The Quad at Whittier 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 Whittier,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

History

It was built in 1953 and expanded in 1965 with the addition of a 3-story, 248,000-square-foot

May Company California May Company California was an American department store chain founded in 1881 as A. Hamburger & Sons by Asher Hamburger. It was renamed after its acquisition by The May Department Stores Company in 1923. Its flagship store and headquarters wer ...

department store. Arcadia-based

Hinshaw's Hinshaw's was an American two-location department store chain in Southern California that was in business between 1951 and 1992. Founder Hinshaw's was founded by Ezra Bushong Hinshaw, who was born April 4, 1899, in Windsor, North Carolina, and r ...

and

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...

-based

Nash's Nash's (F. C. Nash & Co.) was a Pasadena, California-based department store which grew into a small chain. Nash's was founded in 1889 by Hammond G. Nash, who developed his grocery on Colorado Street into a full department store. He continued to op ...

were other major tenants. The center began to seriously struggle in 1986 after May Company closed, though it had not been a solid performer beforehand. Without May, merchants struggled due to poor visibility as commercial centers on Whittier Boulevard siphoned off traffic. A minor renovation including new landscaping and the demolition of a small portion of the center had begun by March 1987. The

1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake The 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake occurred in the southern San Gabriel Valley and surrounding communities of Southern California, United States, at on October 1. The moderate magnitude 5.9 blind thrust earthquake was centered several miles ...

collapsed the parking garage in front of the May building, leading to its demolition. At the urging of the city of Whittier, which was anxious to replace lost tax revenue, Schurgin Corporation acquired the Quad property in 1988 from Golden West Properties; Schurgin planned to demolish the entire center except for Hinshaw's, which would reduce its footprint. Hinshaw's, the only store not affected by the earthquake, closed in 1992.

Present day

The current shopping center includes

Michaels Michaels Stores, Inc., doing business as Michaels, is an American privately held arts and crafts retail chain. It is North America's largest provider of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall décor, and merchandise for makers and do-it-yourse ...

Marshalls Marshalls, Inc. is an American chain of discount store, off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store (stores operating with HomeGoods combined), ...

Ross Dress for Less Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of July 2024, Ross operates 1,795 ...

TJ Maxx TJ Maxx (stylized as T•J•maxx) is an American discount department store chain. It has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, making it one of the largest clothing retailers in the country. TJ Maxx is the flagship chain of the TJX Comp ...

Five Below Five Below, Inc. is an American chain of specialty discount stores that prices most of its products at $5 or less, plus a smaller assortment of products priced up to $30. Founded in 2002 by Tom Vellios and David Schlessinger and headquartered in ...

, Staples,

Rite Aid Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. Prior to its first bankruptcy in 2023, it was the th ...

(formerly Thrifty Drugs), Vallarta Supermarkets (formerly

Ralphs Ralphs is an American supermarket Chain stores, chain in Southern California. The largest subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Kroger, it is the oldest such chain west of the Mississippi River. Kroger also operates stores under the Food 4 Less and Fo ...

), Rubi's,

Olive Garden Olive Garden is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a unit of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in Orange County, Florida. As of 2022, Olive Garden restaurants accounted for ...

Chili's Chili's Grill & Bar (stylized as chili's) is an American casual dining restaurant chain founded by Larry Lavine in Texas in 1975 and is currently owned and operated by Brinker International. History Chili's first location, a converted postal ...

, and Chuck E. Cheese.Property information
terramarcenters.com

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,100 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico, with it ...

occupied the old Hinshaw's building along with Staples next door. However, Burlington closed its store in 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quad At Whittier Shopping malls in Southeast Los Angeles County, California Whittier, California Shopping malls established in 1953 1953 establishments in California