Bullocks Wilshire | |
 Bullocks Wilshire looking east | |
| Location | 3050 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, California, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°03′42″N118°17′18″W / 34.06161°N 118.28827°W /34.06161; -118.28827 |
| Built | 1929 |
| Architect | John and Donald Parkinson |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| NRHP reference No. | 78000685 |
| LAHCM No. | 56 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 25, 1978 |
| Designated LAHCM | 1968-06-15[1] |
Bullocks Wilshire, located at 3050Wilshire Boulevard inLos Angeles, California, is a 230,000-square-foot (21,000 m2)Art Deco building. The building opened in September 1929 as a luxurydepartment store for owner John G. Bullock (owner of the more mainstreamBullock's inDowntown Los Angeles).[2] Bullocks Wilshire was also the name of the department store chain of which the Los Angeles store was the flagship; it had seven stores total; Macy's incorporated them into and rebranded them asI. Magnin in 1989, before closing I. Magnin entirely in 1994. The building is currently owned bySouthwestern Law School.
The building was designed by Los Angeles architectsJohn and Donald Parkinson;[3] theinterior design was by Eleanor Lemaire and Jock Peters of the Feil & Paradise Company;[3] the ceilingmural of theporte-cochère was painted byHerman Sachs.[3]
The exterior is notable for its 241-foot (73 m) tower whose top is sheathed in copper, tarnished green. At one time, the tower peak had a light that could be seen for miles around. The stylized relief, above the Wilshire Boulevard entrance, was designed byGeorge Stanley,[4] designer of theOscar. Among the workers laboring on the project may have been Sam Rodia, builder of theWatts Towers.[5]
Bullocks Wilshire's innovation was that it was one of the first department stores in Los Angeles to cater to the burgeoning automobile culture. It was located in a then-mostly residential district, its objective to attract shoppers who wanted a closer place to shop than Downtown Los Angeles.[6] Traditional display windows faced the sidewalk, but they were decorated to catch the eyes of motorists. Since most customers would arrive by vehicle, the most appealing entrance was placed in the rear. Under the city's first department storeporte cochere,valets inlivery welcomed patrons and parked their cars.[6]
Shoppers entered thefoyer which hadtravertine floors and elevators finished innickel,brass, andgunmetal.
On the first floor was thevaulted Perfume Hall, awash in natural light muted by walls of St. Genevievemarble.[6] Other floors displayed clothes and accessories in low glass cases onrosewood stands or on livemannequins, to prevent hanging racks from cluttering sight lines. Upstairs showrooms and salons functioned almost as discreteboutiques. The Louis XVI Room sold designer dresses, the Directoire formal wear and later furs. Later still came thecouture Chanel Room and the Irene Salon, enclave of future Hollywood costume designerIrene Lentz, reputed to be the first boutique devoted to a single designer inside a major U.S. department store. Lentz designed custom wardrobe for celebrities, leading to a career indesign at majorfilm studios, includingMGM. Other departments included toys, amezzanine Doggery forcanine accessories, and the city's first leisurewear merchandise on the Playdeck.[7] The women's shoe salon was paneled with the wood from a singleCentral American tree.Cork in exotic shades lined the walls in the fursatelier. The Saddle Shop featured vermillion floor tiles, wall cases of deep red oak, and a life-size plaster likeness of a horse, Bullock's Barney.[6]
For refreshment, there was a top-floor desert-themedtearoom and the adjoining lounge where society women gathered for luncheonfashion shows. Truly elite service was reserved for the selected men invited to shop in the privacy of J.G. Bullock's wood-paneled private suite on the fifth floor. Titans of business and politics relaxed over cocktails andhors d'oeuvres as sales associates modeled potential gifts.[8]
The department store served the upper crust of Los Angeles society. In its heyday, Bullocks Wilshire patrons included celebritiesMae West,John Wayne,Marlene Dietrich,Joan Crawford,Alfred Hitchcock,Greta Garbo,ZaSu Pitts,[8]Walt Disney,[9] andClark Gable. While struggling to become an actress, a teen-agedAngela Lansbury worked as a sales clerk.[8] FutureFirst LadyPatricia Nixon also served a stint on the floor.[8] From his studio, next to theChanel department,Neil Gittings photographed many celebrities who frequented Bullocks Wilshire.
In the early 1970s, this sub-division of Bullock's dropped its apostrophe and began opening separate branch locations so as to separate its decidedly luxury identity from its larger yet more upper-moderate/better parent. Branches were located inPalm Springs (1947),Woodland Hills (The Promenade) (1973; 80,000 square feet),Newport Beach (Fashion Island) (1977; 80,000 square feet),La Jolla (1979),Palos Verdes (1981), andPalm Desert (formerlyBonwit Teller; 1987; 50,000 square feet). The branches of Woodland Hills and Newport Beach were designed by the Los Angeles firm of Welton Becket and Associates. Over the years, a shift by other luxury stores and boutiques to thewest side of the city/county resulted in the primary Bullocks Wilshire trading area's fall, yet the main store held on as a destination until 1988, when it began its own precipitous decline, hastened under operation by its final owners,Macy's, who had acquired the chain from theCampeau Corporation. The Wilshire Boulevard store suffered severe damage during theLos Angeles riots of 1992;looters broke in and shattered every display case on the first floor.[10] The upper floors were not damaged because fleeing staffers shut off the elevators; the original decision to build the store withoutescalators may have actually saved the landmark from ruin. At least three fires were set byarsonists, but they did not spread.[10] Bullocks Wilshire finally closed in 1993 with legal battles ensuing as Macy's stripped the store of its historic artifacts, furnishings and fixtures for other locations (bowing to pressure, almost all the 1929 fixtures were returned). Its locations had been converted around 1990 toI. Magnin, aSan Francisco-based luxury chain which in turn was shuttered byFederated Department Stores in January 1995 upon its acquisition of Macy's.
In 1994, the building was acquired bySouthwestern Law School, its long-time neighbor. The school restored the building to its original 1929 state,adapting the building for use as an integral part of the school. The building is a historic-cultural monument of theCity of Los Angeles, and was listed in theNational Register of Historic Places May 25, 1978.
The Southwestern Law School Office of Administrative Services is responsible for all arrangements pertaining to commercial photography and filming on Southwestern's campus and works withUnreel Locations.
Bullocks Wilshire was one of the more important divisions of Bullock's, Inc. until it was consolidated into I. Magnin by Macy's in 1989. The division could be traced to the opening of a single luxury branch store of Bullock's in 1929.[11] In 1968, The Bullock's store in Palm Springs (built in 1947) was transferred to the control of Bullock's Wilshire to be its first branch store.[12] Four years later, in 1972, Bullock's Wilshire store was separated from Bullock's as a separate division with its own, president, chairman, buyers and staff with Walter Bergquist, former president of Bullock's, assigned as the division's first president.[13]
Source:Bullock's Department Store by Devin T. Frick
Bullock's Wilshire is a temple to women.
Bullock's has confirmed it has changed the name of its Palm Springs operation to Bullock's Wilshire," but company president Walter Bergquist said there are no present plans to change other stores to that name
Bullock's Inc., has taken the wraps off an expansion program which has long been the subject of speculation along the retail front. It includes development of Bullock's Wilshire as a separate business, with its own growth program, and addition of new Bullock's units. Word of these developments came from Weston P. Figgins, chairman. and Howard Goldfeder, president. Both declined to expand on a terse bulletin. Bullock's Wilshire, which has long operated as an autonomous entity under the Bullock's management wing, now will function on its own with additional units carrying Bullock's Wilshire merchandise. Goldfeder succeeded Walter Bergquist as Bullock's president. Bergquist was shifted to the new post of president, Bullock's Wilshire, a step which tended to substantiate speculation relative to possible growth of the autonomous store which also operates Bullock's unit in Palm Springs. Bullock's. Inc., operates 10 stores.
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