Willets or Willet's was a longstanding department store in

Colton, California Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Nicknamed "Hub City", Colton is located in the Inland Empire region of the state and is a suburb of San Bernardino, California, San Bernardino, approximately south of the cit ...

. In 1906, it was announced that Willet's Department Store opened, having bought out Steck Brothers Clothing Co. However, in advertising, the store notes origins dating back to 1883. In 1918, the store was sold to Boadway Bros. which after a few month definitively decided to liquidate the stock and close the store in late 1918. Willet's did reopen for business by February 1922, according to advertisements in the Colton newspapers, at 125–145 N. Eighth St. In 1951, construction was announced for a new store further north on Eighth Street, as in 1953, a significant block of the historic downtown of Colton was bulldozed to make room for what is now the San Bernardino Freeway. This included the block on the west side of Eighth Street north of J, including the then 70-year-old Helman's Department Store building, originally housing the First National Bank of Colton, on the corner, and the Willet's Department Store building to its north. Helman's also moved to a new location further north.

References

{{History of Retail in Southern California Defunct department stores based in Greater Los Angeles Colton, California