Faced with a change in consumer shopping patterns, the consolidation of the department store industry, the existence of too many malls fragmenting the greater Los Angeles retail marketplace, lack of highway access and competition from the neighboring Nordstrom-anchored South Bay Galleria that opened in 1985, Del Amo began to suffer. In 2000, the Mann theater closed in accordance with the chain's folding and became LA Fitness. The same year, a Barnes & Noble store was constructed in the mall's northwest parking lot. Montgomery Ward dealt another blow when it closed following the chain's bankruptcy in June 2001 and failed to become Target. This resulted in the closure of an entire wing of the mall, including Venator.