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

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. *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. *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. Continued as Milliron's even after purchased by

The Broadway The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1896 by English-born Arthur Letts Sr., and named after what was once the city's main shopping street, the Broadway became a dominant reta ...

in 1950. *1953–1959: the store was a branch of

Ohrbach's Ohrbach's was a moderate-priced department store with a merchandising focus primarily on clothing and accessories. From its modest start in 1923 until the chain's demise in 1987, Ohrbach's expanded dramatically after World War II, and opened numer ...

, opened November 30, 1953, promoted as Ohrbach's-Downtown

Broadway, Los Angeles store

It was located at the southwest corner of Fifth and

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. 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 Walker Scott, also Walker-Scott or Walker's, was a chain of department stores in San Diego and surrounding area from 1935 to 1986 and had eight branches at the time of its closure. It was founded by Ralf Marc (or R.M.) Walker and George A. 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

bought it in August 1953. The store underwent a $1,000,000 remodel by

Welton Becket Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969) was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California. Biography Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washingt ...

, architect, and reopened in November 1953 as Ohrbach's-Downtown. Ohrbach's closed its branch and sold the building in 1959. The building still exists and consists of loft condominium (Shybary Grand Lofts, 312 W. Fifth St.) with retail on the ground floor.

Westchester store

Milliron's Westchester Milliron's Westchester, later The Broadway-Westchester, was a department store at 8739 S. Sepulveda Blvd., in Westchester, Los Angeles, designed by architect Victor Gruen. Its original design was considered a landmark in exterior architecture of ret ...

opened on March 17, 1949, designed by prominent retail architect

Victor Gruen Victor David Gruen, born Viktor David Grünbaum
retrieved 25 February 2012 (July 18, 1903 – February 1 ...

and cost $3,000,000 to build. 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. The store was sold shortly afterwards, in June 1950, to

Walker's Long Beach

Walkers/Walker's opened their first branch store in

Downtown Long Beach Downtown Long Beach is the heart of Long Beach, California, United States, and is the location for most of the city's major tourist attractions and municipal services. It is also the location for numerous businesses. There are many hotels and rest ...

at 4th and Pine - Pine being the main shopping artery - in 1933.

Meyer and Holler Meyer & Holler was an architecture firm based in Los Angeles, California, noted for its opulent commercial buildings and movie theatres, including Grauman’s Chinese and Egyptian theatres, built during the 1920s. Meyer & Holler was also known as ...

designed the 1928 art deco building. In 1952, they spent $300,000 to expand to , 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 Los Altos Center is a regional shopping mall in the Los Altos area of northeastern Long Beach, California along Bellflower Boulevard, 4 miles south of Lakewood Center Mall and 5 miles east of Downtown Long Beach. History Launch (1953–1956) Som ...

in 1954 which it sold to

shortly thereafter in 1956. 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 Downtown San Diego is the city center of San Diego, California, the eighth largest city in the United States. In 2010, the Centre City area had a population of more than 28,000. Downtown San Diego serves as the cultural and financial center and ...

in 1935, which separated in the early 1950s and became

.Alternate Link
via

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

.Alternate Link
via

External links

"Fifth Street Store becomes Milliron's", ''J. H. Graham'' (blog), September 18, 2017

References

{{History of Retail in Southern California Defunct department stores based in Greater Los Angeles Retail companies established in 1905 Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles 1905 establishments in California