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 East entrance of mall. | |
| Location | National City, California |
|---|---|
| Address | 3030 Plaza Bonita Road, National City, CA 91950 |
| Opening date | February 8, 1981; 43 years ago (1981-02-08) as Plaza Bonita |
| Previous names | Plaza Bonita, Westfield Shoppingtown Plaza Bonita |
| Developer | May Centers, Inc. |
| Management | Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield |
| Owner | Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield |
| No. of stores and services | 193 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 5 |
| Total retail floor area | 816,000 square feet (75,800 m) |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Parking | 4,586 Parking Spaces, Outdoor Parking Lot/3-Story Parking Lot |
| Website | http://westfield.com/plazabonita |
Westfield Plaza Bonita commonly known as Plaza Bonita and Plaza is a shopping mall located in National City, California, and is owned by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. Anchor stores at the center include Macy's, JCPenney, Crunch Fitness, Target, and Nordstrom Rack.
Although it is within the boundaries of National City, the mall is closely associated with and takes its name from the nearby community of Bonita, California.
History
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
1980s
The mall opened in 1981 anchored by JCPenney, Mervyn's, Montgomery Ward, and the May Company. The malls motif was inspired after fall tones. It had a brick interior and exterior, with many brown beige tones and fountains throughout the inside and main entrances. The original logo of the mall was a 3 colored rainbow which was red, orange, and yellow and a font displaying ‘plaza bonita’. In spring of 1983 Mann Theaters opened their location near the east entrance of the mall near where the Broken Yolk Cafe is now.
1990s
Westfield America, Inc., a precursor to The Westfield Group, acquired the shopping center in 1994 and in 1998 the mall was renamed to "Westfield Shoppingtown Plaza Bonita", though the "Shoppingtown" name was removed in June 2005 at all Westfield malls nationwide. Also during the late 90s, the sign that is seen from the 805 was put up and was to the disliking of many, so it had been modified to what we see today. Mann Theaters Plaza Bonita 6 also closed around the late 90s early 2000s.
2000s
In mid-2002, the mall went through several phases of renovations in order to take on a more modern and youthful design. The whole mall was painted and new ceramic tile was installed, and the food court was renovated and built in a more central place. That same year, an Outback Steakhouse restaurant opened and revitalized a part of the shopping center located near the parking lot. It was the second full restaurant to open after Applebee's, which opened in 1993.
In mid-2006, the former Wards store, which had been the location of seasonal retailers (Halloween costumers and art shows) was stripped and gutted and a new plan was announced to the public that the south end of the mall would be demolished and rebuilt. The former location of the food court was also demolished converted into a Forever 21 in 2006. Also in 2006, Robinsons-May had been acquired by Federated Department Stores and all locations were changed to Macy's. In 2008 the newly renovated part of the mall had opened with additional anchors Target, Borders (which had moved from Otay Ranch Town Center), and AMC Theaters as well as close to 40+ new shops like H&M, a new food court known as the Dining Terrace, and a three floor parking structure.
2010s
On March 3, 2009, the Jollibee Foods Corporation opened its first Filipino food court in the United States adjacent from Target, with its bakery and restaurants Red Ribbon Bakeshop, Jollibee and Chowking and also had a party room which could seat 40 people. The first of the kind in the United States, which was followed by one at Westfield Southcenter in Washington. However, JFC shuttered the dining hall by 2011 a Hooters later took its place but then closed in 2020. Further, Borders closed all locations in 2011 shortly after the company filed for bankruptcy. In May 2011, Nordstrom had announced in a press release that they will open its third Nordstrom Rack location at Plaza Bonita taking over the second floor of the former Mervyn's location. In August 2012 Crunch Fitness had opened replacing Borders' old location.
2020s
In 2020, a handful of stores had shuttered at Plaza Bonita after Westfield and many other mall operators had decided to close majority of its operations temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic. This opened doors to many new Asian businesses, such as Happy Lemon, Gerry's Grill, and Manna BBQ & Shabu new concept location. Westfield (operator of Plaza Bonita) as of 2021 had announced that they would be leaving the US market by 2022. Partly because of its merger with Unibail-Rodamco in 2017 and the COVID-19 pandemic causing them to accumulate 32 million dollars in debt. It is still unsure if Plaza Bonita's and the rest of the Westfield Centers in America will be sold to another property group. In Late June of 2021 John's Incredible Pizza Company had shuttered there Plaza Bonita after the reopening date had been pushed back several times. The closure was never annouced by the company but all equipment and games had been auctioned off and the signage inside the mall had been removed.
Current anchors and major tenants
- JCPenney: since 1981, moved from Downtown, San Diego and South Bay Plaza location from 1971 to 1981 (original anchor)
- AMC Theatres: 14-screen complex since 2008, formerly half of what was Montgomery Ward until June 2001, replaced Mann Theatres until 2003
- Macy's: converted since 2006, formerly May Company until 1993 later Robinsons-May until 2006
- Target: since 2008, formerly Montgomery Ward until June 2001
- Crunch Fitness: since 2012, opened as Borders Books & Music in 2008, then Crunch Fitness in 2012
- Nordstrom Rack: since 2011, formerly half of Mervyn's, moved to Sweetwater Square near in 2006
- (now vacant) John's Incredible Pizza Company: opened 2010, formerly Mervyn's until 2006
See also
References
- "Westfield Plaza Bonita". www.urw.com.
- Unibail Rodamco, Westfield. "Plaza Bonita Portfolio". Westfield Unibail Rodamco.
- "National City". Google Maps.
- "New May Co. Structure to Open in Bonita Plaza". Los Angeles Times. 1981-02-08. p. i6.
The May Co. will open its newest store March 5 in then 53-acre Bonita Plaza in Bonita. The estimated construction cost is $10 million.
Alternate Link via ProQuest. - ^ Green, Frank (2006-07-19). "New start for old mall". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
- ^ "Mann Plaza Bonita 6 in National City, CA - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
- "With Robinsons-May stores closing, few midrange department stores are left. Is shopping becoming polarized? Yes, and no". Los Angeles Times. 2005-08-06. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
- "The New and Improved Westfield Plaza Bonita". National City. 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
- "Plaza Bonita New Home to Jollibee Red Ribbon Bakeshop". asianjournalusa.com. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
- "Why Borders Failed While Barnes & Noble Survived". NPR. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
- "Nordstrom Rack to Open at Westfield Plaza Bonita in National City, California | Nordstrom". Nordstrom (Press release). Retrieved 2021-06-18.
- "Crunch plans National City gym". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2021-06-22.
- "San Diego County Westfield malls close 'majority of its operations' amid outbreak". KGTV. 2020-03-19. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
- Woo, Candice (2019-05-29). "Well-Loved Filipino Restaurant Chain Coming to the South Bay". Eater San Diego. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
- "Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Targets 2022 to Sell U.S. Malls". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
- "RestaurantEquipment.Bid". www.restaurantequipment.bid. Retrieved 2021-07-19.
External links
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| ‡ Managed with no ownership interest. World Trade Center space is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the Fulton Center space is owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. | ||||||
32°39′22″N 117°3′57″W / 32.65611°N 117.06583°W / 32.65611; -117.06583
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