Nordstrom Closing Santa Monica Place Location

Nordstrom is shuttering its Santa Monica location amid a company-wide refocus on alternative retail experiences.

On Aug. 26, the department store will permanently close its outpost in the Santa Monica Place mall at 220 Broadway, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported. The three-level, 122,000-square-foot property opened in 2010.

“We believe we’ll be best able to serve customers in the area by leveraging our surrounding stores and through our digital channels,” a spokesperson for Nordstrom told the Daily Press. It’s working to help affected employees find other jobs within the company.

Now, the closest Nordstrom location to Santa Monica is a Nordstrom Local store in Brentwood. Nordstrom Local stores don’t provide the traditional shopping experience, instead serving as locations to pick up and try on online orders, make returns and get alterations. The company is similarly focusing on Nordstrom Local in San Francisco after closing its San Francisco stores in 2023.

The nearest actual Nordstrom store will be the Westfield Century City location, opened in 2017 and spanning 144,000 square feet across three levels. A Nordstrom Rack store, the brand’s discounted price offshoot, remains open at Westfield Culver City.

The mall’s previous owner, Macerich, bought the property from The Rouse Company in 1999 for $130 million before giving it up to lenders last year after defaulting on a $300 million loan. That led to Dallas-based Trigild’s appointment as receiver of the 527,000-square-foot outdoor retail center. Playa Vista-based commercial real estate firm Prism Places was tapped to manage the mall in April.

Today, Santa Monica Place has a nearly 70 percent vacancy rate, with visitors primarily frequenting the Cayton Children’s Museum, Cheesecake Factory, and the recently opened Din Tai Fung, according to the Daily Press.

Santa Monica Place, originally designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 1980 as an enclosed mall, underwent a $265 million renovation in 2010 to become an open-air shopping center.

— Chris Malone Méndez