Westfield Promenade

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Westfield Promenade

---

image_width = 250
caption =
location = Woodland Hills, USA
opening_date = 1973
developer =
manager = The Westfield Group
owner = The Westfield Group
number_of_stores = 56http://westfield.com/corporate/retailer/us/promenade.html, accessed August 18, 2006]
number_of_anchors = 3
floor_area = 615,400sq.ft.
floors = 2
website = [http://www.westfield.com/promenade westfield.com/promenade]
parking = 2,662

Westfield Promenade is a large shopping mall owned by The Westfield Group and located on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in the Woodland Hills district of Los Angeles. It was previously known as The Promenade at Woodland Hills and Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade.

It is one of three shopping malls owned by Westfield in the San Fernando Valley, the others being Westfield Topanga and Westfield Fashion Square, and one of several malls they own in the greater Los Angeles area.

The mall is two stories tall and features a two-part Macy's department store, a 16-screen AMC Theatre, and a Barnes & Noble as its main anchors. The mall also features a popular food-court, several high-end clothing stores including a Coach leather-goods store, and several other restaurants.

The Promenade and Topanga malls are separated by less than two blocks in the Canoga Park/Woodland Hills area of the San Fernando Valley. Initially, the Promenade was conceived as the area's upscale mall, while the Topanga was oriented toward more middle-tier shopping, justifying the close proximity. Westfield apparently abandoned this business model in 2006 when a massive redevelopment project was undertaken at the Topanga mall. The mall, already of large size, was made significantly larger and more than 100 new stores were added, many of which are high-end "boutiques" such as Cartier and Ferragamo, the existing Nordstrom was moved and expanded and a Neiman Marcus department store is being added; it is unclear what Westfield's current plans for the Promenade are.

History

Opened in 1973 as The Promenade at Woodlands Hills, it was originally a high-fashion center anchored by J. W. Robinson's, Bullocks Wilshire and Saks Fifth Avenue. The Bullocks Wilshire store was renamed I. Magnin in 1990 and in 1995 became a Bullock's Men's store, being renamed Macy's in 1996. The Robinson's store was closed in 1993 and sold to Bullock's, becoming Macy's in 1996 as well. Following the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, Saks Fifth Avenue used the opportunity to close their underperforming store and it was demolished for the addition of the AMC Theatre.

The center was briefly acquired by Simon Property Group in 1997, before being sold in 1998 to Westfield America, Inc., a precursor to The Westfield Group. At that time it was renamed "Westfield Shoppingtown Promenade". The unwieldy "Shoppingtown" name being dropped in June 2005.

The Promenade was plagued for years by tenant problems and slow business, although the addition of the movie theatre during renovations after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, more recent renovations in 2001 and the addition of the Barnes & Noble and its nearby restaurants has helped increase mall traffic and bring in better, more stable tenants. Unfortunately, the newly revamped Westfield Topanga Mall has overshadowed The Promenade. The mall may be slated for more renovation after Westfield is finished with work on the Topanga Plaza.

Westfield has on numerous occasion examined plans to connect the two centers, with methods such as an enclosed bridge and a light monorail system being discussed. On all previous occasions, the discussions have ended without conclusion due to concerns over logistics, cost and other issues. In mid-September 2007, Westfield began notifying area residents via the mail of an upcoming mall to bridge the 2 existing malls. The new shopping area, an open air promenade design, will be known as "the Village". Ground clearing for this new complex became clearly visible with the demolition of Topanga Theater on September 19, the largest building in the proposed footprint of the new mall.

Square footage

*AMC Theaters (120,000 sq. ft.)
*Macy's (2 locations, 185,000 sq. ft.)

Featured businesses

The Promenade currently features the following businesses, amongst others:

*AMC Theatres
*Barnes & Noble
*The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
*Corner Bakery
*Macy's
*Maggiano's Little Italy
*McDonald's
*P.F. Chang's China Bistro
*Ruth's Chris Steak House
*uWink

References

External links

* [http://westfield.com/promenade/ Westfield Promenade] , official site