The Grove in Glendale: Goodbye Galleria

[Editor's Note: Thursday is Grove News Day here at LAist...] Brand Boulevard, Glendale's main shopping drag, is set to get the Grove treatment, as Rick Caruso builds his "Americana at Brand" mixed-use developement next door to the Galleria.Which is bad for the Galleria.

That dingy dungeon, a relic of an earlier time, when monolithic enclosed shopping malls ruled the retailing landscape, will probably not survive once Caruso Affiliated is done driving a Grove-esque stake through it's heart.

Brand Boulevard itself will soon get even more congested as locals flock to the new shopping edifice, which will no doubt prove popular amongst those who refuse to brave traffic to visit the Grove or Paseo Colorado for their outdoor shopping fix.

And that outdoor shopping experience will kill the Galleria. Why do a mall crawl through a dank retailing grotto when you can unload your expendable income under the bright blue Cailfornia sky?

So, goodbye Galleria. Goodbye Claire's Boutique. Goodbye overpriced, understocked record store. Goodbye crusty foodcourt. Goodbye brown-bricked Stalinist exterior. Goodbye Zone.

About the only thing we'll miss is the See's on the upper level. Unless they make the move over to Americana at Brand, Eastsiders could soon be forced to find someplace else to do their last-minute Valentine's Day shopping.