The Grove is a retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, located on parts of the historic Farmers Market.
History
The complex fills space previously occupied by an orchard and nursery, which were the last remains of a dairy farm owned by A. F. Gilmore in the latter part of the 19th century. The developers began demolition of an antiques alley and other older buildings on Third Street behind CBS Television City, and broke ground for the new mall in 1999. There was some controversy over potentially increasing traffic in a busy Los Angeles neighborhood that already offered several other shopping venues, including the Beverly Center. The Grove opened in 2002. The Warner Bros. tabloid television news program Extra was also taped in the complex from 2010-2013, usually on the mall's lawn area. Since November 2015, it has also served as a venue for the finales of Dancing with the Stars. The history behind the development of the A. F. Gilmore property that eventually became The Grove was not without controversy. In 1984, A. F. Gilmore and neighboring CBS Television City hired Olympia & York California Equities Corp. to look into the possibility of creating a major business and entertainment complex that would have been twice as large as Universal City but would have required the demolition of all existing structures at both Farmers Market and CBS in the process. That plan was not well received by the City of Los Angeles or by its neighbors and the plan was later shelved. Two years later A. F. Gilmore and CBS hired Urban Investment & Development Co. of Chicago to create another development plan. In 1989, A. F. Gilmore announced that it was going to build a US$300 million mall adjacent to the existing Farmers Market and that the new project would be managed by JMB/Urban Development of Chicago. The proposed mall was going to be anchored by May Company California, Nordstrom, and J. W. Robinson's along with over 100 other stores. Later, the project was scaled down to 2 anchors. During the next decade, A. F. Gilmore announced in 1998 a further scaled down plan with Caruso Affiliated as the new development partner for a new proposal that eventually became The Grove at Farmers Market, a $100-million project on. Nordstrom signed on in 2001 to build a store. By early 2001, toy retailer FAO Schwarz also sign on for along with Banana Republic, Gap, Barnes & Noble, J. Crew, Maggiano's Italian restaurant and a 14-screen movie complex to be the initial stores in the new project. After many delays, the retail center finally opened in March 2002. FAO Schwarz was one of the first retail casualties at the Grove after FAO Schwarz's parent company had to declare bankruptcy in 2004. The Grove was able to replace the store with American Girl Place, which opened in April 2006. Abercrombie & Fitch closed their flagship store in February 2015, and was replaced seven months later with a Nike flagship store that opened in September 2015. Also in 2013, Banana Republic moved into a new space at the mall, and the old space was occupied by a Topshop/Topman store. In the original plan, the 14-screen movie complex was going to be built by Pacific Theatres to be its first Arc Light multiplex. At the last minute, Pacific Theatres pulled out of the project and opted to build the multiplex in Hollywood, ArcLight Hollywood, instead. Caruso decided to fund the construction of the multiplex out of the company's own pockets. After 10 months of successful operations, Caruso decided to sell the multiplex outright. Pacific gave the highest bid at US$30 million. In May 2020, The Grove was damaged after some of its stores were looted following the death of George Floyd.
Design
The outdoor marketplace is located in Los Angeles' Fairfax District. Initial architectural design was performed in-house by David Williams of Caruso Affiliated Holdings and by KMD Architects of San Francisco. Caruso Affiliated claims to have modeled its architectural designs on indigenous Los Angeles buildings, influenced by classic historic districts, with shopping alleys, broad plazas, and intimate courtyards. The design features a series of Art Deco-style false fronts, with boxy interiors similar to those found in other contemporary stores.
Attractions
The Grove features a large central park with an animated fountain designed by WET. Its music-fountain show plays every hour, though the feature has a non-musical program in between shows. The water's choreography is reminiscent of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas—also designed by WET—but on a much smaller scale. The property also has a statue, The Spirit of Los Angeles. Live shows are often performed there—on the grassy area by the fountains. An internal transit system uses electric-powered trolley cars to link The Grove and the adjacent Farmers Market.
In mid-November, the Grove Christmas Tree is displayed, and lit every evening, beginning with the annual tree lighting ceremony. The tree remains lit every evening for the remainder of the Christmas season. Usually up to or more, it is one of the tallest Christmas trees in the Los Angeles area. In more recent years, The Grove also transforms "into a winter wonderland" where artificial snow falls every evening at 7 & 8 pm, through Christmas Eve.
