The Americana at Brand is a shopping behemoth. Slightly larger than The Grove, it boasts 75 stores (so far) and more than a dozen food retailers.

In short, it is land developer Rick Caruso’s Las Vegas dream plunked at the bottom of downtown Glendale. Everywhere you turn there's something to see. Look, a “vintage” clock there, a gold statue in the middle of a dancing pond, an 18-screen movie theater over there. Caruso is a genius. While the names of stores are glitzy—Tiffany, Barneys CO-OP, Stuart Weitzman—all merchandise therein is priced perfectly for the Glendale socialite (somewhere between Santee Alley and Rodeo Drive). Caruso has brought Glendale an edited version of the luxury world. A blur of patriotic music, a creamy luster to all the buildings—include condos and apartments with a concierge service—a heavy nostalgic hand (a Good Humor truck is parked in the grassy area, a vendor sells Coke in the bottle) and an attention to detail that is mind-boggling (every flower you see is real), the Americana is an overwhelming sensory-packing consumer extravaganza. And we love it. —Philip Harris