7th Street is a street in Los Angeles, California running from S. Norton Ave in Mid-Wilshire through Downtown Los Angeles. It goes all the way to the eastern city limits at Indiana Ave., and the border between Boyle Heights, Los Angeles and East Los Angeles. [1]
Originally agricultural land, 7th Street between Broadway (on which corner stood Bullock's) and Figueroa Street, became downtown's upscale shopping district. This began with J. W. Robinson's deciding to build their flagship store in 1915 on Seventh far to the west of the existing Broadway shopping district, between Hope and Grand streets. The Ville de Paris and Coulter's as well as numerous specialty shops came and rounded out the district.
The area lost its exclusivity when the upscale downtown stores opened branches in Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, Westwood and Pasadena in the late 1920s through the 1940s, notably the establishment of Bullock's upscale landmark branch Bullocks Wilshire in Mid-Wilshire in 1929. [2]
Thirteen large office buildings opened between 1920 and 1928. By 1929, every plot on 7th between Figueroa and Los Angeles Streets had been developed. [2] The area remained an important, if not the most exclusive, center of retail and office space throughout the 1950s, but started a slow decline throughout the 1980s due to suburbanization. It was also the concentration of Downtown financial activity on Bunker Hill, a few blocks north. The flagship department stores like Bullock's (1983), Barker Brothers (1984) and Robinson's (1993) had closed and only the Broadway/Macy's at The Bloc, previously named Broadway Plaza remained. However, in 1986, the Seventh Market Place mall, now FIGat7th, opened, bringing a smaller retail cluster back to Seventh such as the 7th Street/Metro Center station opening in 1991.
With new, large skyscrapers such as the Wilshire Grand Center and the nearby U.S. Bank Tower bridging the gap with Bunker Hill, Seventh Street is now contiguous to the large financial district to the north and is once again a highly desired office district.
In order west to east. Source: Los Angeles Conservancy. [2]
This is a table of the openings of department stores along the 7th Street and Broadway corridors:
Store | Opened | Left | Moved or closed? | Location | Sq ft | Sq m | Architects | Current use | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SPRING ST. BETWEEN TEMPLE AND SECOND | |||||||||
Coulter's (1st sequential location) |
1884 | 1898 | Moved | Hollenbeck Block, SW corner 2nd & Spring | Historic Broadway station | ||||
Hamburger's (1st seq. loc.) | 1888 | 1908 | Moved | Phillips Block, Franklin & Spring | Burgess J. Reeve | Site of City Hall | |||
Mullen & Bluett | 1889 | 1910 | Moved | 101–5 N. Spring | Empty lot | ||||
Jacoby Bros. (1st seq. loc.) |
1891 | 1900 | Moved | 128–134(–138) N. Spring at Court | Site of City Hall | ||||
The Hub | 1896 | 1916 | Moved | Bullard Block, Spring at Court | Morgan & Walls | Site of City Hall. The Hub moved to 430 S. Broadway. [5] | |||
BROADWAY | |||||||||
Broadway from 2nd to 3rd | |||||||||
Ville de Paris
[6] (A. Fusenot Co.) |
1893 | 1898 | Moved | Potomac Block, 221-3 S. Broadway | Block, Curlett & Eisen | added to Coulter's late 1907, demolished 1958, now a parking lot | |||
Coulter's (3rd seq. loc.) |
1905 | 1917 | Moved | Potomac Block: 225-7-9 S. B'way through to 224-6-8 S. Hill. 1907: expanded into 219-221-223 B'way. | 157,000 [7] | 14,586 | Block, Curlett & Eisen | demolished, site of parking lot | |
Boston Dry Goods ( J.W. Robinson Co.) |
1895 | 1915 | Moved | 237–241 S. Broadway | Theodore Eisen, Sumner Hunt | Parking lot | |||
I. Magnin/ Myer Siegel (1st seq. loc.) |
1899 | ? | Moved |
Irvine Byrne Block, 251 S. Broadway [8] |
Sumner Hunt | Wedding chapel | |||
Broadway from 3rd to 4th | |||||||||
Coulter's (2nd seq. loc.) |
1898 | 1905 | Moved | 317–325 S. Broadway through to 314–322 Hill St. [9] ( Homer Laughlin Bldg.) | 86,000 [10] | John B. Parkinson | became
Ville de Paris Now Grand Central Market | ||
Jacoby Bros. (2nd seq. loc.) | 1899 [11] | 1935-6 | Moved [12] [13] | 331-333-335 S. Broadway | 60,000 | 5574 | John B. Parkinson [14] | Was "Boston Store" in late 1930s. [15] Currently independent retail. 2 of 4 floors were removed. | |
Ville de Paris (2nd seq. loc.) |
1905 | 1917 | Moved. | 317–325 S. Broadway through to 314–322 Hill Street
[9] Homer Laughlin Building |
96,000[ citation needed] | 8919 | John B. Parkinson | Grand Central Market | |
J. J. Haggarty New York Store |
1905 | 1917 | Moved | 337–9 S. Broadway | Small retail. Only 2 stories remain. | ||||
J. M. Hale (Hale’s) | 1909 | ? | ? | 341-343-345 S. Broadway [16] | retail, top floors were removed | ||||
BROADWAY south of 4th St. | |||||||||
Broadway from 4th to 5th | |||||||||
The Broadway (1st seq. loc.) [17] |
1896 | 1973 | Moved | SW corner 4th & Broadway, later through to Hill | 1924, 577,000 [18] | 53,605 | Junipero Serra State Office Building | ||
Bon Marché | 1907 | Liquidated [19] | Bumiller Building, 430 S. Broadway | ||||||
The Hub (2nd seq. loc.) |
1907 | 1916 | Moved | 430 S. Broadway | In 1907, The Hub opened at the former Bon Marché. [19] In March 1916, The Hub moved to 337–9 S. Spring. [20] closing in 1922. [21] | ||||
Myer Siegel (2nd seq. loc.) |
1899 | ? | Moved | 455 S. Broadway | Became part of Fallas Paredes | ||||
Broadway from 5th to 6th | |||||||||
Fifth Street Store (Steele, Faris & Walker), later Walker's |
1905 | ? | Closed | SW corner 5th & Broadway | 1917: 278,640 [22] | 1917:25,887 | Replaced existing store with new building in 1917.
[22] Building later housed Ohrbach's | ||
Ohrbach's | Closed | SW corner 5th & Broadway | Former Walker's store.
[22] Building later housed Ohrbach's | ||||||
Silverwoods | 1904 | ? | ? | 556 S. Broadway (NE corner of 6th) | 1920: 115,420 [23] | 1920: 10,723 | Broadway Jewelry Mart | ||
Broadway from 6th to 7th | |||||||||
Jacoby Bros. (3rd seq. loc.) |
1936 [13] | 1938 [24] | Liquidated | 605 S. Broadway [13] | Became a Zukor's (1940), [25] now mixed-use | ||||
Central Dept. Store [26] | 1907 | 1908 | 609–619 S. Broadway | 85,000 [27] | 7897 | Samuel Tilden Norton | Demolished, now site of Los Angeles Theatre | ||
Myer Siegel (3rd seq. loc.) |
Moved | 617 S. Broadway | Samuel Tilden Norton | Demolished, now site of Los Angeles Theatre | |||||
Mullen & Bluett (2nd seq. loc.) | 1910 | 1960s | Moved | 610 S. Broadway (Walter P. Story Bldg.) [28] |
Morgan, Walls & Clements | Mixed-use | |||
Desmond's | 1924 | 1972 [29] | Closed | 616 S. Broadway | 85,000 [30] | 7897 | A. C. Martin [31] | Renovated 2019 as office space, a restaurant and a rooftop bar. [30] | |
Harris & Frank 2nd concurrent location |
1947 | 1980 [32] | Closed | 644 S. Broadway ( Joseph E. Carr Building) |
Robert Brown Young [33] | ||||
Bullock's (1st seq. loc.) |
1907 | 1983 | Closedb | NW corner 7th & Broadway by 1934, most of the block 6th/ 7th/ Broadway/ Hill |
1907: 350,000 1934: 806,000 [34] |
1907: 32,516 1934: 74,880 |
Parkinson & Bergstrom | St. Vincents Jewelry Mart | |
Broadway from 7th to 8th | |||||||||
F.W. Woolworth | 1920 | 719 S. Broadway | Ross Dress for Less | ||||||
Reich and Lièvre | 1917 | c.1927 | 737-745 S. Broadway (Isaac Bros. Bldg.) | ||||||
Broadway from 8th to 9th | |||||||||
Hamburger's (2nd seq. loc.) After 1925: May Company (1st loc.) |
1906 | 1986 | Moved | SW corner 8th & Broadway by 1930, entire block 8th/ 9th/ Broadway/ Hill |
1906: 482,475
[35]
[36] 1930, >1,000,000 [37] |
1906: 44,823, 1930 92,903 | Under renovation to become tech campus | ||
Broadway from 9th to 10th | |||||||||
Blackstone's | 1917 | 901 S. Broadway (SE corner 9th) | 118,800 [38] | 11,037 | John Parkinson | Building became
The Famous, now residential, retail | |||
Eastern Columbia | 1930 | 1957 [39] | 849 S. Broadway through to Hill | 1930: 275,650 [40] (expanded in 1950) [41] | 1930: 25,609 | Claud Beelman | Residential condo | ||
SEVENTH STREET (from Broadway west to Francisco) | |||||||||
Seventh between Broadway and Hill | |||||||||
Bullock's (see above) | |||||||||
Seventh between Hill and Olive | |||||||||
Ville de Paris, from 1919 B. H. Dyas | 1917 | 1933 | Liquidated | 420 W. 7th (SE corner Olive) | Dodd and Richards | L.A. Jewelry Mart | |||
Seventh between Olive and Grand | |||||||||
Haggarty's | 1917 | 1963 [42] | Closed |
Brockman Building, 520–530 W. 7th at Grand [43] [44] [45] [46] |
George D. Barnett, Barnett, Haynes & Barnett |
Apartments | |||
Coulter's (4th seq. loc.) | 1917 | 1938 | Moved | 500 W. 7th (SW corner Olive) | Dodd and Richards | Mixed-use. Coulter's moved to Miracle Mile. | |||
Seventh between Grand and Hope | |||||||||
J. W. Robinson's (2nd seq. loc.) | 1915 | 1993 | Closed | 600 W. 7th ("7th, Hope & Grand") | 1915: 400,000
[47] 1923: 623,700 sq ft (57,940 m2) [48] |
1915: 37,161 1923: 57,944 |
Noonan & Richards (1915), Edgar Mayberry/Allison & Allison (1934 remodel) | Mixed-use | |
Desmond's 7th St. (2nd seq. loc.) | 1934, [49] expanded 1937 [50] | Closed | 2nd Union Oil Building, 617 W. 7th. St. | 22,500 (1937) [51] | 2090 | Alexander Curlett and Claude Beelman | Walgreens [52] | ||
Seventh between Hope and Flower | |||||||||
The Broadway (2nd loc.), later Macy's | 1973 | Open | Open | Broadway Plaza 750 W. 7th (Hope to Flower) | 250,000 [53] | 23,226 | Charles Luckman | In operation | |
Desmond's 7th St. (1st seq. loc.) (B'way store remained open) |
1927 [49] | 1934 | Moved | Roosevelt Building, 717 W. 7th St. | Alexander Curlett and Claude Beelman | Shoo Shoo Baby (restaurant) | |||
Barker Bros. (final downtown loc.) | 1926 | 1984 [54] | Closed | 818 W. 7th (Flower to Figueroa) | 1,000,000 [55] | 93,000 | Curlett and Beelman | Offices | |
Seventh between Figueroa and Francisco/I-110 | |||||||||
Bullock's (2nd seq. loc.), later Macy's | 1986 | 1996 | Closed | Seventh Market Place now FIGat7th, 735 S. Figueroa | Jon Jerde [56] | Gold's Gym (level M1), Target (M2), Zara (M3) | |||
May Company (2nd seq. loc.), later Macy's | 1986 | 2009a | Closed | Nordstrom Rack (level M1), Target (M2), H&M (M3) | |||||
FLOWER STREET from Seventh to Eighth | |||||||||
Weatherby-Kayser shoes | 1925 | 715–9 S. Flower | |||||||
Myer Siegel (4th seq. loc.) | 1927 | 733 S. Flower | |||||||
Parmelee-Dohrmann (homewares) | 1927 | 741–7 S. Flower |
aas Macy's, breopened in 1986 at Citicorp Plaza, now FIGat7th.
For a time in the 1920s, Flower Street one block north and south of 7th, was an upscale shopping district. It began with the establishment of Chappell's at 645 S. Flower, which moved there from 7th Street in 1921 into a two-story, Spanish-style building, which exuded intimacy and tranquility compared to busy 7th Street or Broadway. It was innovative in offering parking in the rear. [57]
Barker Brothers opened their huge furniture emporium at 7th and Flower in 1926, two blocks west of J. W. Robinson's, which was already considered far west of the main Broadway shopping district. Myer Siegel followed a half block south, on Flower, that same year, as did Parmelee-Dohrmann, a large purveyor of china, crystal and silver. Other stores were Ashley & Evers, Ranschoff's, and Wetherby-Kayser shoes.
By 1931 Flower's heyday had petered out due to the depression, the opening of Bullock's Wilshire (1929) [58] and I. Magnin (1939) [59] much further west on Wilshire Blvd., as Myer Siegel's 1934 move to 7th Street.
AKA: City of Paris Dry Goods Company, Ville de Paris Department Store #2, Los Angeles. Dates: constructed 1905. Total floor area: 96,000 sq. ft. 317 South Broadway.
Architect John Parkinson
Eight stories…plus basement and sub-basement…172 feet on Broadway by 162 feet on Fifth
90 feet of frontage on Broadway and 165 feet on 9th Street…with 6 stories plus two basement levels