The Beverly Center is a
shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, California, United States. It is an eight-story structure located near the
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757.
History
Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...
border but within Los Angeles city limits, bounded by
Beverly Boulevard
Beverly Boulevard is one of the main east–west thoroughfares in Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California. It begins off Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills and ends on the Lucas Avenue overpass near downtow ...
,
La Cienega Boulevard
La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that runs from the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in the north to El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne in the south. It was named for Rancho Las ...
,
3rd Street, and
San Vicente Boulevard. The mall's anchor stores are
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...
and
Macy's
Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...
. The mall's dramatic six-story series of escalators offer visitors views of the
Hollywood Hills
The Hollywood Hills is a residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It borders Studio City, Universal City and Burbank on the north, Griffith Park on the north and east, Los Feliz on the southeast, Hollyw ...
, Downtown Los Angeles, and
Los Angeles Westside.
History

The site was formerly occupied by
Beverly Park, a small amusement park featuring a Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, mini roller-coaster, and a pony ride called "Ponyland".
The Beverly Center opened on February 4, 1982. It was built, at a cost of $100 million, by developers
A. Alfred Taubman, Sheldon Gordon, and E. Phillip Lyon. The mall was anchored by
Bullock's
Bullock's was a chain of full-line department stores from 1907 through 1995, headquartered in Los Angeles, growing to operate across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated as many as seven more upscale Bullocks Wilshire specialt ...
and
The Broadway department stores. Because of the small size of the plot of land, the mall was built entirely atop its own multi-story parking garage. The northeast corner of the mall, at the intersection of Beverly and La Cienega Boulevards, is the geographic center of the city's
studio zone
The studio zone, also known as the thirty-mile zone (TMZ), is an area defined by a radius of "Hollywood" used by the American entertainment industry to determine employee benefits for work performed inside and outside of it. Its center has trad ...
.
The mall's unusual shape and lack of street frontage along
San Vicente Boulevard are the result of both its position at the intersection of a number of angled streets and its location above the
Salt Lake Oil Field. , the western portion of the mall property contained a cluster of
oil well
An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas m ...
s in an active drilling enclosure operated by
Freeport-McMoRan
Freeport-McMoRan Inc., often called Freeport, is an American mining company based in the Freeport-McMoRan Center, in Phoenix, Arizona. The company is the world's largest producer of molybdenum, a major copper producer and operates the world's la ...
(formally
Plains Exploration & Production.
On July 16, 1982, the Cineplex Beverly Center 14 opened. The 14-screen multiplex was the largest in the US at the time. The opening was national news and was covered in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. In the late 1980s, three smaller screens were removed on the main floor, so two larger auditoriums could be built on the roof.
On October 24, 1982, America's first and the world's second
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme restaurant, theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos, hotels and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll ...
opened on the ground level of the mall. It closed on December 31, 2006.
In 1989,
Terence Conran
Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was a British designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989. The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran "m ...
's
Habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
, a high-end British furniture company, opened an anchor store on the mall's ground level. It closed in 1993 and was converted later that year to Bullock's Men's Store. In 1996, Bullock's became
Macy's
Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...
and the Bullock's and Bullock's Men's Store anchors became Macy's and the Macy's Men's Store. The Broadway closed in 1996, when it too was absorbed into Macy's, and reopened in 1997, after renovations, as
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...
.
In 2004,
Taubman Centers, the public
Real Estate Investment Trust
A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...
and successor to A. Alfred Taubman's shopping center interests, purchased its partners minority investments stake in the property.

The cinema closed in January 2006, as a result of the
Loews/AMC merger. The theater reopened in February 2006, operated by
Mann Theatres. It closed again in August 2009, and reopened again in September 2009, operated by
Rave Motion Pictures. The theater closed permanently on June 3, 2010.
The Beverly Center underwent a renovation from 2006 to 2008. These renovations included reconstructing the escalators visible from the outside.
A food court operated at the mall until 2014, when it was eliminated.
Uniqlo
( ; ) is a Japanese casual wear designer and retailer.
The company is a subsidiary of Fast Retailing, Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.
Clare Waight Keller is the creative director. History
Men's Shop OS was founded in Ube, Yamaguchi. It was rebrand ...
opened one of its first Southern California locations in the space. As part of renovations starting in 2016, the mall aims to bring restaurants back to the empty spaces on the street level.
Starting in March 2016, the Center underwent a major renovation that aimed to add a food hall and several new street-level restaurants and a skylight. Renovation costs were given as US$500 million. The renovations added a perforated steel facade on the outside of the building and an upgraded parking structure which includes technology to help drivers remember where they've parked.
Macy's Men's Store closed around 2021, and the space was converted to a
Gold's Gym
Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international wikt:co-ed, co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as gyms) originally started by Joe Gold in Venice, Los Angeles, Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of ca ...
and a
Lucky Strike Lanes bowling alley.
In popular culture
* In the 1977
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...
film ''
Eraserhead
''Eraserhead'' is a 1977 American independent surrealist body horror film written, directed, produced, and edited by David Lynch. Lynch also created its score and sound design, which included pieces by a variety of other musicians. Shot in bl ...
'', industrial wasteland scenes were shot at the present location of Beverly Center. Prior to its current state of development, part of the site was an
oil field
A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...
.
*A chapter in the 1985
Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author and screenwriter. Ellis was one of the literary Brat Pack (literary), Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique as a writer is the expression of extreme acts ...
novel ''
Less than Zero'' is set in The Beverly Center.
*Exterior shots for the 1986 low-budget horror film ''
Chopping Mall'' were filmed along the Beverly Center - mainly along
La Cienega Boulevard
La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that runs from the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in the north to El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne in the south. It was named for Rancho Las ...
.
*Beverly Center was the setting of the 1991 film ''
Scenes from a Mall'' starring
Bette Midler
Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...
and
Woody Allen
Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
. The movie's interior mall scenes were filmed between the Beverly Center and
Stamford Town Center
Stamford Town Center is an urban shopping mall located in Downtown Stamford, Downtown Stamford, Connecticut. The mall is the eighth largest in Connecticut, with space for about 130 stores and restaurants. The mall's three anchors are a Macy's, ...
in Connecticut, another Taubman mall.
*Beverly Center played a part of the plot near the end of the 1997 disaster thriller ''
''Volcano'''' starring
Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Tommy Lee Jones, various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Scre ...
and
Anne Heche
Anne Celeste Heche ( ; May 25, 1969August 11, 2022) was an American actress, known for her roles across a variety of genres in film, television, and theater. She was the recipient of Daytime Emmy, National Board of Review, and GLAAD Media Awards ...
. A triage and childcare center for neighboring
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, Tertiary referral hospital, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre, academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars ...
was set up in the mall's
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme restaurant, theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos, hotels and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll ...
. This was evacuated when a geyser of lava erupted out of
San Vicente Boulevard, threatening the structure and its occupants.
* Beverly Center was shown briefly in the 1997 film ''
Selena
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (; April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter. Known as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Tejano Music", her contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most cel ...
'', where Selena (played by then up-and-coming actress
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...
) and her friend went shopping at an upscale store in the mall before Selena attended the Grammy Awards.
* On May 18, 2009, rap artist
Dolla was fatally shot at the Beverly Center.
* On the 2013 ''
SNL'' sketch "Waking Up With Kimye",
Lady Gaga
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...
plays an
Apple Store
The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell, service and repair various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac desktop and MacBook laptop personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad ta ...
employee at the mall who works at the Genius Bar.
* Beverly Center (named as Beverly Hills Mall) was the setting in the animated series ''
Totally Spies!'', is shown from the first three seasons until was destroyed in the episode "Head Shrinker Much?" and was replaced by The Groove in the fourth season.
*Appears in the video game ''
Grand Theft Auto V
''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
'' as "Rockford Plaza"
*Referenced by musician
Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Lana Del Rey discography, Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of Glamour (presentation), glamor and Romanc ...
in her song "Sweet" on the 2023 studio album ''
Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd?''
See also
*
Zev Yaroslavsky
Zev Yaroslavsky (born December 21, 1948) is a politician from Los Angeles County, California. He was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from District 3, an affluent district which includes the San Fernando Valley, the Westsi ...
, Los Angeles City Council member (1974–94) who voted in favor of building the Beverly Center
*
Studio zone
The studio zone, also known as the thirty-mile zone (TMZ), is an area defined by a radius of "Hollywood" used by the American entertainment industry to determine employee benefits for work performed inside and outside of it. Its center has trad ...
—The Beverly Center is located at the intersection that marks the center of this zone, considered "local" by Los Angeles–area entertainment industry labor unions.
*
Yardbird Southern Table & Bar, located inside the Beverly Center
*
List of largest shopping malls in the United States
This is a list of shopping malls in the United States and its territories that have at least of retail space ( gross leasable area). The list is based on the latest self-reported figures from the mall management websites, which are also report ...
References
External links
*
fact sheet
{{Shopping malls in California
Landmarks in Los Angeles
Shopping malls established in 1982
Taubman Centers
Shopping malls on the Westside, Los Angeles
West Hollywood, California
Massimiliano Fuksas buildings
Welton Becket buildings