Westfield Topanga sits in Canoga Park, part of Los Angeles, on the western side of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County.
You will find it at 6600 Topanga Canyon Boulevard, along a main north-south street. Its location near the 101 and 118 freeways gives it strong access from across the region.
The mall draws shoppers from Canoga Park, Woodland Hills, West Hills, Chatsworth, and other nearby areas, reaching a total trade area of about 1.4 million people. It opened in 1964 under the name Topanga Plaza.
The design came from Victor Gruen Associates. It was Southern California's first enclosed shopping mall and has stayed open ever since, changing and expanding over more than 60 years.
Inside Southern California's First Enclosed Mall
In February 1964, visitors walked into Topanga Plaza in Canoga Park and found a new kind of shopping space. It was fully enclosed and climate-controlled.
There were no outdoor walkways or exposure to the elements. Inside, the air was cool, the floors were terrazzo, and a fountain sat further inside.
At that time, the San Fernando Valley was still growing with ranch-style homes and subdivisions, and the mall stood apart from that landscape.
The site covered 58 acres at 6600 Topanga Canyon Boulevard, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Victor Gruen Associates handled the design.
Development came from May Centers, a division of May Department Stores, working with the Warner family, who owned the land as part of the Harry Warner Ranch.
Project documentation identifies it as the first enclosed mall in Southern California. The finished complex contained 727,000 square feet of leasable space across two levels and included 83 stores.
Retail openings took place over several months. May Company and Montgomery Ward opened on February 10, 1964. Food Fair followed in April. The Broadway held its formal dedication on August 24, 1964.
Topanga Plaza's Early Design and Opening-Era Attractions
The South Court held what the mall called the "Rain Fountain," also known as the "Wonderfall."
Designed by Vic Chaten of Torrance, it used circular arrays of vertical monofilament lines running from ceiling to floor, with recirculated glycerine descending slowly along the wetted lines to mimic falling rain.
The North Court had bird aviaries, planters, and a gazebo. A Terrace Restaurant overlooked the complex from above the May Company store.
Charter tenants included Joseph Magnin, Mullen & Bluett, Silverwoods, Lane Bryant, Kay Jewelers, Florsheim Shoes, Hardy Shoes, Frederick's of Hollywood, Hudson's Jewelers, and Sutton Brothers Home Decorating.
The Topanga Plaza Ice Arena opened on the lower level in March 1965. Across the boulevard, the RKO-Stanley-Warner Topanga Theatre opened on October 26, 1965.
In 1966, Columbia Pictures used the mall for location shooting on "Divorce American Style," staging scenes inside the concourse and in Florsheim Shoes and Joseph Magnin.
Early store openings drew entertainment and television personalities for publicity events, with the mall functioning as a stage as much as a retail center.
How Competition and a New Anchor Changed Topanga Plaza
By the early 1980s, Topanga Plaza's sales were falling. The Promenade at Woodland Hills, which had opened in the 1970s, pulled shoppers away.
Topanga's retail mix was seen as more mid-market, while the Promenade positioned itself as the upscale option in the Valley.
Renovation work began in January 1984. Nordstrom opened on April 6, 1984, as the fourth anchor - its seventh full-line California store at the time.
The project brought new columns and archways, a neutral interior color scheme, and a 15-bay Plaza Cafes food court built in the space vacated by the ice rink.
Ohrbach's had already moved into the former Joseph Magnin space in 1980.
Nordstrom's arrival, paired with the renovation and roughly 50 new shops, reversed the sales decline of the early part of the decade.
The stabilization did not quiet the mall's larger ambitions.
The company, then pursuing the site - CenterMark, the name May Centers took in 1992 - was already drawing plans to add 723,000 square feet over 15 years, tied to a broader vision for Warner Center that included office towers, a hotel, and residential development.
Those plans would take another decade to move.
Renovation, Ownership Reshuffle, and Quake Recovery
In 1992, Topanga Plaza underwent a $45 million renovation. New marble floors replaced worn carpet.
Skylights, updated storefronts, palm trees, a water fountain, a new elevator, accessibility ramps, and seismic upgrades all went in together.
That same year, Prudential acquired May Centers and renamed the company CenterMark Properties.
In November 1993, Prudential agreed to sell the CenterMark subsidiary that held a 42% stake in Topanga Plaza - along with interests in other centers - to a group that included General Growth Properties, Westfield Holdings, and Whitehall Street Real Estate.
CenterMark was expected to continue operating as a separate company after the sale. The May Company store became Robinsons-May on January 31, 1993.
The 1994 Northridge earthquake occurred two years after the seismic reinforcement work. The inline mall portion sustained modest damage and reopened on January 28, 1994.
The anchors followed in stages: Nordstrom in February, The Broadway in June, Montgomery Ward in September, and Robinsons-May in November.
Westfield Takes Over and Rebuilds the Anchor Lineup
The Broadway closed in early 1996. Sears moved in and reopened the space on November 2 of that year, having relocated from the nearby Fallbrook Center.
The property was renamed Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga in November 1998.
Westfield achieved full ownership in November 1998. Montgomery Ward closed in March 2001 when the chain ended operations nationally.
In April 2003, Nordstrom and Westfield announced that Nordstrom would relocate to a new 200,000-square-foot, three-level store at the mall's southeast corner.
The announcement described a redevelopment adding at least one more anchor, more than 100 specialty shops, a new food court, and two parking structures with over 2,000 additional spaces, bringing the center to roughly 1.6 million square feet.
The plan also included a 120,000-square-foot Neiman Marcus, a two-level Target, and an atrium.
Robinsons-May became Macy's in 2006. Target opened on October 6, 2006, alongside a refurbished Nordstrom and more than 140 retailers. Westfield's investment in the redevelopment totaled $330 million.
From the Neiman Marcus opening to the former Sears redevelopment
Neiman Marcus opened on September 5, 2008, in the former Nordstrom location. The 120,000-square-foot store launched with a gala. With that opening, the completed center reached roughly 1.63 million leasable square feet.
The full expansion totaled $350 million and 600,000 square feet, and also brought a carousel and a children's play area.
In January 2015, Sears announced it would close its Westfield Topanga location as part of the chain's broader pullback from brick-and-mortar retail.
That left the former Sears box - the same building that had housed The Broadway before Sears moved in in 1996 - open for Westfield to redevelop.
Westfield announced that redevelopment would begin in January 2020, with renovation set to begin that month. By the end of 2021, it was still listed for H1 2022 delivery.
The Village at Westfield Topanga Opens, Then Changes Hands
Westfield's next project ran alongside the main mall rather than inside it. In 2013, Westfield was seeking city financial assistance for an open-air retail district to be built on adjacent land.
The proposal included a 158-room hotel, a Costco, office space, stores, and restaurants.
City officials said the arrangement would have allowed Westfield to retain up to 42% of new tax revenue from the project over 25 years.
Construction was underway by May 2014. The Village was described as a $350 million, 550,000-square-foot development with boutique stores, restaurants, a gym, and a luxury spa.
It opened in September 2015, sitting along Topanga Canyon Boulevard between the main mall and the largely dormant Promenade.
In late December 2022, Rams owner Stan Kroenke bought the Village for $325 million, bringing his total Warner Center property ownership to 100 acres.
His organization said it would continue operating the property as an open-air lifestyle and retail destination.
How the Former Sears Box Became AMC, Topanga Social, and a Luxury District
AMC DINE-IN Topanga 12 opened on June 2, 2022. The nearby AMC Promenade 16 closed the day before. The new theater offered IMAX with Laser and Dolby Cinema, with food prepared on site and delivered to assigned seats.
The broader reconfiguration of the former Sears space covered 19,439 square meters and added an expanded luxury retail section with Hermes, Rolex, Bulgari, Valentino, and Dior.
Topanga Social opened on May 11, 2023, as a joint venture between Earl Enterprises and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.
The food hall had 27 eateries, bars, and culinary concepts, an indoor-outdoor cocktail garden, three full-service bars, a secret arcade, live entertainment, and private-event space.
It lasted less than three years. A WARN notice filed February 13, 2026, listed 131 layoffs effective April 14. Earl Enterprises' management concluded on April 15, with Westfield preparing the next phase for the space.
On March 6, 2026, Saks Global announced the closure of the Topanga Neiman Marcus as part of a nationwide restructuring that also shuttered 10 Saks Fifth Avenue stores and one other Neiman Marcus location; a May 2026 shutdown at the mall followed.
On February 10, 2026, Din Tai Fung announced a future Westfield Topanga location, with an opening planned for 2027.
