Los Altos Center
Los Altos Center is a regional shopping center in northeastern Long Beach, California.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Los Altos Center is a regional shopping center serving the Los Altos area of northeastern Long Beach, California. It is located along Bellflower Boulevard, approximately four miles south of Lakewood Center Mall and about five miles east of Downtown Long Beach. The center developed during the postwar expansion of automobile-oriented retail in Southern California and originally operated as an open-air shopping destination organized around a landscaped central court. Some stores began opening on the site in 1953, while the completed center opened in 1955. The development was designed by the L.S. Whaley Co., with Welton Becket credited as architect. Its original design emphasized an informal, comfortable suburban shopping experience: trees, floral plantings, benches, canopies, piped-in music, and surrounding surface parking supported the center's early marketing line, “Friendly… casual… convenient, Los Altos Shopping Center.” The initial tenant mix combined large department stores, a drugstore, financial services, food service, apparel, footwear, specialty retail, and neighborhood services. Major opening anchors included Walker's, JCPenney, and Woolworth's. Walker's occupied roughly 100,000 square feet and included a Palm Room restaurant and coffee shop. In 1957, the Walker's location was sold and converted to The Broadway. JCPenney operated a two-story store with a basement, while Woolworth's included a long lunch counter. Sav-on Drug Store was another substantial early tenant. Los Altos Center expanded north of Stearns Street in 1964. The northern section added approximately 130,000 square feet of gross leasable area across two buildings on about 20.5 acres. Its tenants included Thrifty Drug Stores, Glendale Federal Savings & Loan, Zales Jewelry, Foreman & Clark, Singer, Household Finance, Dunn's Men's Wear, House of Fabrics, Winsted Bros. Camera, and other service and specialty retailers. The broader center also included businesses such as Bank of America, Bob's Big Boy, a Mobil station, and a discount-store sequence that moved from Unimart to Disco Fair, Two Guys, and FedMart during the 1970s. The center's department-store and discount-retail composition changed over time. The Broadway added a floor in 1963. FedMart closed in 1982, and its building was subsequently converted for Target, which opened there in April 1983. By 1990, the property was described as being in decline, reflecting heightened competition from larger regional malls and changing retail patterns. The Broadway closed in 1996, after which its building was converted for Sears. In the 2020s, Los Altos Center continued as a neighborhood-oriented retail and service complex rather than a conventional department-store-led regional mall. Its reported occupants included CVS Pharmacy, L.A. Fitness, T.J. Maxx, a grocery store, medical offices, smaller shops, and restaurants. Sears announced in February 2021 that it would close the Los Altos location as part of a nationwide round of store closures; the store had shut by early May 2021. Long Beach Transit routes 91, 92, 93, 94, 96 ZAP, and 172 provide transit access to the shopping center.
History
Los Altos Center emerged in the early 1950s as part of the suburban retail development accompanying Long Beach's postwar growth. Initial stores opened on the site in 1953, and the full open-air center was completed in 1955. The project was designed by the L.S. Whaley Co., with Welton Becket serving as architect. Its physical plan reflected the period's emerging shopping-center model: a landscaped outdoor court, pedestrian amenities, canopies, piped-in music, and extensive surrounding parking. The center promoted itself as friendly, casual, and convenient, positioning the property as an accessible daily-shopping destination rather than a formal downtown department-store district. The original center opened with a broad range of retail and service businesses. Walker's, JCPenney, and Woolworth's served as the principal department-store anchors. Walker's operated a store of approximately 100,000 square feet and included a Palm Room restaurant and coffee shop. JCPenney occupied a multilevel building with a basement, while Woolworth's featured a large lunch counter. Sav-on Drug Store was also a major early tenant. Smaller businesses included apparel and shoe stores, a hardware store, a jeweler, a toy store, a music shop, a barber, a beauty salon, banking facilities, sporting goods, candy, and children's merchandise. The property expanded in the 1960s. The Broadway added a floor in 1963 after replacing Walker's in 1957. A northern section opened in 1964 north of Stearns Street, adding two buildings with about 130,000 square feet of gross leasable area on roughly 20.5 acres. This expansion introduced additional drug, apparel, financial, jewelry, camera, fabric, sewing, laundry, and household-finance tenants. The center's surrounding commercial ecosystem also included Bank of America, Bob's Big Boy, and a Mobil service station. Discount retail became an important part of the property's later history. A northern discount store changed identities from Unimart to Disco Fair, then to Two Guys and FedMart during the 1970s. FedMart closed in 1982, and the building was converted for Target, which opened in April 1983. This transition reflected the broader shift from department-store retail toward discount and mass-market formats. By 1990, Los Altos Center was characterized as being in decline. The change likely reflected competitive pressure from larger enclosed and regional shopping destinations, evolving consumer habits, and the aging of the center's original department-store format. The Broadway closed in 1996, and its former building was converted for Sears, giving the property a new department-store anchor. Over time, the center increasingly functioned as a mixed retail and services property rather than a traditional department-store mall. In its current reported form, Los Altos Center contains a combination of pharmacy, off-price retail, fitness, grocery, medical, restaurant, and smaller-shop uses. CVS Pharmacy, L.A. Fitness, and T.J. Maxx are among the reported occupants. Sears announced in February 2021 that it would close the Los Altos store in a nationwide closure program; the location had closed by early May of that year. Despite the loss of the Sears anchor, the center remains an active neighborhood shopping destination in northeastern Long Beach. It is served by several Long Beach Transit routes, including 91, 92, 93, 94, 96 ZAP, and 172.
- 2021
Sears closes its Los Altos location
[1]Sears announced the closure of the Los Altos store in February, and the location had closed by early May as part of a nationwide closure program.
- 1996
The Broadway closes and space becomes Sears
[1]The Broadway closed, and its building was converted into a Sears store.
- 1990
Center enters a period of decline
[1]The shopping center was described as being in decline as its original department-store-centered format faced changing retail conditions.
- 1983
Target opens in former FedMart building
[1]Target opened in the former FedMart space in April 1983.
- 1982
FedMart closes
[1]The FedMart store in the northern section closed, clearing the way for a later conversion to Target.
- 1964
Northern section opens
[1]A northern section opened north of Stearns Street, adding approximately 130,000 square feet of gross leasable area and a new group of retail and service tenants.
- 1963
The Broadway expands
[1]The Broadway added an additional floor to its Los Altos Center store.
- 1957
Walker's location becomes The Broadway
[1]The Walker's department-store location was sold and rebranded as The Broadway.
- 1955
Full open-air center opens
[1]Los Altos Center opened as a landscaped, automobile-oriented shopping center designed by the L.S. Whaley Co. with Welton Becket as architect.
- 1953
First stores open on the site
[1]Initial retailers began operating at the future Los Altos Center site as the postwar shopping-center development took shape.
Products and positioning
A convenient, neighborhood-oriented shopping center serving the Los Altos area of Long Beach, with a tenant mix spanning everyday retail, off-price merchandise, fitness, healthcare, groceries, dining, and local services.
Shopping center offering · 1955
Neighborhood retail and services
Los Altos Center's primary offering is a collection of everyday retail and service businesses rather than a proprietary product line. Reported current and recent uses include pharmacy retail, off-price apparel and home merchandise, groceries, fitness, medical offices, restaurants, and smaller specialty shops. The mix reflects the center's evolution from a department-store-led open-air mall into a neighborhood-oriented commercial property.
Retail real estate · 1955
Department-store anchor space
Large anchor spaces have been a defining feature of the center since its opening. The original anchors were Walker's, JCPenney, and Woolworth's. Walker's later became The Broadway, whose building was subsequently converted to Sears after The Broadway closed. Sears itself closed in 2021, illustrating the continuing repurposing of large-format retail space at the property.
Marketing campaigns
- 1955Friendly… casual… convenient, Los Altos Shopping Center
Long Beach, California
The center used this motto to present itself as an approachable and convenient open-air shopping destination for local residents.
Outcome. The slogan captures the property's original neighborhood-focused positioning; no separate campaign performance information is reported.
Brand decisions
2021
Sears exits Los Altos CenterStrategyBackground
Sears included the Los Altos location in a nationwide plan to close 34 stores.
Action taken
The Sears store was closed by early May 2021.
Aftermath
The closure ended the property's period as a Sears-anchored center and left Los Altos Center reliant on a more diversified mix of retail, service, grocery, fitness, medical, and restaurant tenants.
1996
The Broadway space converted to SearsGeneration changeBackground
The Broadway closed after serving as a major anchor for the center.
Action taken
The former department-store building was converted for Sears.
Aftermath
Sears became the successor department-store anchor until its closure in 2021.
1983
Former FedMart building converted for TargetGeneration changeBackground
FedMart closed its store in the northern section in 1982, leaving a substantial discount-retail space available for reuse.
Action taken
The building was converted for Target, which opened there in April 1983.
Aftermath
The change replaced one discount retailer with another mass-market format and continued the site's role in value-oriented retail.
1957
Walker's store is sold and rebranded as The BroadwayM&ABackground
The center's original Walker's department-store anchor was transferred to new ownership two years after the full center opened.
Action taken
The Walker's location was converted to a The Broadway department-store operation.
Aftermath
The Broadway remained an anchor until its closure in 1996.
Sources1 sources
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