So...
Does anyone know much about Unimart?
Does this store look like it might have been one?
Was there a Unimart in the Westlake area of LA, which is where most of the other location scenes in the movie seem to have been shot?
Great Pumpkin
In the 1965 movie "A Patch of Blue" there's a fairly long scene in a supermarket. I noticed the Unimart name on one of the signs. I'm not familiar with this chain, really, but what I've read suggests that they were big stores, maybe with general merchandise as well as food. This would be consistent with the views in the movie; the store seemed HUGE for 1965.
So...
Does anyone know much about Unimart?
Does this store look like it might have been one?
Was there a Unimart in the Westlake area of LA, which is where most of the other location scenes in the movie seem to have been shot?
So...
Does anyone know much about Unimart?
Does this store look like it might have been one?
Was there a Unimart in the Westlake area of LA, which is where most of the other location scenes in the movie seem to have been shot?
Great Pumpkin
Separate chain, alas. Per their website, they started operations about ten years after the movie was made. I think it's a pretty common name; there seems to be a Unimart of some sort in Mexico as well.danielh_512 wrote:I doubt this is relevant, but the only Uni-Mart I know is a Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain that's pretty inferior to most Mid-Atlantic offerings these days. I doubt there was any connection.
Member
Yes, there was one in Culver City near a shopping center called "Studio Village". It was where Sepulveda Blvd/Sawtelle Blvd/Jefferson Blvd all converge. Looked like a earlier version of Target/Fed-Mart/Fedco and so on.....
Contributor
Folks: A little to add about Unimart ...
There was a location in North Hollywood at the NW corner of Victory & Vineland. I also recall it being a Fedco type store. Don't know if I would call Unimart an early version of Target as Unimart had a fairly sizable grocery section--something Target is just getting around to some 40 years later. Unimart's advertising and TV & Radio jingle included the line "Shop ala cart (sic) at Unimart ..."
The North Hollywood store almost literally disappeared in the late 60's or early 70's. I don't remember if Unimart was stand-alone, or part of a shopping center, but it was built on top of some sort of landfill that wasn't finished off correctly. The store started sinking into the ground!
Not sure if the Unimart chain went out of business before the building became unsafe, or if they abandoned the location while they were still in business, but I remember the whole lot being fenced off, with the lopsided building sitting in the middle.
Eventually, the remains of Unimart were demolished and the landifill was reworked. After a few years (maybe to let the landfill settle properly), a new building went up and the site is now occupied by Target.
I don't know if Target was the first tenant of that new building, but I guess the landfill was finished off correctly the second time around as I've been in that Target a few times--and there was no evidence of that sinking feeling.
There was a location in North Hollywood at the NW corner of Victory & Vineland. I also recall it being a Fedco type store. Don't know if I would call Unimart an early version of Target as Unimart had a fairly sizable grocery section--something Target is just getting around to some 40 years later. Unimart's advertising and TV & Radio jingle included the line "Shop ala cart (sic) at Unimart ..."
The North Hollywood store almost literally disappeared in the late 60's or early 70's. I don't remember if Unimart was stand-alone, or part of a shopping center, but it was built on top of some sort of landfill that wasn't finished off correctly. The store started sinking into the ground!
Not sure if the Unimart chain went out of business before the building became unsafe, or if they abandoned the location while they were still in business, but I remember the whole lot being fenced off, with the lopsided building sitting in the middle.
Eventually, the remains of Unimart were demolished and the landifill was reworked. After a few years (maybe to let the landfill settle properly), a new building went up and the site is now occupied by Target.
I don't know if Target was the first tenant of that new building, but I guess the landfill was finished off correctly the second time around as I've been in that Target a few times--and there was no evidence of that sinking feeling.
Contributor
Seems odd, because that's only a couple miles from the Hollywood Way and Vanowen location (the current Fry's). (Second photo, showing the building.)Gunter Caddington wrote:Folks: A little to add about Unimart ...
There was a location in North Hollywood at the NW corner of Victory & Vineland.
In this comment page, on the site that those photos come from, there's a mention that it was White Front that was at Victory and Vineland, where the Target is now.
I get that sinking feeling every time I go in there and see how long the checkout lines are.I don't know if Target was the first tenant of that new building, but I guess the landfill was finished off correctly the second time around as I've been in that Target a few times--and there was no evidence of that sinking feeling.
Veteran
There is another unaltered Unimart building in Norwalk on the corner of Alondra and Maidstone. Its currently an indoor swap meet, but they still have the diamond shaped sign over the entry, and the distinct building design.