Macy's

It's a Macy's, so you pretty much know what to expect, if you spend any time shopping at department stores. It's clean, well-kept, well-stocked, and this particular building is a good surviving example of 50s department store architecture (which I find interesting, but you may not.)

Beyond the architecture, there are three things that make this particular Macy's interesting and worth an extra star:

1. This is the only building left standing from the original mall that used to occupy this parcel -- which even had an ice skating rink! -- until the mall was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and subsequently torn down;

2. Since all those buildings were torn down, the amount of parking available is HUGE compared to the Macy's that the parking lot serves, including some completely unnecessary underground parking. Occasional events (car shows and such) are held in the parking lot because of this;

3. After a false start several years ago, it looks like this building and surrounding parking lot are going to be developed into a project called Noho West. If plans are followed as promised, the Macy's will be modified and repurposed into office space to anchor a new retail and residential space. If you want to see this blast from the past, do it now before it gets homogenized into the present day.