The Glendale Galleria is a large three-story regional shopping mall and office building located in downtown Glendale, California, USA. It is the fourth largest mall in Los Angeles County after Westfield Topanga, Lakewood Center and Del Amo Fashion Center, and is one of the most frequently visited structures in Glendale, along with the Americana at Brand across the street.
According to the mall's general manager, Brent Gardner, the Glendale Galleria brought in 30 million visitors in 2016 alone, compared to Disneyland's 18 million. Research firm Green Street Advisors ranked the Galleria as one of the top 100 shopping centers in the United States.
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History
Developed by Glendale Associates, a partnership between J.S. Griffiths Co, Broadway Hale Stores and M.J. Brock & Sons, the mall opened on October 14, 1976. The architect was Jon Jerde, who credited his design to a Ray Bradbury essay on reviving retail districts. The mall began with four anchor stores: Buffum's and The Broadway, which opened in August 1976; Ohrbach's, which opened in October 1976; and JCPenney, which opened in November of that year.
The Galleria's first expansion, Galleria II, was completed in 1983. It expanded a wing of the mall and added another anchor store, Nordstrom. The first Panda Express restaurant opened in Galleria II in the same year, on level 3 near Bloomingdale's.
The first Disney Store opened in the Glendale Galleria on March 28, 1987. By 1990, the mall was 1,600,000 square feet (150,000 m2) in size, and had annual revenues of $350 million.
Glendale Galleria was selected by Apple Inc. as the location of one of the first two Apple Stores in the world (along with Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia); both officially opened on May 19, 2001. This mall also includes the first three-story Target in the United States, which opened in July 2007.
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Architecture
Originally, the Galleria was covered in a windowless, unadorned brick finish. This type of architecture reflected the style of other shopping malls built across the country between the 1960s and 1970s.
Renovation
In 2012, various metal panels and meshes, most made out of white marble and black granite, were added to the building's facades as an effort to modernize the Galleria. Housed inside the entrance sign is a white letter "G", made of clear polycarbonate with a translucent vinyl backer, which is itself housed inside a black-coated square, also made out of marble. Next to the Galleria's entrance, a reflecting pool houses a set of reflective metal letters that spell "GALLERIA", standing at 11 feet tall, and a set of black-coated metal letters that spell "GLENDALE", standing at 3.5 feet tall. The building for Bloomingdale's is coated with various illuminated tiles that flash at night.
Tenants and services
Specialty stores
As of 2017, Glendale Galleria features over 200 specialty stores. Some key tenants include Apple, Bloomingdale's, JCPenney, Macy's, Pirch, Target, Uniqlo and Zara, among many others.
Anchors
The mall is anchored by six department stores.
- JCPenney (opened in 1976)
- Macy's (opened as The Broadway in 1976; became Macy's in 1996)
- Target (opened as Buffum's in 1976; closed in 1991; became Robinson's-May in 1993; closed in 2006; became Target in 2007)
- Bloomingdale's (opened November 2013; former Mervyn's space)
- Dick's Sporting Goods (opened fall 2015, 75,000 ft², former Nordstrom space)
- Zara (opened August 2015, 35,000 sq. ft.) Store opening on the upper level of the former Ohrbach's building. All tenants formerly located in the wing have been relocated to other parts of the Galleria.
Ohrbach's was also an original anchor. Its former location was demolished and the area was converted to another wing of the mall with smaller stores. Nordstrom originally opened in 1983 and was formerly located in the Galleria before relocating next door to the Americana at Brand in 2013.
Services
Customer services and amenities include a Wells Fargo ATM, a children's play area, an electric vehicle charging station, FedEx and UPS drop off centers, foreign currency exchange, a lost and found, various lounges, mobile charging stations across the mall, and valet parking.
Usage in media
- Mall scenes in the 1984 film Cloak & Dagger were filmed in the Galleria.
- Outdoor shots of the Galleria's office entrance are seen in a 1985 episode of Dynasty.
- The Galleria is also seen in a 1986 episode of The Twilight Zone.
- Another movie to use scenes from the Galleria is the 1989 comedy film Big Man on Campus.
- The 2002 comedy film Repli-Kate, which is a part of the National Lampoon film series, also uses scenes from the Galleria.
- It is also mentioned in various episodes of the American sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
- In 2009, American rapper and electronic musician Flying Lotus released a song named after the Galleria, under British record label Tectonic.
- A 2012 episode of the late-night talk show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno also uses scenes from the Galleria.
- The 2017 biopic film Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland uses scenes from the inside of the Galleria, while also using scenes of the outside of the Fashion Show Mall in Paradise, Nevada.
Notable visitors
- Christina Aguilera, singer, actress and television personality
- Mariah Carey, singer and actress
- Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
- Cindy Crawford, model and actress
- Reese Witherspoon, actess, producer and entrepreneur
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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