Fifth Street Store

The Fifth Street Store was a major department store in Los Angeles opened in 1905.

Illustration from 1905 article in the Los Angeles Herald announcing the opening of the "Fifth Street Store"


Name

The official name of the company and store changed many times:

  • 1905–1909: Steele, Faris, & Walker Co. - the official company name and name under which the store was promoted.
  • 1909–1925: Muse, Faris, Walker Co. / The Fifth Street Store: the former being the official company name but it promoted itself simply as the "Fifth Street Store", with the official name in smaller text.[1][2]
  • 1926–1946: Walker's: In 1925, the company name changed to Walkers, Inc and from mid-1926 the store started advertising as Walker's, Broadway at 5th.[3]
  • 1946–1953 Milliron's, after C. J. Milliron, the president and controlling stockholder at that time. Milliron joined the stores as an attorney in 1917, and became president in September 1943. He purchased the store from William A. Faris.[3] Continued as Milliron's even after purchased by The Broadway in 1950.
  • 1953–1959: the store was a branch of Ohrbach's, opened November 30, 1953,[4] promoted as Ohrbach's-Downtown

Broadway, Los Angeles store

It was located at the southwest corner of Fifth and Broadway.

The company replaced the building with a new eight-story store completed in 1924. From 1925 the store began to advertise as Walkers — co-founder Ralf (R. M.) Walker would later found what would be San Diego's largest department store chain, Walker Scott. In 1946 it changed its name to Milliron's. The Broadway Department Store purchased the store in 1950 and closed it in 1956, when Ohrbach's bought it in August 1953. The store underwent a $1,000,000 remodel by Welton Becket, architect, and reopened on November 1953 as Ohrbach's-Downtown.[4] Ohrbach's closed its branch and sold the building in 1959.[5]The building still exists and consists of loft condominium (Shybary Grand Lofts, 312 W. Fifth St.) with retail on the ground floor.[6]

Westchester store
Main article: Milliron's Westchester

Milliron's Westchester opened on March 17, 1949,[7] designed by prominent retail architect Victor Gruen and cost $3,000,000 to build.[7] The grand opening was a large event and the architecture - with its straight lines combined with large curves at the angles; its triangular window displays jutting out from the store; and the deck to its rooftop parking deck – was considered a landmark in retail architecture.[8][9][10] The store was sold shortly afterwards, in June 1950, to The Broadway.[11]

Walker's Long Beach
Former Walker's Downtown Long Beach store

Walkers/Walker's opened their first branch store in Downtown Long Beach at 4th and Pine - Pine being the main shopping artery - in 1933. Meyer and Holler designed the 1928 art deco building.[12] In 1952, they spent $300,000 to expand to 132,000 sq ft (12,300 m2), adding 5 escalators, more than the total number of escalators in Long Beach at the time. Walker's Long Beach opened a second Long Beach store at Los Altos Center in 1954 which it sold to The Broadway shortly thereafter in 1956.[13][14] Walker's sold its Downtown Long Beach store in 1960, but it continued to operate as Walker's until 1978.

Walker-Scott San Diego

Walker's opened a branch store in Downtown San Diego in 1935, which separated in the early 1950s and became Walker Scott.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

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References
  1. "Muse President Fifth Street Store", Los Angeles 'Herald', 1909-02-07
  2. "Big Department Store To Open", Los Angeles 'Herald', 1905-09-17
  3. "Store's Name Now Milliron's". Los Angeles Time. May 2, 1946.
  4. "Thousands at opening of new Ohrbach store". Los Angeles Times. December 1, 1953. p. 18.
  5. "Ohrbach's Downtown Store Building Sold", The Los Angeles 'Times', 29 Apr 1959, Page 28
  6. [books.google.com/books?id=4q6fBQAAQBAJDaniel Niemeyer, 1950's American Style: A Reference Guide, p.38]
  7. "Milliron's New Store Will Open Tomorrow". Los Angeles Times. March 16, 1949.
  8. Herman, Daniel. "Victor Gruen Today". The Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  9. "South Bay History: Innovative design put Milliron's department store on the map in Westchester". Daily Breeze. April 19, 2020.
  10. "Victor Gruen Associates". Los Angeles Conservancy.
  11. "Broadway Store Buy's Milliron's in Westchester". Los Angeles Times. June 30, 1950.
  12. "Walker's Long Beach", Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD)
  13. "Walker's Celebrates 19 Years of Progress". Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram. October 5, 1952. p. 9. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  14. "Broadway-Walker-Whaley Deal Takes Effect Monday". Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach, California). 30 Sep 1956. p. 65.
  15. "Walker's Store To Slice Cake Today". Los Angeles Times. October 7, 1926. p. A10. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  16. "Silver Jubilee On At Walker's: Fifth-Street Store Observes Twenty-Fifth Anniversary". Los Angeles Times. October 5, 1930. p. A3. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  17. "R. M. Walker Funeral Set: Company's Stores To Close Tuesday When Rites Will Be Conducted". Los Angeles Times. August 30, 1935. p. 12. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  18. "Walker's Store Sold: Owners of Building Pay $1,400,000 for Mercantile House". Los Angeles Times. September 1, 1937. p. A1. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  19. "Fifth St. Store Shares Offered". Los Angeles Times. October 18, 1944. p. 10. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  20. "Walker's Start Building East Long Beach Store". Los Angeles Times. July 25, 1954. p. A6. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  21. "$4,000,000 Store Opens, In Long Beach Center". Los Angeles Times. October 23, 1955. p. E26. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  22. "H. F. Conrad Buys Long Beach Store". Los Angeles Times. June 2, 1953. p. 28. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  23. "Succumbs: R. M. Walker Dies In East; Merchant Identified With Growth of Los Angeles for Thirty-five Years; R. M. Walker Dies In East; Store Owner, Clubman and Philanthropist Stricken on Buying Trip". Los Angeles Times. August 29, 1935. p. 1. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  24. "Handsome Department Store.: New Steele-Faris-Walker Emporium Of Dry Goods Opened--Inspected by a Large Crowd". Los Angeles Times. October 3, 1905. p. II6. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  25. "New Head And Expansion.: Former Chicago Business Man Becomes President Of Fifth-Street Store". Los Angeles Times. February 7, 1909. p. II8. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  26. "Fifth Street Store To Start Building.: Big Broadway Project Will Represent Investment of Over Million and a Half Dollars. Fine Structure to Rise at Fifth and Broadway". Los Angeles Times. August 14, 1921. p. V1. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  27. "Walker's Store in Change of Management". Los Angeles Times. April 13, 1957. p. 13. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  28. "Butler Bros. Unit Acquires L.B. Store". Los Angeles Times. May 8, 1960. p. G6. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  29. "City Products Buys Big Store In California". Chicago Daily Tribune. May 7, 1960. p. A5. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
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