Long Beach, News

The peak of the Pike

Long Beach celebrated the official grand reopening of the Pike Outlets over the weekend, offering sales, entertainment and guest appearances to all who came.

The downtown shopping center, which first opened in 2003 along Shoreline Drive and spans the blocks leading down to the water, initially fell short in the face of expectations.

“Fifteen years ago, Long Beach was the city that never felt good about itself,” Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal said leading up to the reopening. “When I first saw the Pike [I thought]… we missed an opportunity. But things changed.”

The once quiet plaza is seeing a revival of interest through a new rebranding process in the making for the last two years.

Lowenthal, who served as a guest speaker at the festivities over the weekend, explained to Long Beach residents why the promotion of the Pike Outlets as a cornerstone of downtown culture was so important.

Over the course of the last year, Nike, Gap, Converse, Forever 21, Restoration Hardware and H&M have all either constructed a new space or updated an existing space at the Pike Outlets, tapping into an overall desire for the shopping center to exude a trendier vibe.

“There’s a desire from national brands for high-end, modern design. The Pike was dated architecture,” said Branko Prebanda from P+R Architects, who oversaw the physical renovation.

One of the main focuses of the center’s remodeling was making the space more pedestrian friendly to keep shoppers comfortable and willing to experience both branches of the Pike, not just the Harbor or the Shoreline outlets.

According to developers, the expansion is worth over $65 million, but the new retail vendors and increased attention to aesthetic detail will hopefully draw in larger crowds, more money, and solidify the Pike Outlets as the go-to shopping spot for Long Beach residents, Pike Outlets General Property Manager Rose Barrantes said.

Barrantes said that she has been waiting for the formal reopening since 2013, when she first began work on the renovation process.

“We hope the opening of The Pike Outlets will serve as a catalyst for other development in the area,” Barrantes said in a press release about this weekend’s celebrations.

With both Los Cerritos and Westminster offering full-scale, indoor malls just a quick drive away from Long Beach, having the same experience available within city limits is something driving residents to relocate their time and revenue back home.

“I would only go down [to the Pike] for very, very specific things because the parking was so dramatic for the few things they had to offer,” said Long Beach resident Sabela Burleson, who has lived minutes from the Pike Outlets for over a year. “But now that there are more stores and it looks nicer, there is a bigger appeal and reason to go.”

Even more shops are slated to open in the coming months, with Cotton On and Columbia Sportswear moving in and opening their doors by the start of the new year.

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