Launching Retail in Orange County – The 1955 Ground Game
The Broadway opened on October 14, 1955, on Euclid Street, about three miles from Disneyland, which had launched just three months earlier.
The building, which measured 208,000 square feet and cost $8.5 million to build, featured marble columns, wall-to-wall carpet, and 1,000 workers hired to manage it. The parking lot held 5,000 cars.
The Broadway wasn’t alone for long. Within months, smaller shops started to open around it. This new outdoor mall—called the Broadway Orange County Center—was the first of its kind in the county.
Retailers like F.W. Woolworth and Thrifty Drug filled out the early roster. By 1963, J.W. Robinson’s came in as the second anchor, adding more retail gravity.
Anaheim still had orange groves back then, and families were moving in. The population tripled between 1950 and 1960.
Architect Welton Becket designed the center. He also did the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood and the Beverly Hilton.
His projects leaned toward clean lines and wide open spaces designed for crowds. Anaheim Plaza followed that mold—bright façades, simple geometry, and long walkways under palm trees.
Early ads pitched the plaza as a full-day destination, with women’s dresses at Broadway, sandwiches at Woolworth’s lunch counter, and free parking.
It was designed to be a shopping experience you could drive to, roam freely, and leave without paying a dime for parking.
The developers banked on car culture and postwar spending, and they were right. Foot traffic stayed strong through the ’50s and into the ’60s.
For tourists looking for things to do in Anaheim, California, it was another stop after Disneyland, especially on Sundays.
Remodeling the Floor Plan – 1970s Expansion and Tenant Shifts
By 1974, Anaheim Plaza had been open for nearly two decades. Crowds were steady, but the open-air layout had started to feel dated.
That year, the owners—Prudential Life Insurance Company—spent $4 million to enclose the center.
It was no longer a series of walkways and patios. Walls went up, air conditioning came in, and shoppers started calling it a mall.
At the same time, the name officially changed to Anaheim Plaza. The rebrand lined up with new tenants and a broader push to stay competitive.
Three years later, in July 1977, Mervyn’s opened on the north end.
It became the third anchor, alongside The Broadway and Robinson’s. The department store specializes in value pricing and selling private-label clothes, bedding, and home goods.
It brought in middle-income families from across Orange County.
Smaller stores followed the shift. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Kinney Shoes, Zales, and Fashion Conspiracy filled out the directories.
Even the food court got a facelift. Fast-casual spots started to replace traditional counters and diners. Sales stayed strong through the early Reagan years.
Parking lots were usually full on weekends. Holiday shopping turned into an all-day event.
By 1982, some chains reported Anaheim Plaza as a top performer in the region. But the area around the mall was changing fast.
New housing was going up farther east—in Anaheim Hills and down toward Mission Viejo.
Those zip codes brought higher incomes, newer schools, and, soon, newer malls.
Anaheim Plaza stayed rooted in west Anaheim, where retail was becoming more local.
Chain stores still did okay, but national brands started hedging bets. Some backed out of expansion plans.
Others dropped square footage. The shift was gradual, but the momentum had started to move—just slightly—away from the plaza.
Bulldozers and Leasebacks – The 1990s Redevelopment Play
The hit came in 1987. MainPlace Mall opened off Interstate 5 in Santa Ana.
It had glass ceilings, department stores, escalators, and a brand-new anchors. Anaheim Plaza felt the impact within weeks. Traffic dipped.
By January 1988, the Robinson’s at Anaheim Plaza closed.
That wasn’t the end. In the early ’90s, The Broadway started pulling back. By the time it shut down in January 1993, only Mervyn’s remained from the original anchors.
Most interior stores were empty, and occupancy dropped to 35%. Prudential handed off its ownership stake, and the mall was sold.
By August 1993, demolition had started. Crews removed the walkways, the central court, and the southern wing.
What remained was Mervyn’s—still operating and locked into a long-term lease. Everything else came down.
In its place came a different kind of shopping center. The site reopened in November 1994 as a power center, a retail term for large-format stores with parking up front.
The new Anaheim Plaza had no hallways or interior corridors—just big boxes: 547,000 square feet of concrete, steel, and storefront signage. The development cost was reported at $30 million.
Walmart opened in January 1995 and quickly became the biggest anchor. Other retailers followed: OfficeMax, CompUSA, and Ross Dress for Less.
The plaza shifted from a mall to a strip—still retail, but with fewer frills and shorter leases.
It attracted a new kind of shopper: one coming for bulk groceries, discount fashion, or pet food.
The shift wasn’t subtle—it was a full reset. By the end of the decade, the only reminder of the old plaza was the street name and a couple of aging light poles in the back lot.
Anchor Shifts and Big Box Strategy – 2000s to 2020s Leasing Trends
Walmart stayed in the draw through the 2000s. It opened in January 1995 and didn’t leave. The store pulled foot traffic from neighborhoods around Euclid and drivers coming off the 5.
The strategy worked—big names, big parking, easy in-and-out.
Next door, tenants rotated. OfficeMax turned into Smart & Final. CompUSA closed in the mid-2000s.
TJ Maxx took over the space. That was part of a wider trend—tech retail fading, off-price fashion growing.
Burlington moved into the old Mervyn’s spot after a two-step shuffle: Forever 21 filled it first after Mervyn’s liquidation in late 2008, then shuttered in 2020. Burlington took over that year.
El Super brought groceries back to the plaza after OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware) and Gigante folded.
The Hispanic grocery chain opened where Gigante had been. That shift reflected the area—mostly working-class, mostly Latino, with families shopping in bulk and often cooking at home.
Petco and Ross held steady. Footwear and pets never went out of season. Even with competition from online sales, both stayed open through the pandemic years.
The plaza’s layout kept things flexible. There were no escalators, no second stories, just square footage that could flip fast.
Landlords didn’t have to deal with slow-moving buildouts or food court leases. A store that closed in spring could reopen by fall.
By 2023, Anaheim Plaza had around 30 stores. Most were big-box stores, but smaller ones—like dollar stores and nail salons—were tucked into endcaps or side rows.
Leasing stayed active. Spaces flipped, but anchors like Walmart, Burlington, and Smart & Final kept the center alive.
If something closed, something else usually showed up.
Lease Renewals, Food Chains, and Current Floorplate – The 2020s Configuration
Walk the Anaheim Plaza in 2025, and you’ll find a consistent retail loop—low-rise, parking-heavy, and anchored by the same names shoppers have known for years.
What’s changed recently is the food. Fast-casual restaurants have taken over the pad buildings, and In-N-Out Burger opened near the corner entrance.
Wendy’s and Baskin-Robbins joined next. These tenants draw steady lunch traffic, especially from local schools and service workers.
Sales tax data from the city shows spikes in Q4, likely tied to holiday shopping.
The construction fence went up in February 2025—next to Petco, across from Ross.
Behind it, crews started prepping for a 30,000-square-foot Crunch Fitness, the newest tenant at Anaheim Plaza.
It’s the first time a gym has taken up that kind of space in the center. The new Crunch location is expected to open in late 2025. Crunch isn’t the only one trying this playbook.
Gyms are moving into former big-box spaces across the country, hoping to attract members looking for treadmills, classes, and clean locker rooms—right next to discount fashion and groceries.
The location in Anaheim makes sense. The design will feature open floor plans, bright lighting, and loud music—what Crunch is known for.
Memberships are low-cost, but the idea is volume—get hundreds of people to show up every day, even if they’re only staying an hour.
For Anaheim Plaza, it’s a pivot. Retail still drives traffic, but fitness brings in steady footfall throughout the day.
Morning gym users will encounter El Super shoppers. Evening classes might spill into dinner or takeout food. It’s a different rhythm than weekend sales or holiday crowds.
Well written article
Thank you for reading! This place deserves to be remembered.