Shopping Centers

There will be no wrecking ball - much less dynamite - as the Golden Key Hotel checks out of Glendale to make way for a new Nordstrom department store at the Americana at Brand shopping center. Workers started cautiously taking apart the three-story, 55-room hotel on Colorado Street on Thursday, said Paul Kurzawa, chief operating officer of mall owner Caruso Affiliated. Workers are using an excavator and hand tools on the hotel; a vacant brick building next door will be dismantled entirely by hand.

A mug shot of a wide-eyed man with a full-grown beard flashed on the evening news. The television reporter said he had been stabbed to death in Placentia. Rebecca McGillivray said she knew the image was her father, but it was not the man she remembered. Instead, she provided a description of a different man than the one on the broadcast. Her father, James Patrick McGillivray, 53, was the first homeless man to be murdered in a string of stabbings that began Dec. 20 in northern Orange County.

Location: 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, at the intersection of Avenue of the Stars and Santa Monica Boulevard. From the 405 Freeway, take the Santa Monica Boulevard exit and go east. Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; noon to 7 p.m. Sun. Known for: The AMC/Imax Century City 15 Movie Theater is a big draw for anyone who wants to see the latest action flick or sci-fi film in 3-D Imax. Located next to the theater is the mall's impressive dining area and food court in a modern, somewhat stark gray-and-white motif.

Going to the Westside Pavilion mall is a Friday afternoon ritual for Jenny Ouchi and her 8-year-old son, Will. But shopping isn't usually on the agenda. Ouchi drops Will off at Music Stars & Masters on the second floor, where he takes private piano lessons. During the half-hour session, Ouchi, 38, runs errands in the Los Angeles shopping center, such as getting her nails done or mailing a letter at the in-mall post office. "It's definitely a timesaver," said Ouchi, a part-time pediatrician who lives on the Westside.

Mace Siegel, a prominent owner of thoroughbred racehorses who was considered a godfather of Southern California horse racing for his role as an advocate for the sport, has died. He was 86. Siegel, who was also a leading developer of regional shopping centers, died Wednesday at his Beverly Hills home of complications related to old age, said his daughter, Samantha. "Mace was a pillar in our industry," George Haines, president of Santa Anita Park said in a statement. "His compassion for the horses, horseman and fans was second to none.

As retailers head into the all-important holiday season, they have reason to be optimistic: Months of solid sales are widely expected to carry through to the end of the year, when shoppers are most likely to open their wallets. Positive holiday performance could have a far-reaching effect. With consumer spending accounting for about 70% of the nation's economic activity, robust sales could breathe life into what has been a sluggish year so far for the broader economy. Many industry analysts are predicting a good — but not great — holiday season.

Some years ago, I attended the funeral of a friend's mother at a Los Angeles cemetery so singular that it once was the target of a famous literary satire. Since the family was indifferent to religion, they availed themselves of the facility's nondenominational chapel, where a vague sort of nondenominational service was conducted by a nondenominational clergyman provided by the cemetery. All I recall from his homily that day is that he repeatedly referred to God as "the developer of the universe.

Gap Inc. is bringing Athleta, its fledgling women's fitness apparel chain, to Southern California. The San Francisco apparel giant, which struggled with weak first-quarter sales at its Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy brands, said it will open two Athleta stores in the Southland this fall, at the Grove shopping center in L.A.'s Fairfax district and at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. Two New York stores are slated to open in the summer. Athleta, acquired by Gap for $150 million in 2008, sells yoga clothing, running gear, swimwear, shoes and other fitness merchandise.

Alexander Haagen, a major Southern California shopping center developer who, as president of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission in the late 1980s, clashed with Los Angeles Raiders owner Al Davis over proposed stadium seating renovations before Davis announced plans to move the pro football team to suburban Irwindale, has died. He was 91. A longtime resident of Palos Verdes Estates, Haagen died of age-related causes April 26 at an assisted-living center in Beverly Hills, said his son Alexander Haagen III. Haagen began his real estate career in Los Angeles in the late 1940s with his wife, Charlotte, and founded Alexander Haagen Properties in 1963.

Developer Rick Caruso has wooed Nordstrom away from the rival Glendale Galleria and will bring the department store to his Americana at Brand shopping center in fall 2013. To accomplish the move, Caruso is buying Nordstrom's building from the Seattle retailer. Although most of the Galleria is owned by General Growth Properties, it's common for major department stores to own their own real estate within a mall. Caruso wouldn't say how much he is paying for the Nordstrom building, located in a wing across Central Avenue from the original mall.