Sherman Oaks Galleria
The Sherman Oaks Galleria was perhaps best known as the home of the "Valley Girl", since this San Fernando Valley mall was where "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982) was filmed. The the mall was mentioned in Frank Zappa's 1982 novelty song "Valley Girl" ("Like totally! Ohmigod! Fershur!").
The movie "Valley Girl" was not not actually shot at this mall, but at the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's1985's movie, "Commando," was shot there too.
Otherwise, it was a rather small, unremarkable mall (although Janet Jackson had been spotted shopping there on at least one occasion).
The mall was featured throughout "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", beginning with the opening scenes of the film, where we ride an elevator up to the food court where the young Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Judge Reinhold worked at the fast food stands.
But despite its popularity in the 80's (when stars like Molly Ringwald used to shop there regularly), business at this mall had been suffering lately (since it suffered extensive damage during the 1994 Northridge earthquake), with a very high vacancy rate at last report. And it is now a part of history...
In 1999, the Galleria was temporarily closed for "major renovations," following years of declining business (and damage suffered in the 6.7 magnitude quake of 1994.)
However, wrecking balls soon smashed down most of the old Galleria, marking the de facto end of the famous mall, at least as as Los Angelenos knew it.
A sad day for Valley Girls...
The Galleria finally reopened in 2002, but it is now a much smaller facility, and is no longer an enclosed mall. It is now an open-air, mixed-use center featuring several restaurants, an outdoor food court, a handful of stores (including Tower Records), and Pacific Theatres 16. The rest of the former space is taken up by offices, including the home of Warner Bros. Animation.
Getting there: The Galleria is located in the Valley, on the northwest corner of Ventura Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard, in Sherman Oaks, just east of the San Diego (405) Freeway, and just south of the Ventura (101) Freeway. / From the San Diego (405) Freeway north, take the Ventura Blvd/Sherman Oaks exit, and turn left (north) on Sepulveda Boulevard. Go two blocks (to just past Ventura Boulevard), then turn left (west) into mall's the parking garage.
credit http://www.seeing-stars.com/Shop/Galleria.shtml Seeing Stars
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