Mayfair Market in Century City

Uh...California.

Moderator: Groceteria

TheQuestioner
Contributor
Posts: 95
Joined: 28 Nov 2005 16:39

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Post by TheQuestioner »

Thanks for the photos! That old Mayfair was absolutely phenomenal-looking! They really knew how to make stuff look exciting back then. I feel lucky to have lived through at least the vestiges of that era, seeing a lot of 50's-60's architecture and design in my everyday life as a kid. Though I don't want to LIVE in L.A., I love to visit there because many types of commercial buildings from the 50's-70's survive there that were once common elsewhere but are now gone, or remodeled into blandness. Googie and Modern seem especially rare on the east coast now. It's too bad this Gelson's was so heavily modified, but as we all know "market realities" demand that stores change their decor every 10-15 years at the least. The first photo in particular reminded me of something almost every 60's supermarket had but is now rare: Floor (or knee-height) to ceiling windows in the front of the building. I found that it gave supermarkets a pleasant light and airy ambiance (at least in the daytime) but these days most supermarkets seem to prefer walling off the majority of their front entrances. Not sure why, since it rarely seems to be put to use for extra retail space. After all, that part of the store is on the wrong side of the registers for merchandise. I guess "dramatic" design is too risky for today's commercial architects.
klkla
Veteran
Posts: 364
Joined: 29 Jun 2006 18:39

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Post by klkla »

TheQuestioner wrote:Not sure why, since it rarely seems to be put to use for extra retail space. After all, that part of the store is on the wrong side of the registers for merchandise.
One thing that was interesting about the new store is that they did not move the registers much when they expanded the store. The area in front of the registers contains the bakery, gellato and coffee bars, floral department, and "From our Kitchen" department (hot & cold prepared foods - which is seperated from the service deli in this particular store) as well as a large cafe-style seating area.

Until very recently most Gelson's always had the front open with floor-to-glass windows but that has given way to floral departments, seating areas, and/or bakeries in most of their remodeled stores.
Tortuga One
Contributor
Posts: 14
Joined: 03 Jan 2007 22:25
Location: West Los Angeles

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Post by Tortuga One »

Awsome find! I have lived in Los Angeles all my life, been going to Century City Mall since its birth in the mid 1960s, and only remember Gelsons as Gelsons. Wow. I am really blown away on that one. For the last few years, the only place that you can park is in the mall's large multi level parking structure, so you are blended in with all the mall shoppers.
User avatar
Groceteria
Great Pumpkin
Posts: 1927
Joined: 04 Nov 2005 12:13
Location: In the breakroom
Contact:

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Post by Groceteria »

TheQuestioner wrote:The first photo in particular reminded me of something almost every 60's supermarket had but is now rare: Floor (or knee-height) to ceiling windows in the front of the building.
I think those started to go out of vogue during the assorted 1970s energy crises. Today, even stores that had them and have been otherwise minimally altered have often walled over large portions of these windows. I think they're notoriously energy inefficient. But they're one of the big things I miss as well.
User avatar
Brian Lutz
Veteran
Posts: 227
Joined: 08 Jul 2008 00:19
Location: Bellevue, WA
Contact:

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Post by Brian Lutz »

A number of the supermarkets here still have this style of windows, although I've noted that some (particulary Safeways) have covered up large portions of these windows with reflective film, presumably for this reason. For example, if you take a look at some of the photos from my Blog post on the Bellevue Marina Safeway before it closed, you can see that the upper windows on the storefront are covered with some sort of semi-translucent reflective film that appears to be quite aged at the time the store closed. If you look at one of the interior shots you'll see several of the lower windows covered with some sort of sun-blocking film as well. I've seen similar films covering the windows on some other Safeways (including some non-Marina stores) around here as well.

Even some of the newer supermarkets in the area seem to be bringing back windows though. The QFC where I do most of my shopping has a big glass front of floor-to-ceiling windows (although much of that is blocked off by a Panda Express and a bank branch.) The local Whole Foods also has a bunch of large windows on the space above the produce department (they go from about the top of the produce racks to the ceiling,) which brings in natural light. I'm guessing these ones are a bit more energy-efficient than their sixties counterparts though.
The Sledgehammer - Version 2.0 - Seattle Area Malls, Retail History, and other random things.
User avatar
romleys
Veteran
Posts: 141
Joined: 05 Nov 2005 12:56

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Post by romleys »

The windows have been phased out largely due to the fact that when the sun shined through it created a very unpleasant experience. Both in the early mornings and late afternoons were like staring into the sun.
Charles H:)
ajsanjua
Contributor
Posts: 39
Joined: 11 Sep 2008 09:40
Location: Elizabeth City, NC

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Post by ajsanjua »

Didn't some supermarkets install movable blinds to keep out the sun in the afternoon, that is, before blocking them off with sheetrock became popular?
krogerclerk
Veteran
Posts: 274
Joined: 05 Nov 2005 01:47
Location: Northwest Georgia

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Post by krogerclerk »

The bright sun was also bad for the earlier scanners and most checkouts were located in the area exposed to the glass. East and west facing Kroger greenhouse stores were vunerable to the rising and setting sun interferring with the lasers ability to read UPCs.

I guess the energy crisis and scanning both led to the demise of the expanses of glass.

Thanks for the post, I did not realize Century City dated to the mid-60's. I did know the land was formerly a 20th Century Fox studio and lot. The reason I thought Century City was a 1970s construct was due to the filming of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes using the recently finished complex as the setting of the city.
rich
Veteran
Posts: 673
Joined: 15 Nov 2005 20:51
Location: Washington, DC

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Post by rich »

Plate glass was on its way out in the mid-to-late 60s. Fazio's "shake roof" prototype, National Tea's "New Orleans" style stores, and others were early examples, with very limited window space. The Fisher/Fazio near where I grew-up was remodeled w/o windows in a major re-do in the late 60s. previously, one only saw stores like that in inner city neighborhoods. Breezeways began to disappear around this time, too.
klkla
Veteran
Posts: 364
Joined: 29 Jun 2006 18:39

Re: Mayfair Market in Century City

Post by klkla »

If anyone is interested I found a blog about this shopping center and it's history including photos from the original 1963-64 developement and today, as well as a comparative layout of the center.

http://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2 ... chive.html

You need to scroll a little more than half way down the page and look for this headline:

Monday, July 02, 2007
Los Angeles' Century Square
Post Reply