Let’s be frank: these days, malls are not necessarily where the most exciting shopping is found. So it’s unusual to get excited about one reopening. Especially Santa Monica Place, which is hard to remember ever being haute. But the relic at the south end of Third Street Promenade has been radically reimagined as a new, multi-level modchic shopping and social experience, open air and open-minded. Still a manageable size, this is still not a category-killer retail behomoth, but now provides an intriguing selection of mainstream stores and less common boutiques, as well as what may be it’s most appealing aspect, the rooftop Dining Deck  [...read more]