Broadway Plaza exists because J.C. Penney wanted a store in Walnut Creek. Local developer Graeme McDonald didn't build Penney a single building. He built a 38-store open-air shopping center around it, and it opened in 1951. Sears, Joseph Magnin, a Lucky Supermarket and a Woolworth opened alongside it. A Walnut Creek Historical Society marker recalls the stores grouped around a horseshoe-shaped parking lot and the Broadway sign.
The plaza's 75th birthday party is Saturday, October 17. The timing works because the center opened in October 1951, though accounts disagree on the exact day. Patch gives October 11, and other references list October 18.
The way the center changes has shifted too. For most of its history, Broadway Plaza grew and turned over through its biggest stores. This fall the changes are smaller. A Swiss chocolatier opened beside Macy's, an outdoor brand is moving to a different spot in the center, and a kitchenware store is coming back after four years away. The one building big enough to change the plaza's character, the former Neiman Marcus, has no permanent tenant and no announced plan.
Seventy Years of Anchors
The center's early history is a series of department-store arrivals and name changes. Each one changed what the plaza was.
- 1951: J.C. Penney anchors the original 38 stores.
- 1954: Capwell's opens.
- Mid-1970s: Bullock's moves into the former Lucky space. Sources disagree on the year. Patch says 1975, and the Department Store Museum says 1973.
- 1979: Capwell's becomes Emporium-Capwell.
- 1984: Nordstrom replaces Bullock's as an anchor.
- 1995: The Emporium-Capwell site becomes Macy's, and the former I. Magnin becomes a separate Macy's Men's store.
- March 2012: Neiman Marcus opens an 86,000-square-foot anchor store.
The biggest single change came in December 2013. That month the Walnut Creek City Council approved a four-year, $250 million renovation plan to demolish 40 stores and add up to 300,000 square feet of retail. Macerich, the plaza's owner, held the official opening of the expanded center on September 1, 2016. It described more than 50 new stores and more than double the previous shop space.
The streets and storefronts you walk today come from that rebuild. The next anchor news was a loss. Neiman Marcus closed its Broadway Plaza store permanently in January 2021, less than nine years after it opened.
This Fall's Changes Are Smaller
Here is every Broadway Plaza tenant change reported since August, with its status as of the latest report.
| Store | Where | Status in the latest report |
|---|---|---|
| Läderach | Beside Macy's, near the food court | Opened August 14, 2026, with a city ribbon cutting |
| 7th Avenue | Broadway Plaza | Reported open as of August 20, 2026 |
| The North Face | Moving from its pop-up to the former White House Black Market space | Planned for fall 2026; no date as of September 2 |
| Rowan | 146 Broadway Lane, former Aveda | Coming soon; no date as of August 28 |
| Sur La Table | 1205 Broadway Plaza, former P.F. Chang's | "Opening Late Fall"; no date as of September 28 |
| American Eagle Outfitters | Broadway Plaza | Listed as coming soon in the mall directory |
None of these is an anchor, and several are stores moving within the plaza or coming back to it.
Läderach got the most formal welcome. Mayor Kevin Wilk and city economic development staff attended its ribbon cutting on Friday, August 14, beside Macy's near the food court. The modular furniture brand 7th Avenue followed. Beyond the Creek reported it open on August 20.
The North Face is the clearest case of a store moving within the plaza. It has run a temporary pop-up at Broadway Plaza since November 2023. This fall it plans to move into the storefront White House Black Market left when that store closed in May, after more than a decade at the center. A brand that came in on a temporary basis is taking a permanent space, and no new tenant has been named for the pop-up space it will leave.
Rowan is an ear-piercing studio staffed by licensed nurses. It is preparing to open at 146 Broadway Lane, the former Aveda space. When Patch reported it on August 28, no opening date had been announced.
Sur La Table is coming back. Its earlier Broadway Plaza store was expected to close at the end of March 2022, and the company's store directory now lists a new location at 1205 Broadway Plaza. According to Beyond the Creek, the new shop sits right next door to the old one, in the space P.F. Chang's used to occupy. The Bay Area connection runs deep. The company opened its first shop in Seattle in 1972 and waited 23 years to open its second, in Berkeley in 1995. If you're waiting on it, here's what its own store page said when Patch checked on September 28:
"Opening Late Fall"
That page also showed every day's hours as closed and said no cooking classes are offered at the Walnut Creek location. That could change once the store opens, but for now the page doesn't list any classes.
American Eagle Outfitters is on the plaza's directory as "Coming Soon," with no date attached.
The Corner That Hasn't Refilled
The former Neiman Marcus building at 1000 S. Main St. sat vacant after the store closed in January 2021. Crate & Barrel moved in temporarily the following year and left in mid-2023 for a new permanent store elsewhere in the plaza. Earlier this year it looked like the building might get a long-term tenant. Restoration Hardware had applied to turn the site into a gallery store, with four connected buildings and about 30,000 square feet of retail and dining on 1.14 acres. The plan included Mediterranean architecture, a glass conservatory restaurant, fountains, fireplaces and nearly 70 new trees.
A local Walnut Creek blog reported in July that the city lists the application as withdrawn as of June 1, 2026, with no public reason given. The same report says city planning staff had called the proposed single-story height underwhelming for the plaza's busiest corner during design review. Nobody has said how much that mattered. According to that report, no replacement tenant or developer had been named and Macerich hadn't published a new proposal. The July report is the latest information available, so the corner's status could have changed since then without anyone reporting it.
This is the gap at the center of the anniversary. Over 75 years, the plaza's big turning points came from anchors like Capwell's, Bullock's, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. This year the activity is in storefronts of a few thousand square feet: a chocolatier, a piercing studio, and a kitchenware store moving in next to its old address. The one anchor-sized building has had only a temporary tenant since Neiman Marcus left in 2021.
What the Birthday Party Looks Like
The "Once Upon A Street" celebration is a royal-themed afternoon on Broadway Plaza Street from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on October 17. The plaza's listing includes:
- A Royal Parade at 12:30 p.m., open to all guests
- A princess meet-and-greet with Fantasy Forum Actors Ensemble
- A chance to meet a ballerina and take a photo with The Ballet School Performing Arts
- Performances by Beloved Little Circus
- Live music from DJ Rich Era
- Pet adoptions with Joybound People & Pets
- Flower-crown making, a 360° photo booth, face painting and balloon twisting
- A free mini tote for signing Broadway Plaza's "Royal Proclamation," while supplies last
The flower crowns and totes are both listed "while supplies last," so it helps to arrive early in the 11-to-2 window. The plaza's invitation is to celebrate the center's history and "look ahead to the next chapter of Broadway Plaza." No announcement about the former Neiman Marcus site is listed as part of the day.
The Rest of the Season Downtown
The anniversary is the first of several downtown dates this fall:
- October 24, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Makers Market outdoors at Broadway Plaza
- November 20, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Civic Park Holiday Tree Lighting, listed at 1375 Civic Drive
- November 20 through January 18, 2027: Walnut Creek on Ice returns to Civic Park, listed at 1365 Civic Drive
- November 28, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.: A second Makers Market at Broadway Plaza
The city's tree-lighting page and the rink's page give different Civic Drive addresses for the same park, so check before you set your map pin. If Sur La Table opens in the late fall as announced and The North Face finishes its fall move, the November 28 Makers Market could be the first time all of this fall's new storefronts are open on the same day. As of the latest reports, neither store has set a date.
If you live near the plaza and want to know what your home is worth as downtown keeps changing, Jake Kemper and the Lupe Kemper Team can take a local, construction-informed look at it with you. Request a Free Home Valuation.
