Hinshaw's was an American two-location department store chain in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

that was in business between 1951 and 1992.

Founder

Hinshaw's was founded by Ezra Bushong Hinshaw, who was born April 4, 1899, in

Windsor, North Carolina Windsor is a town in and the county seat of Bertie County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,630 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 2,283 in 2000 United States census, 2000. Windsor is located in North Carol ...

, and raised in Boise, Idaho. He was raised in the

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

faith. Prior to opening his own store he had been a manager of a

Montgomery Ward Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...

store and, after relocating to California, became the president of the C.C. Anderson Department Store, a local company in Whittier.

Locations

The first Hinshaw's location was on the southwest corner of Baldwin Avenue and Duarte in the Arcadia Hub shopping area of

Arcadia, California Arcadia is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located about northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It contains a series of adjacent parks consisting of t ...

. This store opened in 1951, and ultimately grew to contain of retail space. It was the main anchor of the Baldwin Avenue shopping strip, and the only large department store in Arcadia until a branch of May Company opened several years later. In the mid-1950s, Hinshaw's opened a second branch, in the new Whittier Quad Shopping Center in Whittier. Hinshaw's was one of two anchor stores in the quad, its complement being another branch of The May Company. The Whittier branch of Hinshaw's also had of space. Both branches had multi-level parking garages despite their suburban locations. The Whittier Quad shopping center was heavily damaged in the

Whittier Narrows earthquake The 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake occurred in the southern San Gabriel Valley and surrounding communities of Southern California, United States, at on October 1. The moderate magnitude 5.9 blind thrust earthquake was centered several miles ...

of 1987. Hinshaw's building suffered the least damage, and remained open as the center's only tenant for several years. Sales were poor, and remained depressed after the remainder of the Quad was rebuilt. The company announced the store's closure in December 1991. The Arcadia store was closed in 1992. The company had been at that time the last surviving independent department store chain in Los Angeles County. Hinshaw's Arcadia location prospered for a while, but ultimately closed due to competition from the nearby

Westfield Santa Anita The Shops at Santa Anita (formerly Westfield Santa Anita and Santa Anita Fashion Park) is a super-regional shopping mall located in Arcadia, California, adjacent to the Santa Anita Race Track. History The mall opened as Santa Anita Fashion Park ...

shopping center, which underwent a major expansion in the 1990s. The closed store was replaced by a

Burlington Coat Factory Burlington, formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory, is an American national off-price department store retailer, and a division of Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation with more than 1,100 stores in 47 states and Puerto Rico, with it ...

store, which opened in 1998–1999. That location closed down in 2023.

References

Defunct department stores based in the San Gabriel Valley Retail companies established in 1951 Companies based in Los Angeles County, California 1951 establishments in California {{US-retail-company-stub