History: Eichenbaum's Woodside Village West Covina, CA
Posted: 30 Jan 2009 23:21
Joseph Eichenbaum designed many shopping centers in Southern California. Among them is Woodside Village in West Covina on Amar and Azusa. He originally called it Rolling Greens Plaza in 1968 as he worked on and off with Donald Bren (developer of the adjacent residential area). The land was part of the massive 3000 acre Unack Ranch.
In 1968, Eichenbaum worked out his plans for a shopping center in the master planned community of Woodside Village (county area that was later annexed by West Covina in 1970). He arranged for it to be on the corner of Pass & Covina Road and a just built section of Azusa Ave (built to state expressway standards of the time, as it was being proposed as the Huntington Beach Freeway, aka "Mountain-to-Sea Highway"). Pass-Covina is now a section of Azusa and a part of Amar Roads.
The first anchor tenants that signed on in 1968 were Vons and Thrifty Drugs as well as Bank of America. Vons closed in the early 1990's and was left vacant until the early 2000's. Thrifty rebranded to Rite Aid in 1998 after Rite Aid's acquistion of Thrifty-Payless. Eichenbaum added Pep Boys as a standalone building in 1983. The left most wings, Jack In The Box/Subway, and Blockbuster Game Stop were added by the new owner after Eichenbaum sold the center in the late 1980's/early 1990's. I don't know when Shakey's was added or if it was already attached to Vons when it opened in 1970. When Vons closed, it sported the Bill Davilla-era Red-White decor package. Rite Aid sported Thrifty's 1980's era decor until it remodeled in the early 2000's. My earliest memory of Vons was when I was a toddler and there was a cashier (who later transferred to the Badillo/Grand store in Covina) who liked me so much I often got rides on the checkstand belt and occasional goodies from her labeled "The Vons Companies Inc".
The late 1990's saw the sharp increase of the Filipino population along Amar Road between Azusa and the City of Walnut. Alpha Beta across the street opened in 1973 and closed as a Food4Less operated conventional AB in 1996 and was soon taken over by Seafood City, a major Filipino grocery chain based in Pomona. Island Pacific, a rival Filipino chain moved into the former Vons space in Eichenbaum's center, completely remodeling it. As the primary anchor, they renamed the center Island Plaza. Late last year, they repainted most of the center into the yellow scheme (Island's main color).
luckysaver
In 1968, Eichenbaum worked out his plans for a shopping center in the master planned community of Woodside Village (county area that was later annexed by West Covina in 1970). He arranged for it to be on the corner of Pass & Covina Road and a just built section of Azusa Ave (built to state expressway standards of the time, as it was being proposed as the Huntington Beach Freeway, aka "Mountain-to-Sea Highway"). Pass-Covina is now a section of Azusa and a part of Amar Roads.
The first anchor tenants that signed on in 1968 were Vons and Thrifty Drugs as well as Bank of America. Vons closed in the early 1990's and was left vacant until the early 2000's. Thrifty rebranded to Rite Aid in 1998 after Rite Aid's acquistion of Thrifty-Payless. Eichenbaum added Pep Boys as a standalone building in 1983. The left most wings, Jack In The Box/Subway, and Blockbuster Game Stop were added by the new owner after Eichenbaum sold the center in the late 1980's/early 1990's. I don't know when Shakey's was added or if it was already attached to Vons when it opened in 1970. When Vons closed, it sported the Bill Davilla-era Red-White decor package. Rite Aid sported Thrifty's 1980's era decor until it remodeled in the early 2000's. My earliest memory of Vons was when I was a toddler and there was a cashier (who later transferred to the Badillo/Grand store in Covina) who liked me so much I often got rides on the checkstand belt and occasional goodies from her labeled "The Vons Companies Inc".
The late 1990's saw the sharp increase of the Filipino population along Amar Road between Azusa and the City of Walnut. Alpha Beta across the street opened in 1973 and closed as a Food4Less operated conventional AB in 1996 and was soon taken over by Seafood City, a major Filipino grocery chain based in Pomona. Island Pacific, a rival Filipino chain moved into the former Vons space in Eichenbaum's center, completely remodeling it. As the primary anchor, they renamed the center Island Plaza. Late last year, they repainted most of the center into the yellow scheme (Island's main color).
luckysaver