Judy's was a chain of
clothing store
A clothes shop or clothes store is any shop which sells items of ready-made clothing. A small shop which sells expensive or designer clothing may be called a boutique. A shop that sells clothes for a narrowlyrestricted market such as school ...
s, based in
Van Nuys, Los Angeles
Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.
History
In 19 ...
.
Marcia Israel (Mrs. Lawrence Israel, later Marcia Israel-Curley) founded Judy's in 1946 and ran it until 1989 when she sold it to Laws International of
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
for $31 million.
[ Israel-Curley died in 2004.
]
Fashion
Judy's sold sportswear
Sportswear or activewear is athletic clothing, including footwear, worn for sports activity or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons.
Typical spor ...
and fashion accessories
In fashion, an accessory is an item used to contribute, in a secondary manner, to an individual's outfit. Accessories are often chosen to complete an outfit and complement the wearer's look. They have the capacity to further express an individua ...
, the women's stores catering to juniors: slim-cut, trendy styles.
In the late 1940s, Israel wrote, there were generally no boutiques catering exclusively for juniors and hardly any clothing companies producing styles for the juniors market. Israel wrote that she developed numerous groundbreaking concepts that were copied by other designers and retailers, such as the short-sleeve sweater and workmen's five-pocket jeans for casual use (accessorized with Ked's sneakers
Sneakers (American English, US) or trainers (British English, UK), also known by a #Names, wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but are also widely used for everyday casual ...
) by women.[
Israel was long considered a fashion authority; for example a 1970 interview in the ]Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
around the topic of longer hemline
The hemline is the line formed by the lower edge of a garment, such as a skirt, dress or coat, measured from the floor.
The hemline is perhaps the most variable style line in fashion, changing shape and ranging in height from hip-high to fl ...
s for women's skirts
A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards.
At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of fabric (such as pareos). However, most skirts are fit ...
. Israel confirmed that longer midi skirt
A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards.
At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of fabric (such as pareos). However, most skirts are fit ...
hemlines were "flourishing", though the lower hemlines "should not be forced; they must ripen like fruit". The Judy's "empire" was considered a "bellwether by great numbers of astute fashion people", according to the ''Times''.
Development of stores
Israel began the chain in January, 1946 in a 7-by-12-foot space (84 sq. ft.) carved out of a movie theater lobby on Whittier Boulevard
Whittier Boulevard is an arterial street that runs from the Los Angeles River (where it continues into Downtown Los Angeles as 6th Street) to Brea, California. The street is one of the main thoroughfares in both Whittier and East Los Angele ...
in East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, East Los Angeles is designated as ...
. She proceeded to open a 360-square-foot store in 1948 in Compton, an 800-square-foot store on May 9, 1949 on Lankershim Boulevard
Lankershim Boulevard is a major north-south arterial road the runs for in the eastern San Fernando Valley in the Los Angeles, California.
Geography
Lankershim Boulevard's northern terminus is at San Fernando Road in Sun Valley, Los Angele ...
in North Hollywood
North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...
, and in 1952, a 3,500-square-foot store in the new Lakewood Center
Lakewood Center is a super-regional shopping mall in Lakewood, California. Lakewood Center opened in 1952 and was enclosed in 1978.
The interior mall is anchored by Costco, Forever 21, JCPenney, Macy's, a Round One Entertainment center, and T ...
, the United States' first fully-enclosed mall.Century City Shopping Center
Westfield Century City is an outdoor shopping mall in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It has of gross leasable area and is anchored by Bloomingdale's, Macy's, and Nordstrom. The mall has been owned by Westfield-affili ...
in July 1965, expanded in 1968 to which it considered its flagship store
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...
. By 1970, there were 17 Judy's.
The chain at its peak it had 107 stores. In 1989, it operated 70 women's clothing stores and 34 "GHq" men's clothing stores in California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
and a handful in four other Western states
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also constitute the West. ...
.
Epilogue
In 1993 the chain declared bankruptcy, disposed of the GHq men's chain and relaunched with a slimmed-down 52-store branch network.Charlotte Russe
A charlotte is a type of bread pudding that can be served hot or cold. It is also referred to as an " icebox cake". Bread, sponge cake, crumbs or biscuits/cookies are used to line a mold, which is then filled with a fruit puree or custard. The ...
purchased Rampage, and in 2006 sold most store leases and fixtures to Forever 21
F21 OpCo LLC, trade name, doing business as Forever 21, was a multinational fast-fashion retailer. It was originally founded as Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles, Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984.Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved ...
, while converting 4 remaining locations to Charlotte Russe branches.
External links
Judy's (Facebook page)
References
{{History of Retail in Southern California
Defunct clothing retailers of the United States
Defunct companies based in California
Van Nuys, Los Angeles