There is this power center about 15 minutes away from me called Gateway Plaza in Santa Fe Springs, CA. From the outside it seems like your typical power center with tenants like Walmart, Target, Ross, & a gym to name a few but before it became a power center it was originally a indoor mall just called the Santa Fe Springs Mall.
The story goes is that in the 60’s, Sears opened a stand alone location on the property (Building was literally straight out of the 1960’s). then in 1985 the mall portion was built (Sears was the northern anchor). The mall also had a 8 Screen Cinema as a anchor and I am assuming a target as the southern anchor (target entered the Socal market Around that time)
From my knowledge it looked like the mall was never successful as other malls in the area were way bigger and were all getting renovations such as Stonewood Center, which was renovated in 1990, and Montebello Town Center which was only about 15 minutes away (Opened 1985 and was twice as big).
Sears moved out and relocated to the nearby Whittwood Town Center (Demolished) in 1996, which ended up staying open until July of 2025, Meanwhile the former store was demolished and replaced by a Walmart Supercenter. The whole mall area was gutted but most of the original mall building is still there.
Today it is a power center, the 8 screen cinema is now a gym. If you look at the property on google maps in 1994 you can see the original sears building and the 8 Screen cinema. You could also see the skylights on the roof (they are still around in 2025).
The power center is still going strong but I can’t seem to find any other information on the mall, if you search it up there is a small wikipedia page that mentions the Sears & Cinema but does not go into to much detail as it instead gives more detail about a long demolished outdoor mall about 5 minutes away (Whittier downs)
The only photos I could find that have to do with the mall is an old Sears newspaper advertisement from the 60’s from Facebook (Photo 3) and another newspaper advertisement mentioning the grand opening of the cinema which I found on Cinema Treasures (Photo 4). I edited 2 Screenshots comparing the property on google maps from 1994-2025. If anyone else has any knowledge/photos of the mall interior & exterior from back then please let me know.
You need a newspaper search for the mall from when it was built up to the mid-1990s. The Whittier Library has an archive with lots of Whittier-specific newspapers. It used to be available online, but at the moment, it's necessary to go in person and use the library's computers.
What’s located in the former mall building today?
It is split between a Ross, El Super (Supermarket), and some other small businesses.
We have one like this. Giant parking lot behind it and I always wondered why until I discovered that they demolished half the mall.
I miss that classic Sears signage and architecture!
You might check yearbooks from the nearest high schools. There are a lot of interesting photos of the long gone La Mirada mall that show kids from the high school posing at various businesses. Santa Fe Springs is adjacent. Maybe they did those types of photos too.
Love Sears, hope they can make a come back or at the very least keep their existing stores open. So glad to still have one in Concord, CA.
There’s literally 5 remaining Sears stores in the entire US. It’s done. There is no comeback or any chance these five geographically dispersed stores will make it. It’s got to be the longest most pathetic end to what was once a, if not, THE, major retailing force