Amanda Rastegar opened Loomey's Toys on Via de la Paz in 2022. After the fire destroyed that store, she opened in Laguna Beach in April 2025, and this summer she signed a lease at Palisades Village. Loomey's set its Palisades reopening for November 14, with a 10:30 a.m. ribbon cutting and the doors opening at 11 a.m.
The new shop is a 386-square-foot space at 15275 West Sunset Boulevard. It sits next to Buck Mason Women and City National Bank and two doors from Erewhon, which the Palisadian-Post reports is expected back in January. The toy store your children knew is back in town, but it is on Sunset now. That has been the pattern all year.
Where Everyone Went
When a Palisades business comes back, it usually doesn't go to its old street. The original buildings on Via de la Paz, Antioch, Marquez and the Business Block are mostly still gone. So owners have taken space wherever it already exists, which in practice means Palisades Village, Highlands Plaza on Palisades Drive, and a few vacancies along Sunset.
| Business | Before the fire | New location |
|---|---|---|
| Loomey's Toys | Via de la Paz | 15275 W. Sunset Blvd., Palisades Village |
| Café Vida | Business Block | 548 Palisades Drive, Highlands Plaza |
| K Bakery | Highlands Plaza | Former Jemma Pizzeria space, Palisades Village |
| Gerry Blanck's Martial Arts Center | Marquez Avenue | 542 Palisades Drive, Highlands Plaza |
| Ludus | Marquez | Former Pearl Dragon space, Sunset Blvd. |
| Flour Pizzeria | Via de la Paz | Lease signed at 15270 Antioch St., former Noah's Bagels space |
Café Vida's new space is the one K Bakery left when it moved to the Village. When a storefront opens up, another Palisades business takes it, so the mix of businesses has barely changed.
Highlands Plaza Became a Second Main Street
Before the fire, Highlands Plaza mostly served the people who lived around it. Now it is one of the places where the old Village businesses have regrouped. A September corridor report in the Palisadian-Post listed Starbucks, Moku Sushi, Spruzzo and Gerry Blanck's Martial Arts Center among the businesses operating at the Palisades Drive center.
Gerry Blanck's lost its Marquez Avenue studio and taught out of a Santa Monica studio for a while. It held a grand opening at 542 Palisades Drive on June 1. Next door at 542½, Palisades General Store soft-opened in mid-August and held its grand opening on September 19. Its owner, Amy Russo, used to co-own the Palisades boutique Obsessed. Before opening, she told the Palisadian-Post, "There's nowhere else I'd want to have a store, so I am hopeful and positive about people coming in."
Café Vida opened in 2002 and was in the Business Block until the fire. It is moving to 548 Palisades Drive, at the north end of the plaza. Co-owner Luis Castaneda told the Palisadian-Post that the new space has more seating than the old one, and that most of it is on a year-round patio with a pergola and heaters. Only a few tables fit inside. The plan is breakfast and lunch at first, then dinner and a beer and wine list once the restaurant settles in.
The plaza already has a martial arts studio, a general store, a sushi counter and a coffee bar, and it is adding a café that started in the Business Block. People who live up Palisades Drive can now run a morning's errands without driving down the hill.
The Village Took In Most of the Rest
Palisades Village reopened on August 15. At the time, Caruso said the complex was 99% leased, and the Los Angeles Times counted about 70% of shops and restaurants open that day. The Village kept its own tenants. Alfred, Angelini Ristorante & Bar and McConnell's Fine Ice Creams reopened in their old spaces. Blue Ribbon Sushi also returned and added Ueki, a separate 10-seat omakase counter. Porta Via is back at 1063 N. Swarthmore Ave. and serves daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Alphabet Bar & Grill, from chef Timothy Hollingsworth and the h.wood Group, took the former Hank's space at 1033 N. Swarthmore.
The Village has also become home for businesses whose own buildings didn't survive. K Bakery came over from Highlands Plaza. Loomey's came from Via de la Paz. The Los Angeles Times reported that Elyse Walker, whose Antioch flagship was destroyed, plans to return there too. Kim Kedeshian of K Bakery told the Palisadian-Post that moving into the Village took a leap of faith. "I'm not a huge corporation, so I'm rolling the dice," she said.
The farmers market is back too. It returned to Swarthmore Avenue on August 19 and now runs every Wednesday afternoon from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. At the reopening, Councilwoman Traci Park told the Palisadian-Post the market had been "an institution in this community" for 25 years.
Along Sunset, the gaps between the two centers are starting to fill. Ludus, a martial arts gym, ran a temporary space in Venice and then opened on August 15 in the former Pearl Dragon space. Pali Trading Post, a new general store and gift shop, opened July 1 at 15248 W. Sunset Blvd.
Still Operating From Somewhere Else
Some businesses haven't found a Palisades space yet, so their regular customers are still driving to Brentwood or Santa Monica:
- Paliskates, formerly at 1021 Swarthmore, is operating at 212 26th Street in Brentwood. Its owner is aiming to return in January 2027 and is still looking at Palisades locations.
- Mila Skin Care, formerly at 831 Via de la Paz, is at 11633 San Vicente Boulevard in Brentwood. Its owners have said they intend to come back, ideally to Via de la Paz.
- Fancy Feet Dance Studio, formerly at 881 Alma Real, is at 924 Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica. Its owner calls that location temporary and has set a personal goal of returning in January 2029.
- Bruce Lurie Gallery, formerly on Via de la Paz, reopened in Santa Monica. Lurie told the Palisadian-Post he would move back "as soon as there is a space available that would be the right fit."
Three of these four were on Via de la Paz or close to it. Two have target dates, Paliskates for January 2027 and Fancy Feet for January 2029. The other two plan to return once a suitable space opens up.
The Old Blocks Are Moving Slowest
The September corridor report found no announced rebuild plans or construction at the Business Block or the former Chase Bank site. It also found no construction activity on Sunset south of Monument or at the former Gelson's site.
The Palisadian-Post reports that the Business Block was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1984, so any decision about the site falls under local, state and federal rules. In late September, Councilwoman Park's office proposed helping the owners get permits to demolish about half of the standing walls and keep the rest for the eventual redevelopment. The owners had not yet given a decision.
On Antioch, the parcels that used to hold Elyse Walker, Jamie Geller, Lemon Nails and Juice Crafters have sold. A larger retail-and-apartment project has been discussed for one of them. Caruso has bought the building at 1011–1017 Swarthmore that housed the Agency Real Estate office, a children's clothing store and a dry cleaner.
Via de la Paz has the most visible progress. Rebuilding at 843 is close to finished, and owner Christopher Sliney is leasing retail and office space there. He described the dilemma in the Palisadian-Post: "do you wait for them to come until you build it?" A few doors away, Palisades Towne Hall has set up at 861 Via de la Paz. It is an open-air community center and beer garden with green shipping containers, a stage and a lawn for cornhole. It held a launch party on September 25, with Pali Wine Company and Flour Pizzeria pouring and serving. According to the Palisadian-Post, the site was licensed only for private parties and events as of early November. Founder Brian Garrett was set to request a one-year temporary conditional use permit at a City Planning Commission hearing on November 10, which would allow Towne Hall to open to the public.
The Winter Calendar
These dates are mostly about the Village and Sunset:
- November 14: Loomey's Toys reopens at 15275 W. Sunset Blvd.
- Before year-end: Caruso and Paramount are targeting a reopening of the Bay Theater in Palisades Village.
- December 15: Equinox reopens at 17383 Sunset Blvd.
- January 2027: Erewhon is expected back in the Village, and Staud is planning its return the same month.
- February 2027: Mother plans to reopen in the Village.
- April 2027: Carla Cafe plans a walk-up window next to Alfred.
For now, a Palisades errand loop runs from Highlands Plaza down Sunset to the Village and stops at the Business Block, which remains unbuilt.
At Getzels Group, we follow which Palisades storefronts are filling, which blocks are waiting, and what that means for the streets around them. If you're thinking about your own place in the rebuilding Palisades, we're glad to talk it through privately. Work With Us.