There was a multistory Tower Records in the Galleria for a few years, but they closed all their stores (WAAAAHHH!!) last year. I haven't been back to LA for a while and haven't asked anyone what's become of the mall in the past few months.

Even at its height, the Galleria was full of chain stores. Only difference is the stores themselves were a little funkier and more individualistic than what you'll find in chains today. One of the malls I used to go to was the Encino Town and Country, more of a shopping courtyard than a mall, but it was filled with  unique shops, not a lot of chains. But every time I went there, it seemed people concentrated mostly on the movie theater and The Nutty Choclatier (entertainment and candy, I can't wait to hear the comments). T&C was remodeled a few years later with large stores like Strouds (linens) and Super Crown (Crown Books' attempt to fight off the new, super-sized Bookstar), and then it seemed to pull in bigger crowds. Disappointing, because they closed the smaller places, which were really kind of neat. (Although in defense of all the people who went to The Nutty Choclatier, that was a great chocolate shop.)

All the sense memories are coming back (the bus stop on Ventura Blvd, Licorice Pizza [an excellent record shop, not a pizzeria], Heaven, with its logo with two retro-'50s faces...). I remember faithfully saving my allowance every month so I could go to LP and buy a record or a bunch of singles.