Bullocks Wilshire: A 1920s Department Store as “Temple to the Automobile”

In 1929, most department stores were built for pedestrians strolling downtown streets.

Bullocks Wilshire in Los Angeles was different, as it reflected the growing car-centric character of the city and its outlying districts, with shoppers pulling up in their own vehicles and entering through the back.

But the architecture was impressive no matter who it catered to.

Bullocks Wilshire’s Opening as a “Temple to the Automobile”

The store concept was conceived by John G. Bullock and P.G. Winnett, business partners who built their careers under Arthur Letts, who founded the original Broadway department store downtown.

The 5-story building was designed by architects John and Donald Parkinson, who also designed LA’s City Hall, Union Station, and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Art Deco style design is clad in buff-hued terra cotta with green verdigris copper accents, and topped by a 241-foot spire.

Winnett and the Parkinsons traveled to Paris for the 1925 Exposition of Decorative and Modern Arts in Paris, which introduced the new architectural style. It is now considered one of Los Angeles’s finest examples of Art Deco.

The store’s interiors were designed by Eleanor Lemaire and Jock Peters, and Bullocks Wilshire opened on September 26, 1929 at 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in what’s now called Wilshire Center, a bit east from the Miracle Mile district and sharing in the concept of the “linear downtown” along Wilshire.

It was nicknamed a “cathedral of commerce” and a “temple to the automobile,” since its main entrance was designed as a dramatic porte-cochere where customers arrived and were greeted directly from their cars.

Shopping the “Carriage Trade” Way: Bullock’s Wilshire in Its Prime

John Bullock built the store specifically for what he called the “carriage trade,” a term for wealthy clientele that dates back to the era of horse-drawn carriages. Here, it meant a customer base arriving by automobile, but everything about the shopping experience reflected that elite experience.

At first, the public was skeptical about locating a major department store so far from downtown and one that chose its main entrance to face its parking lot.

But Bullock had certainly made a good bet for the times.

It came to be considered the most exclusive shopping destination in Southern California. Shoppers were given a numbered parking spot at the rear porte-cochere, and finished purchases were brought directly to their car rather than handed over as wrapped packages.

The main floor’s Perfume Hall sat beneath a vaulted ceiling lit through walls of St. Genevieve marble, and merchandise was displayed on freestanding rosewood stands and mannequins rather than hanging racks, to keep sightlines open.

The store’s Irene Salon is reputed to be the first boutique inside a major American department store dedicated to a single designer; Irene Lentz went on to design film costumes for stars including Hedy Lamarr and Claudette Colbert.

Consolidations, Honors, Decline, and Closure

Bullock’s acquired the San Francisco luxury chain I. Magnin in 1944, and then in 1964, Bullocks Wilshire became part of Federated Department Stores.

The building was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1968. A decade later it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, on May 25, 1978.

Bullock’s parent company, Federated Department Stores, filed for bankruptcy protection in 1992, and the the Bullocks stores were rebranded as I. Magnin locations. The Wilshire store closed for good in 1993, and I. Magnin itself was fully dissolved by January 1995.

In 1996, Federated consolidated its remaining California department stores under the Macy’s name, formally ending 89 years of the Bullock’s brand.

From Department Store to Southwestern Law School

But after its closure, the former store found an unusual second act. Southwestern Law School purchased the building the following year, 1994.

The school spent ten years and $29 million restoring the building’s historic Art Deco elements while adapting its retail floors for classrooms, offices, and a law library.

The building has since won multiple preservation and renovation awards, including from the Los Angeles Business Council and the Los Angeles Headquarters Association.

And in another unexpected new life, the building was also replicated inside Disney’s California Adventure theme park, serving as a sort of themed, commoditized copy of the real thing which of course still survives across town.

Sources

https://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CA-01-037-0062 https://socallandmarks.com/index.php/2021/12/20/bullocks-wilshire/
https://www.lapl.org/collections-resources/blogs/lapl/art-meets-commerce-bullocks-wilshire-building-90 https://martinturnbull.com/news/2011/12/09/shopping-at-bullocks-wilshire-the-carraige-trade-way/