Buffums

Buffums, originally written as Buffums' with an apostrophe, was a chain of upscale department stores, headquartered in Long Beach, California. The Buffums chain began in 1904, when two brothers from Illinois, Charles A. and Edwin E. Buffum, bought the Schilling Bros. Mercantile Store in Long Beach. The chain started as an old-fashioned general store and it grew slowly over the years to a total of 16 stores in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties at the time of its closure in 1990.[1][2][3]

Buffums newly expanded store, 1924

Over the years, the stores gained a reputation as the “Grand Dame” of department stores in the area. The stores’ interiors were known for large chandeliers and other upscale touches. The chain marketed itself as “Buffums Specialty Store,” in an attempt to differentiate itself from other local chains, including The Broadway and Bullock's, and the national stores such as May Co. and Robinson’s. Its most famous advertising line, “I’ve been to Buffums,” was used in newspaper and television advertisements during the 1970s and '80s. It was also known for its “Bag-A-Bargain” promotion that placed actual shopping bags (printed with a discount offer) in local newspapers.

Like other local department stores of the era, Buffums was challenged by old-fashioned business models, changing consumer tastes, and the arrival of Seattle-based retailer Nordstrom. The chain was bought in the 1970s by the Australian-based David Jones Ltd, which looked to sell the struggling chain in the 1980s. By the time of the sale it had become part of Adelaide Steamship, an Australian conglomerate, who never found a buyer. In a last-ditch effort to modernize, Buffums installed new point-of-sale registers in all stores in 1990, only to enter liquidation following the 1990 Christmas shopping season.

Stores
Buffums’ logo and sketch of newly expanded store, 1924

Flagship

In 1912, the Mercantile Company became Buffums' and left its quarters at 100 W. Broadway. Buffums' Downtown flagship grew as follows:[4]

  • 1912: the first building, a new 3-story store on Pine at Broadway, opened
  • 1924: added a new six-story building; the “New Buffums’” opened in stages in early May, 1924[5]
  • 1941: built the "Autoport" parking garage (extant)
  • 1960: added a Varsity Shop, Red Cross Shoe Store, and four-story parking garage
  • 1964: added 14,000 sq. ft., expanded to occupy the full block of Broadway between Pine and Pacific, for a total of 180,000 sq. ft. of floor space in the Downtown flagship complex. The new space housed a full Interior Design and Home Furnishings area as a "Sportsman's Shop".[6]

The store competed downtown with smaller, local Long Beach department stores like Marti and Wise Cos. as well as Sears and Ward's, all of which opened large new stores downtown in 1928-9.[7] In the early 1950s Lakewood Center would provide competition with May Company California and Los Altos Center, with The Broadway for the suburban shopper.

The complex was sold in 1981 and was demolished in 1985[8] to create office space (as of 2020 a WeWork,[9] and Buffums moved its Long Beach store operation and headquarters to the nearby Long Beach Plaza mall when it opened in 1982.[10]

Branches

When Buffums was liquidated it had 16 locations:[11][12]

Community Location Square footage Notes
Arcadia Santa Anita Fashion Park demolished and replaced by Nordstrom in 1994
La Cañada Flintridge Plaza de la Cañada former Iver's that Buffums bought; rebranded on October 1, 1986. now TJ Maxx
La Mesa Grossmont Center became an Oshman's then a Restoration Hardware Outlet
Laguna Hills Laguna Hills Mall 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) Opened September 5, 1973, two levels
Lakewood Lakewood Center
Downtown Long Beach Long Beach Plaza opened 1982, replaced flagship store, which closed
Marina Pacifica, Long Beach Marina Pacifica Mall[13] 39,000 square feet (3,600 m2)[14] Two stories, opened 1976. Closed 1991. Moved its Marina branch to Marina Pacific from a smaller adjacent 17,000-square-foot (1,600 m2) location. At the time, the new Buffum's formed part of a 108-store, six-restaurant center.[14][15]
Manhattan Beach Manhattan Village
Newport Beach Fashion Island space was subdivided
Palm Springs Palm Springs Mall, now occupied by College of the Desert opened October 18, 1989, in the former Walker Scott space,[16] later Harris in 1990 and Harris-Gottschalks in 1999.
Palos Verdes Peninsula Peninsula Center
Pomona Pomona Mall East, former pedestrian mall in Downtown Pomona opened 1961. There were murals by Millard Sheets in the Palomare Room, one 24 ft., one 36 ft. Sheets was a native of Pomona. The murals portrayed early Spanish settlement of the Pomona Valley. Sheets also designed the pedestrian mall itself.[17][18]
San Diego Fashion Valley Mall later occupied for about a year by I. Magnin, then Saks Fifth Avenue and now Forever 21[19]
Solana Beach Lomas Santa Fe Plaza originally a Walker Scott, later a Ross Dress for Less and now a HomeGoods
Westminster Westminster Mall first became Robinsons-May Home Store, later Macy's, now Target
Stores that had closed before Buffums' liquidation
Downtown Long Beach 4th at Pine 180,000 square feet (17,000 m2) Flagship store opened in 1912 and expanded over the decades. Closed in 1982, replaced by Long Beach Plaza store. Demolished 1985.
Glendale Glendale Galleria demolished and replaced by Robinsons-May in 1993 and Target in 2007
La Habra La Habra Fashion Square
Santa Ana Downtown at Main and 10th Freestanding store

Relaunch

A California investor group filed Buffums' Stores, LLC. with the California Secretary of State in January 2015.[20] According to the buffumstores Facebook site, they intend to re-launch in a small specialty format in October 2015, located in the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach, CA.[21]

See also

References
  1. Silverstein, Stuart (March 14, 1991). "Buffums to Close in May, Ending 87-Year History : Retail: The department store chain lost $4.2 million its last fiscal year. The jobs of 1,400 employees will be eliminated". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  2. Silverstein, Stuart (March 15, 1991). "Buffums' Closings 'Like Losing an Old Friend'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  3. "Long Beach Lost: The Buffums' department store in Downtown • Long Beach Post". Long Beach Post. 2018-11-10. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  4. "New Buffums' Store Opens; 5th Under Way". Long Beach Independent. October 2, 1969. p. 9.
  5. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56039009/buffums-new-5th-floor-lounge-and-beauty/
  6. Chilcote, Ken (January 26, 1964). "Buffum's will expand store to Pacific Ave". Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram.
  7. "Long Beach Marks Record-Breaking Era in Construction". Los Angeles Times. July 7, 1929.
  8. https://signaltribunenewspaper.com/2197/reminiscing/reminiscing-revealed-6/
  9. https://lbpost.com/hi-lo/addison-long-beach-lost-buffums
  10. Gore, Robert (October 16, 1981). "Buffums building in LB is sold". Los Angeles Times.
  11. "Long Beach Lost: The Buffums' department store in Downtown • Long Beach Post". Long Beach Post. 2018-11-10. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
  12. "Buffums to shut all 16 department stores". UPI.
  13. "Some Gain Seen From the Loss of Buffums". Los Angeles Times. March 17, 1991.
  14. "Waterfront shopping". Independent Press-Telegram. 31 January 1976.
  15. "Harbor Bank given Marina branch OK". Independent Press-Telegram. 10 July 1976. p. B-9. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  16. Hussar, John (18 October 1989). "Buffums opens doors". The Desert Sun. p. 29. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
  17. https://www.dailybulletin.com/2018/12/06/buffums-murals-by-millard-sheets-return-to-pomona/
  18. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/55967734/millard-sheets-murals-commissioned-for/
  19. "I. Magnin San Diego (Fashion Valley) Grand Opening". September 26, 1992 – via Internet Archive.
  20. California Secretary of State Website
  21. "Buffums Belmont Shore". www.facebook.com.
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