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BULLOCKS--Southern California

Posted: 12 Jan 2007 23:27
by Dean
When the BULLOCKS at the West Covina Fashion Plaza (which became The Plaza at West Covina and now Westfield Shoppingtown West Covina) became MACY*S...they pulled the BULLOCKS name down and slapped MACY*S up. To this day, you can STILL see BULLOCKS on the building. Now that MACY*S moved to the Robinsons-May building...I believe the MACY*S is now vacant. I have not driven by there in some time...but comically...I wonder if you can see both BULLOCKS and MACY*S on the building!? The Sears building was originally The Broadway. There was a Clifton's Cafeteria adjacent to The Broadway building. I believe it is now vacant.

Posted: 13 Jan 2007 13:10
by Jeff
Macy's West Covina is still in both stores.

Posted: 11 Mar 2007 05:29
by hushpuppy212
IMHO, in their heyday, Bullock's was the chain that epitomized Southern California department stores. Classy, stylish, and always in good taste, their stores were beautifully designed, meticulously maintained, and expertly staffed. They had classic 'tea rooms' where Madame would meet friends for lunch, and enjoy informal modeling. The Men's Departments were masculine and evoked themes such as hunting lodges and country clubs. The women's departments were chic and stylish. The home furnishings departments were lavish and well-presented. You really could furnish your entire home, and outfit your whole family from Bullock's. even their logo was a classy, unique signature.

Up until around 1966, each Bullock's still had their own team of buyers, management, and advertising staff. Looking through vintage Los Angeles Times newspapers of the era, one finds ads for 'Bullock's Downtown', 'Bullock's Westwood', and 'Bullock's Pasadena'. Whereas The Broadway, May Company, and Robinson's offered standardized offerings across the chain, Bullock's preferred to tailor their selection to each particular location. (Interestingly, decades later, when Nordstrom promoted their localized buying on a regional basis, it was hailed as revolutionary).

Anyway, I think Bullock's demise can be traced to Robert Campeau's ill-fated purchase of Federated in the 1980's. The store was sold to Macy's who had no knowledge of Southern California, and seemed to have little or no use for the Bullock's traditions. Mired in debt and forced to declare bankruptcy, Macy's operated the once-unique Bullock's chain out of their Atlanta (?) division. The newer stores in Burbank and Northridge (rebuilt after the 1994 earthquake) were just Macy's stores with 'Bullock's' (in boring block letters) slapped on the outside. It was inevitable, yet sad, when the stores took the Macy's name in 1996.

The two former Bullock's that retain at least part of their past charm are in Pasadena (1947) and Santa Ana (1958). Fortunately, Macy's has been so preoccupied trying to digest their Macy Company acquisition, that they have not spent much money de-Bullocking these two delightful stores. If you're in the neighborhood, they are worth a visit.

Posted: 11 Mar 2007 11:13
by Jeff
On a smaller scale, they never really de-Bullocked the store in Manhattan Beach, and they didn't de-buffumize the Manhattan beach store.

Posted: 14 Mar 2007 01:29
by hushpuppy212
That's good to know, since Manhattan Beach is representative of the 1980's Bullock's look. Since it's slated to close, I would presume West Covina has been left pretty much untouched, and would still have a 1975 look to it.

Posted: 14 Mar 2007 11:58
by Jeff
The Macy's / Bullocks West Covina was slated to close, but was rumored to become a Men's store. Its still open as a full service store.

Bullocks

Posted: 19 Mar 2007 02:03
by J-Man
Don't forget Bullocks' ill-fated attempt to move in to the Bay Area market. The Nordstrom stores in Walnut Creek, Stanford, and Stonestown began as Bullocks, and there were other locations in San Mateo (in the now defunct Fashion Island), Oakridge (Sears?) and Vallco (not sure what it is now.)

Is the former Bullocks in Santa Ana the current Macy's in the MainPlace shopping center? I thought that mall was built from scratch in the 80s (or late 70s), not around one or more existing stores. Or is there another store in Santa Ana I'm not aware of?

I heartily concur with your recommendation to visit the former Bullocks-Pasadena (now the Macys on Lake Ave--not the one on Colorado Blvd., which is a former Broadway.) It really is "of an era" and unlike any other suburban department store you'll see these days.

Re: Bullocks

Posted: 19 Mar 2007 02:34
by justin karimzad
J-Man wrote:Don't forget Bullocks' ill-fated attempt to move in to the Bay Area market. The Nordstrom stores in Walnut Creek, Stanford, and Stonestown began as Bullocks, and there were other locations in San Mateo (in the now defunct Fashion Island), Oakridge (Sears?) and Vallco (not sure what it is now.).
I think the Stonestown store started out as a branch for downtown San Francisco's City of Paris before becoming a Liberty House for a short time and then Bullock's and Nordstrom. The Sears in Oakridge was definetly a Nordstrom prior, but I'm not sure if it's the original Bullock's building. The Vallco store in Cupertino is now Macy's.

Posted: 21 Mar 2007 20:27
by hushpuppy212
Here is the history of the Stonestown store:

1952-1960 Butler Brothers
http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfph ... C-6534.jpg
http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfph ... C-0800.jpg

1960- 1971 City of Paris (operated by City of Paris)

1972-1973 City of Paris by Liberty House (operated by Liberty House)

building razed c1975

1977 - 1983 Bullock's
http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfph ... C-6535.jpg
http://webbie1.sfpl.org/multimedia/sfph ... C-6534.jpg

1988 - present Nordstrom

And yes, the Sears Oakridge store was built as Bullock's in the late 1970's, closed in 1983, operated as Nordstrom from 1984-1994, and is now a Sears (still with many Nordstrom touches)

Re: Bullocks

Posted: 21 Mar 2007 23:58
by Jeff
J-Man wrote:Don't forget Bullocks' ill-fated attempt to move in to the Bay Area market. The Nordstrom stores in Walnut Creek, Stanford, and Stonestown began as Bullocks, and there were other locations in San Mateo (in the now defunct Fashion Island), Oakridge (Sears?) and Vallco (not sure what it is now.)

Is the former Bullocks in Santa Ana the current Macy's in the MainPlace shopping center? I thought that mall was built from scratch in the 80s (or late 70s), not around one or more existing stores. Or is there another store in Santa Ana I'm not aware of?

I heartily concur with your recommendation to visit the former Bullocks-Pasadena (now the Macys on Lake Ave--not the one on Colorado Blvd., which is a former Broadway.) It really is "of an era" and unlike any other suburban department store you'll see these days.
The former Bullocks in MainPlace is the Macy's Women store today. This huge 3-level store moved their Mens and Home into the former Robinsons-May Mens/Home store in the south end of the Mall.

The Mall was built in the 80's to replace the old Fashion Square. Original Mainplace Anchors were Robinsons (south end), Nordstroms, Bullocks and May Company (north End). The May Company was a replacement for the City Mall store on the other side of the 22. This May Company was a single story and actually stayed open as a May Co clearance center until the early 90s.

Re: Bullocks

Posted: 21 Jun 2007 15:14
by rjlawrencejr
J-Man wrote:Don't forget Bullocks' ill-fated attempt to move in to the Bay Area market. The Nordstrom stores in Walnut Creek, Stanford, and Stonestown began as Bullocks, and there were other locations in San Mateo (in the now defunct Fashion Island), Oakridge (Sears?) and Vallco (not sure what it is now.)

Is the former Bullocks in Santa Ana the current Macy's in the MainPlace shopping center? I thought that mall was built from scratch in the 80s (or late 70s), not around one or more existing stores. Or is there another store in Santa Ana I'm not aware of?

I heartily concur with your recommendation to visit the former Bullocks-Pasadena (now the Macys on Lake Ave--not the one on Colorado Blvd., which is a former Broadway.) It really is "of an era" and unlike any other suburban department store you'll see these days.

In 1958 Bullock's built their Fashion Square store along with an accompanying I. Magnin. Around 1986, Fashion Square was demolished and Main Place was erected.

If you look at the architecture of the Main Place and Del Amo stores, you will see they resemble the basic layout of the Pasadena store.

Posted: 25 Jun 2007 00:56
by hushpuppy212
Main Place received a Bullock's-remodel in the mid 1980's, when Main Place was built, so it still has a lot of that Southern California look that Bullock's did so well. The Del Amo store was remodeled after Macy's took over and the store is dull and bland. The Pasadena store is still pretty much intact, and (as of the last time I was there) still has no escalators. AFAIK, Pasadena and Ardmore, PA (the former Strawbridge and Clothier) are the only two Macy's without escalators.

Posted: 25 Jun 2007 13:22
by Jeff
Pasadena Macy's is still pretty intact. I wentback in March.
Macy's Mainplace is going to be a Womens only store. The Men's and Home is moving (or has been moved) to the former Robinsons-May south store.

Re: BULLOCKS--Southern California

Posted: 03 Jan 2008 02:47
by Jeff
It would be a great time to take some pictures of the old Bullocks store at West Covina.

The going out of business sale has started as Macys is moving all operations to the old Robinsons-May store finally. The store will close by the end of the month.

Apparently the site is going to be converted into a new Best Buy store, moving it to the mall from the Lakes Plaza across the street.

Re: BULLOCKS--Southern California

Posted: 03 Jan 2008 10:48
by Dean
Jeff wrote:It would be a great time to take some pictures of the old Bullocks store at West Covina.

The going out of business sale has started as Macys is moving all operations to the old Robinsons-May store finally. The store will close by the end of the month.

Apparently the site is going to be converted into a new Best Buy store, moving it to the mall from the Lakes Plaza across the street.
Yes Jeff! Especially since you can still see BULLOCKS spelled out on the building!

Also, you gotta' love the old boxy BROADWAY turned Sears!