the same reason
lol true
This is very accurate. Many transplants who live in small homes or apartments. They go to their parents’ homes for Christmas.
Not surprising. There really isn’t much left there to get last minute Christmas shopping in.
you think this is depressing? try being one of the musicians that gets paid to perform there… (I am one of said musicians and it’s pretty bleak lol)
Westside Pavillion was better
Indeed the good ole days
Lame mall. The old SM place was much better
Because Santa Monica is Santa Monica
Nothing on the promenade or in SMP appeals. I live close to it but there are no interesting stores. I always go to Abbott-Kinney or Century City for what I need.
Century City was a nightmare earlier today. So crowded. I should have gone to Santa Monica Place; at least I could have parked easily and gotten some of the things.
lol main st is packed, but 🤫
It’s a shame. It is a beautiful place but there is nothing left except for the restaurants
It's so depressing. We went a few weeks ago on a Sunday and it was dead. Didn't really help that PETA was in there with a megaphone and projector showing videos of animals dying in slaughterhouses and handing out leaflets. One of the shops also has a huge poster of Stephen Miller, calling him "Patron Saint of Santa Monica"
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse....
Santa Monica is a ghost town since Covid
The Citadel is packed today.
I think the fact that it's really the only mall in the LA area without a movie theater and extensive dining options is the reason more people don't go there. At least for me, I only go to malls when I'm going to see a movie. People don't really go to malls just for shopping when they can do that online with less hassle. Century City as a contrast has multiple grocery stores, many restaurants and a food court, cafes, gyms, a movie theater, and tons of other non-shopping activities. The Grove has the movie theater and massive farmers market. Especially because of the current economic climate, most people aren't clamoring to spend all of their money on shopping.
EDIT TO ADD: A friend of mine posted a photo from there today around 7pm and it looked completely packed.
It’s not too soon for them to just redevelop it entirely with housing and retail on the bottom. In fact most of third street should do the same.
Let’s put 2,000 units of housing there to support the local businesses.
I was lucky enough to go to the Santa Monica Place in the early 90s. Now that place was always busy and I loved it!
Montebello town center and citadel in my area always packed.
Santa Anita mall packed today
I tried to visit yesterday and drove in and out of the parking lot.
It took me forever to get home to Glendale today because of all the people trying to go to the Americana and Galleria.
That’s why I decided to stay home, I remember last year and the parking situation for both malls, no way in hell I would put myself through that again, all my shopping is done including the food I’ll be cooking, whole foods and trader joe’s is a disaster too right now.
I knew this design would fail the first time I walked through it when it was redone over a decade ago. Something about it just doesn't work. Having Nordstrom as an anchor tenant certainly didn't help though.
I think, as others may have suggested, that if anyone was to make the trip to Santa Monica, they would prefer to go to the promenade, the pier, the boardwalk and walkway. No one goes to Santa Monica for the mall. They are passing by several more iconic malls to get there, so its not a primary destination.
Its too early
Yes in the evening there will be people
The entire 3rd street promenade is a stark example of late stage capitalism run amok.
The stores aren't empty because no one goes there, they're empty because the rent is too expensive for anyone to run a business and make a profit. But the "landlords" (aka mega real-estate investment firms) benefit from this because they become a giant tax write off for the owners.
They are also disincentivized from renting them at a lower (actual market) rate because the banks would want to reassess the value of the property.
So this is a case where the state needs to step in and do something. Prohibit banks from reassessment, and threaten real-estate companies with eminent domain for properties left empty for more than 6-12 months. The state can turn around and rent them for cheap to small businesses.
That's the solution - just need someone bold enough to do it.
Del Amo mall was packed yesterday. I doubt this photo reflects SM Place’s average occupancy today.
And r/santamonica will tell you the city is doing better than ever lmao
It’s an overpriced bore of a mall. I remember the old SMP mall. Everything about it was better. I went to the new mall when it opened, and hated it. Even the food court was boring.
funny cause the citadel is an absolute war zone
I was honestly shocked by how empty it was on a Saturday when I went recently. Din Tai Fung was EMPTY. Walked right in at 1pm and there were maybe two other people in our section. Every two stores on 3rd street were shuttered. Sad. I could also be that parking in the structure was $40 for 5 hours and no one validated.
This is this specific development issue. I’m in Orange County and there’s people everywhere. Spectrum mall is packed, people in shops, theaters, restaurants. Went to total wine and very difficult to find parking. Retail isn’t dead everywhere.
To be fair that spot was never gonna work out. The promenade dying is more of a surprise.
The Grove is packed and lots of fun! 🎄🎁
That area/3rd street promenade haven’t been the same since Covid.
Northridge mall was packed last week.
there’s no stores there lol, why would people be there?
It looks like Anaheim Gardenwalk. Similar design where you can’t see what any shops are from the street, so no one goes.
Irvine Spectrum was max capacity and as packed as can be.
Used to be a really nice mall. What an absolute waste.
I had to think for a moment to remember where this is. “Oh, the mall attached to the promenade….” Unfortunately tracks.
I was just reading the Santa Monica Daily Press (no shade), and on Thursday, they had articles about bringing olympic events and a music festival to the city and I really do wonder if it would boost business like the promoters promised. I used to be in SM all the time for shopping. But with the death of the SM Place and the Third Street Promenade, I shop at the Grove or Century City (when I shop in person).
My son's in school there and I bike, so it's not as if I'm never over that way. I miss the hustle and bustle of the city 20 years ago.
Don't know if it's ever coming back....
I worked on the Promenade in the early 90’s and this place was packed all the time! That whole area was so busy all the time! Good times!
The decline of downtown Santa Monica has been insane to watch tbh
Gas is expensive.
Groceries are expensive.
Rent is expensive.
Ain't nobody got money to shop for unnecessary BS. [+]
This mall was built for rich tourists
Put a Costco
The valley and scv malls are insane
The Citadel has been getting packed these past few weekends.
So sad. The place literally has Santa in the name
Century City is packed yes but the sales are sooooo slow in almost all stores.
I was at both Century City and The Grove today, and they were both the complete opposite.
Fox Hills mall was also packed.
But I guess that’s how bad things are down on the promenade.
Santa Monica is dead. I was on the promenade earlier, there were like 8 other people out there.
Santa Monica Place is an empty shell compared to what it used to be. No dept stores. Uniqlo moved to the Promenade. Not enough draw with the Promenade too.
It’s a bummer because it was fun when it was busy especially with the live musicians on 3rd.
Context is everything, this could be 8 AM or whenever they just opened. I went to the West Covina mall on Thursday around noon and it was packed, and had to park on the outskirts of the huge parking area. Last year I went to Montebello mall a week before Christmas and I could barely find parking. Malls being dead, at least in the LA area, is a little exaggerated imo. Same with the Arcadia, Santa Anita Mall, it’s usually quite busy there regardless of the time of the year.
It is 1pm
Santa monica hasn't been the place for a while now :(
I lived in Santa Monica when they built the shopping mall. I remember being kinda excited to see what it was going to be like.
When it finished, I went and walked around, specifically looking for a nice leather jacket for the fall/winter season.
It was expensive, soulless, and tacky. I was very disappointed. Santa Monica is (or maybe was) a worldwide destination. It deserved better.
Still have to deal with the homeless walking to your car at the promenade. Was there on Thursday and saw many individuals who should have been in a mental hospital. Reminded me why don’t go there anymore. Felt unsafe.
The downvotes are funny. Look at century city mall and the grove—people go there because it’s SAFE! Little kids running around. Meanwhile it’s a dystopian nightmare of meth addicts and the enabling of street drugs in SM. It’s not heathy.
Homelessness has always been a problem on 3rd Street. I remember calling the police as a naive college student thinking someone was dead only to find out they were just drunk. The stairwells in the parking lot was always a gamble.
What a fall from how it was 10 years ago. Third Street Promenade feels unsafe due to homeless, plus Century City had its renovation, so now there’s no reason to visit the Promenade when you could just shop at Century City and feel safe…
and without visitors to the Promenade, there aren’t visitors to the small mall next door. Santa Monica Place is a victim of its surroundings. It’s not a big enough mall to attract visitors on its own, it only really works as a bookend to the Promenade.
Although parking at Century City is highway robbery
Remember pre-2012 when it was three hours free?
Now our best hope is to wait for the D Line Extension
Had three hours free with validation since its inception in the 60s. Was in the lease agreement.
Then corporate Westfield took over and since 2013 they’ve increased it every few years.
After 1 hour it’s $5 now. Insane.
You get three hours free if you spend $10 at Gelson's, at least. Don't go over 3 hours though, or you'll pay $17.
It use to be glorious. Walk from Barnes and Noble on one end and the Place mall at the other. Street performers, shoppers, families, big window displays.
God I miss those days. The beautiful 90’s growing up and then the 2000’s smoking cigarettes and hanging out outside the AMC. It used to be the spot. Now it ….. is not?
I feel very safe on the promenade. There’s just no good stores there.
It’s a ghost town. The old promenade is just a sad shadow of itself now.
Check out Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza; was there yesterday after going to Cinemark. Sparkling clean and eerily empty.
Put a fork in its ass.
Does anyone know what happened to the Nordstrom location? Are they putting something else there now or is it empty?
I think a lot of people are going out of town.
Northridge Mall is filled!!
I bought online last night after the bar and it will be delivered tomorrow, not even amazon
SMP had a LOT of empty store fronts at the moment. A lot of what drew people there has gone away without anything compelling replacing it.
The Promenade has its own problems, but still does a lot better than SMP.
I was just here last night and thinking about how liminal it was. I didnt even know there was an outdoor mall here. The missus went to blow up the cheesecake factory bathroom then when we walked out there was a whole ass DTF and all these weirdly spread out stores. It was also cold and no music playing or much lighting. It was odd
Santa Anita Mall was packed AF yesterday
I have fond memories of this very spot in the 80s. They would build giant sand sculptures and Santa would be here as well for the kids. Absolutely bustling!
It’s the mall, not the shoppers. I’m surprised any of the tenants are still there. Being anywhere near the promenade gives me the heebie jeebies
The shops at Santa Anita were packed the last few days. Took me almost 15 minutes to find parking
I dunno, man. Looks good to me.
The old mall was always abandoned too.
Took half an hour to park at Empire Center in Burbank tonight. I only came because nowhere else had a certain gift in stock and Empire was the closest the box store would order it to, but damn was it packed.
This is an awful mall - very few quality options for shopping and with Uniqlo out of there I can’t think of anything even worth walking in there for
I’ve been to the flea markets all month and they’ve been pretty packed!
In a normal and healthy economy, it would be full of shoppers, Santa's tingling their bells, music and the smell of food stands in the air, etc. That place is dead - and it's Santa Monica. Wow.
Santa Anita is a madhouse….Christmas or not.
There's nothing at smo to go to. Back when they first opened they had Nordstroms, Bloomingdales and Barney's new York. Now? Just din Tai Fung and Uniqlo really that's it. They need more tenants. Nordstroms leaving a few months ago was the kiss of death.
Americana was packed to the brim. Same with Century city. That’s just a bad mall.
I know it’s not a shopping mall, but Citadel Outlets was insanely packed yesterday. They had multiple overflow parking lots with shuttles to drop you off in front.
It’s a shitty mall. Pretty simple.
Most don't need to shop at Tiffanys and Nike store
For old times sake I ate at the Sbarro there not long ago. First off incredibly depressing as it’s hidden away in an empty food court.
Second I was sick for multiple days after lol
The food court there truly sucks.
That is insane. Santa Monica makes me sad. It was extremely packed at the Del Amo mall on Sunday.