Contrary to some frivolous posting on social media, both the eagerly-awaited Din Tai Fung restaurant and the Barnes & Noble bookstore are still on course to open outlets in Downtown Santa Monica.
Julia Ladd, Vice President Property Management, Macerich confirmed to the Daily Press that Din Tai Fung received their building permit mid April and pre-construction work is underway. Sadly, though, the current forecast for an opening date is "by January 2025" according to a representative.
Signage at the site says "Opening 2024," so one can only surmise it’s going to be some point in-between.
In March of last year, the Daily Press reported that the celebrated restaurant chain Din Tai Fung had announced it was set to open a whopping 10,615 square foot, indoor/outdoor location with ocean views on the third level food court of Santa Monica Place shopping mall.
Din Tai Fung is a Chinese restaurant specializing in Xiao Long Bao, or soup dumplings. The chain currently has one outlet in Las Vegas, five in Washington state and seven dotted around Southern California, plus another 160 or so locations in 12 other countries worldwide. With a menu that now includes steamed buns, house-made noodles and vegan dishes, the brand has won many awards and accolades.
Credit: Scott Snowden
A spokesperson for Macerich confirmed that the Arte Museum was still planning a "50,000 square foot immersive, digital art destination," despite being first announced in January 2023, but no details were available of when that might arrive. However, it seems highly unlikely to be this year.
In addition, the long-awaited Barnes & Noble is also still on track to open in 2024, hopefully by the end of June or the beginning of July, according to Janine Flanigan, Sr. Director Store Planning and Design, Barnes & Noble, Inc.
The opening was confirmed in July of last year following rumors, cryptic window signs and social media posts. Barnes & Noble previously occupied the large space on the northeast corner of the Promenade bordering Wilshire. The two story location served locals and visitors alike for 22 years before closing in January of 2018. The space at 1318 Third Street has been largely vacant since and it was formerly the site of Athleta women’s sportswear store.
When asked why the opening of the new store was taking so long, Flanigan would only say, "We are still in the permitting process." However, she did clarify that reports of problems with the supply of building materials were incorrect and there had never been an issue. "We’ve been fine on our building supplies. There’s, you know, an HVAC issue here or there, but no, we haven’t had any issues with [this] building."
With the closure last year of Hi De Ho Comics on Lincoln Blvd, Downtown Santa Monica has sadly found itself in a literary vacuum for some time. Flanigan also notes that in the last 10 or 15 years, they’ve noticed the "downtrending of books."
Credit: Courtesy image
Consequently, the book behemoth started adding items like DVDs and Blu-Rays and even vinyl to its shelves. Needless to say, this has proved extremely popular as consumers have begun to realize the value of owning actual physical media of their favorite movies and not being utterly at the mercy of streaming networks.
"I don’t know if it was self-inflicted … but in the last five years with James Daunt’s leadership after Elliott Advisors took over, it really has been spectacular. And just a fantastic change for what we were seeing the prior 10 years," she said.
In June 2019, Barnes & Noble was acquired by UK-based Elliott Advisors that also owns the British bookstore chain Waterstones.
"We’re looking at the summer, so right now we’re scheduled to open probably at the end of June," Flanigan says.
While not as big as the Barnes & Noble store at The Grove, there are plans to hold book signings and other special events, but ones that are more suitable to the slightly smaller store footprint.
