Back in the 1980’s and 90’s, the primer spot to hang out in the San Fernando Valley was the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Located near the interchange of two of the world’s busiest freeways, the I-405 San Diego Freeway and the US-101 Ventura Freeway, on the corner of Sepulveda and Ventura Boulevards in Sherman Oaks, which is a part of the city of Los Angeles, the Sherman Oaks Galleria was a large and often busy mall during the first 19 years of operation (1980-1999).
The Galleria from 1980 to 1999.
It started out as a more typical large indoor mall, with three stories of stories, restaurants, a movie theater, which was owned by Pacific Theaters, and two anchor stores, Robinson’s and the May Company (both now part of Macy’s). This mall was also famous for creating the unique “Valley Girl” culture during the 1980’s, as mentioned in the 1982’s Frank Zappa’s song of the same name. Many teens from all over the valley used to hang out and shopped around the galleria, as well as to see a movie on the third floor of the mall. The Galleria was also used as a shooting location in many Hollywood films that were made in the 1980’s, including Fast Times at Ridgemeont High (1982), Commando (1985), and even a movie named “Valley Girl” (1983).
However, by the 1990’s, the Galleria would fall on really hard times. First, in 1993, Robinson’s and the May Company merged to form Robinson’s-May, leaving the Galleria with only one anchor store. Robinson’s-May would eventually become part of Macy’s by 2006. The next year (January 17, 1994), the Galleria suffered some damage from the magnitude 6.7 Northridge Earthquake and was closed for 11 days after the quake. By the late 1990’s, the Galleria had very little business as most of the stories were closed, due to lack of sales and interest. The Galleria management also evicted the anchor store, Robinson’s-May for lease violations. In 1999, the old Sherman Oaks Galleria was closed and torn down. It was a very sad day for shoppers who remembered the time that “Valley Girls” used to rule the Galleria and made it the cultural institution of the San Fernando Valley.
It would take three years for the Galleria to be completely re-built and in 2002, the Galleria re-opened, but as a very different and much smaller mall. It is also an outdoor mall, unlike the old Galleria; much of old Galleria was replaced with office spaces for a number of clients including Warner Bros. However, the movie theater is still there, now owned by Arclight Cinemas.
The Galleria Today
While the Sherman Oaks Galleria is still there today, the real experience of shopping at the Galleria is long gone and just a distant memory.
Special Thanks to Wikipedia for providing some insight about the Galleria’s past.
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