Four big Southland shopping centers get even bigger; Del Amo still remains county's largest retail center.

While Del Amo Fashion Center again reigned supreme as the largest shopping center in Los Angeles County, four centers on this week's List underwent major expansions and substantially increased their square footages recently. These malls were the Media City Center in Burbank, the Southbay Pavilion at Carson, the Westside Pavilion and the Plaza at Puente Hills.

The Media City Center in Burbank completed its Phase 2 in September, adding a 240,000-square-foot Bullock's store, a 45,000-square-foot Sport Chalet and 20,000 more square feet of specialty outlets. With a total addition of more than 300,000 square feet, the Media City Center moved up from the No. 22 spot on the 1992 List to the No. 10 spot on this week's List.

The new Bullock's outlet has drawn customers to the mall, which "has had incredible sales this holiday season," said Ernie Fellenbaum, director of marketing for the mall.

The Carson Mall underwent a $15 million facelift and name change last fall that included an addition to accommodate a 207,000-square-foot Ikea outlet and room for three more mid-sized tenants.

Downtown Los Angeles-based Carter Hawley Hale Stores Inc. closed its 149,500-square-foot Broadway outlet there in 1991, and Sweden-based Ikea spent $15 million to add 57,000-square-feet to the space, opening an outlet there in November.

The mall's owners, an investor group called Carson Mall Partners, also added three pads of space on the periphery of the mall, where parking spaces used to be. Negotiations are under way to secure a Red Lobster restaurant for one 23,000-square-foot space, said Mark McGaughey, one of the mall's owners. The Red Lobster chain is owned by Orlando, Fla.-based General Mills Restaurants.

No deals have yet been negotiated for the other two pads, one of which is designed for another restaurant and the other for a freestanding retailer, McGaughey said.

Including the Ikea expansion and the new exterior pads, a total of 80,000 square feet was added to the mall and the center moved up from the No. 18 spot on the 1992 List to the No. 14 spot on this week's List.

The owners also renovated the mall's interior, adding a full-fledged food court, lofty skylights and a children's carousel.

To enhance the mall's new image, the owners changed its name from Carson Mall to Southbay Pavilion at Carson.

The Westside Pavilion wasn't on the 1992 List but is ranked as No. 22 on this year's list, due to a 100,000 square foot expansion that opened in October 1991 but wasn't reported in time for the 1992 survey.

The open-aired expansion includes mostly upscale specialty shops such as Limited Express, Brentano's and an Il Fornaio, as well as a Boogie's Diner. About 1,000 parking spaces were also added to ease the mall's crowded parking situation.

Sales in the mall's newer section are "checkered," because "some stores haven't hit their stride yet," said mall manager Ken Raffensberger.

The Plaza at Puente Hills, ranked No. 23 on the 1992 list, climbed to No. 21 due to a 45,000 square foot expansion. Mall spokesmen were not available to comment on the expansion's details.