Eight Southland malls working on big renovations, expansions.

At least eight Southland shopping malls are undergoing or plan renovations or expansions, with one slated to be almost flattened completely and replaced by a new format.

Sparking the wave of face-lifts, industry sources say, is increased competition and the need to constantly update to attract consumers.

The seven malls undergoing or planning major changes are Fallbrook Mall in West Hills, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in Los Angeles, Media City Center in Burbank, Lakewood Center, Sherman Oaks Galleria, Los Cerritos Center and Fashion Square Sherman Oaks. Eastland Shopping Center in West Covina is being demolished to make way for a new retail concept.

"This is probably the most competitive era in the history of the mall business," said Mark Schoifet, a spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York-based trade association that has 27,000 members, including shopping center owners, retailers and others in the industry.

New competitors that have emerged for Southland malls in the past several years include "category killers," that dominate a particular retailing category, such as Home Depot and Office Depot, and general discounters, such as Target and K mart, Schoifet said. Factory outlet malls represent a third type of new rival, he added.

During the recession, many shoppers made a subtle shift from traditional malls to buying at cut-price retailers, said Jack Kyser, chief economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

These days "you don't feel bad shopping in Target and being caught by the neighbor," he said.

Shopping centers with category killers and discounters have sprung up all over L.A. County in recent years. Also, there are now several factory outlet malls throughout Southern California, Kyser said, although L.A. County has only one - the Citadel in the City of Commerce.

Fewer new malls

In addition, development of new malls tapered off around 1990 because of the credit crunch in real estate and an over-abundance of malls already in existence, Schoifet said. "They just aren't building as many shopping centers as they used to," he said.

Thus, developers began expanding and renovating existing malls instead, Schoifet said.

In L.A. County the developers of one existing mall, Eastland Shopping Center, are virtually demolishing it. In its stead they will build an open-air shopping center with a Mervyn's, Target, Sportmart, Circuit City and Old Navy Clothing Co. as anchors, said David Farmer, vice president of West Coast leasing for the mall's developer, Australia-based Westfield Inc. Retail clusters filled with category killers and discounters are called power centers.

The 750,000-square-foot indoor mall was anchored by a May Co. and a Mervyn's. The May Co. outlet was closed in October 1993 after its parent, St. Louis-based May Department Stores Co., merged its Robinson's and May Co. chains. Mervyn's - which won't be demolished - will remain as part of the power center, Farmer said.

The developers began demolishing the mall this month and expect to complete the new center by spring 1996.

In West Hills, Phoenix-based developer Univest in December bought 300,000 square feet of the Fallbrook Mall, most of which was occupied by Sears Roebuck & Co. Sears vacated its outlet store there after it was damaged in the Northridge earthquake.

Univest is converting the space into a K mart, Burlington Coat Factory and Ralphs Grocery Co. supermarket, said Univest President Tom Lowe.

Although some of the structure will be demolished and rebuilt, the total square footage will remain the same, Lowe said. To perform earthquake repairs, the mall owners gutted the bulk of the store, leaving only the walls and roof.

Construction for the new tenants has begun and is expected to be completed in the fall of this year, he said.

Slam-dunk addition

At the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Sony Pictures Entertainment formed a joint venture to build the Magic Johnson Theatres.

The 57,000-square-foot complex being added onto the mall will consist of 3,650 seats and 12 screens. Construction is expected to begin this month and be completed this summer, according to a mall newsletter. A two-tier additional parking structure is also being built to accommodate the additional traffic, according to the newsletter.

Burbank's Media City Center plans to construct space on its periphery to add four major tenants, said Fred Bruning, senior vice president of Manhattan Beach-based Alexander Haagen Co. Inc., the mall's owner.

Bruning would not name the tenants, but did say two are entertainment-oriented, one is in the computer industry and the fourth is a bookseller.

All these tenants have signed letters of intent, and they are expected to sign leases this month, Bruning said. The stores are expected to open by Christmas 1995.

Adding a category killer

Meanwhile, the former Bullock's store in the Lakewood Center has been demolished and a Home Depot is being built in its place, said mall General Manager Mark Long.

The owner of the Bullock's chain, New York-based R.H. Macy & Co., closed the store in January 1994 after Macy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. (Macy has since merged with Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores.)

Santa Monica-based Macerich Co., the mall's owner, last year demolished the 200,000-square-foot space that had housed the Bullock's outlet. Macerich expects to break ground for the new Home Depot this month, with the 130,000-square-foot store's opening slated for the fourth quarter of this year, Long said.

The Sherman Oaks Galleria plans a multimillion-dollar renovation that includes opening the center's southeast corner so that some stores face the street, and expanding the mall's existing five-screen Pacific Theatres movie complex to 22 screens.

The renovation plans are subject to city approval. If approved, the project could begin in fall 1996 and be completed by fall 1987, according to a mall statement.

Los Cerritos Center began a $20 million renovation in April 1994 which is expected to be completed this June, said Project Manager Skip Kuhn. The mall's owners, San Diego-based Hahn Co. and Chicago-base JMB Retail Properties Co., want to brighten the place up, replace the floor and re-landscape, among other things, said General Manager Sherri Lusk.

In addition, the Fashion Square Sherman Oaks has received city approval for a 120,000-square-foot expansion, and is seeking an additional anchor for the center, said mall Marketing Director Michele Mason. Nordstrom is one of the department stores being considered, she said.