One Reader Writes…
Milliron’s Department Store
Since Mervyn’s is in the news, here is something that a few of our Senior residents might remember. The current location of Mervyn’s opened as a department store in 1949, as Milliron’s Department Store.
MILLIRON’S DEPARTMENT STORE, GRAND OPENING, 1949. 1949 LA Herald Examiner: “Exterior view of the new modern Milliron’s store in Westchester. The unique display houses are set at an angle for the benefit of auto traffic on Sepulveda Boulevard. Exterior view of the new Milliron’s store in Westchester on March 17, 1949. A large crowd was drawn to official opening ceremonies at the store on Sepulveda Boulevard near Manchester.” (PHOTOS: Courtesy Los Angeles Public Library.)
Milliron’s Department Store (1949)
Just a few years later, Milliron’s was acquired by Broadway Stores, and The Broadway-Westchester operated here for decades. Many locals will remember the roof-top parking, and Garden Rooftop Restaurant, that was a famous place for mothers to take their daughter to tea.
Along with the theatres and specialty shops that once lined Sepulveda Boulevard, the “Uptown” Westchester shopping area was the center of commerce for all of Westchester and Playa Del Rey. With Mervyn’s closing, I hope we can quickly find a new tenant; such as a Sears or J C Penney.
DJ “Duke” Dukeshere is the author of the A Reader Writes… column can be found in the Westchester HomeTown News each month.
Comments– dukehometownnews@yahoo.com
These are awesome! I remember sitting on Santa’s lap with my sister in that huge window in the left picture!
Also, on the right, am I really looking north down Sepulveda, towards Manchester, 83rd, and points beyond? Was Savon alive then?
1 more question: At Sav-on, it was ice cream there for 5 cents and candy was 3 for a dime right? Stock up on all that after getting the free movie pass at Marina Federal Savings, Then across to Loyola Theatre to view “Son of Flubber.”
I thought we might get a Crate & Barrel or something else high end. I don’t think the space is big enough for a JC Penny or Sears can we aim higher although I know we could all use a sports or hardware store-ok that would be great too! Sports Authority anyone??? I know alot of parents will totally miss Mervyns convenience, sales and late hours!
I’d love to have a Sears but for sure they would have to go up a floor to offer all of the other departments we know and love about Sears such as tools and appliances. The closest Sears in Santa Monica and Torrance which are both quite a long drive.
A Sports Authority or Sports Chalet would be great as well. We’re often going to one or the other and having to go into MdR or Hawthorne is quite a drive.
Those photo’s are awesome. In the Grand Opening photo you can barely make out the Loyola Theater across the street and I love those little display house’s and landscaping outside of Milliron’s.
A Sports Authority or Sports Chalet would be a great fit with all of the families and colleges around here.
Thanks! I love seeing the old pics. Are the “unique display houses…set at an angle for the benefit of auto traffic on Sepulveda Boulevard” still intact?
I doubt JCP would open there – they are already so close at Fox Hills. But Sears would be nice! Target would be great. Sport Chalet, Crate & Barrel would be good too. Or maybe a Whole Foods?
Or maybe Mervyn’s is just closing because they know something that we don’t about the airport’s plans to move the runways north. Let’s hope not! Does anyone know who owns the property?
The Airport Lions Club – 72 strong, with large high school Speech Contests, Police Appreciation Days and Citizens of the Century luncheons – used to meet in the restaurant upstairs, And, yes, tea in the afternoons. I had forgotten, but I do remember!
I remember a Macy’s there for a short time. They had a big closing sale back then, too.
I’ll miss Mervyn’s. It was the first dept. store I worked in, in Petaluma, CA back in the ’70’s!
I too love those old pix of Westchester and I didn’t get here until 1976.
A microscopic anecdote: The Milleron’s store’s 1060’s design included metal pushbars on the doors in the shape of an “M.” When Broadway took over the store, they turned them upside-down — “W ” for Westchester. Mervyn’s turned them back “right-side-up” again when they took over. Then, when Mervyn’s recently remodeled, the pushbars were “urban-renewed” and became history. Maybe, if we got a Whole Foods, the pushbars would come back!
I wish I’d been here when the roof-top restaurant was operating; those were the days!
Bob in Westport Heights
I no longer live in LA, but I grew up in Westchester, born in 1946. My parents bought a Kaiser/Burns house on MacLean which is now gone, behind the sound barrier for the airport (but the land isn’t actually being used for anything). Lincoln was a “wash” then – sort of an urban creek. I walked to Kentwood School until Emerson Manor was opened. We would walk to movies at the Paradise and Loyola – no one seemed to be worried about crime or kidnapping in those days. I also remember when the tunnel under the airport runway opened!
Hi Tom,
I was the local Herald Examiner paperboy(about 1964-1968), and delivered all the papers west of Emerson, and from Wil Rogers to Manchester. So if you were there, I delivered your paper!
Thought you would like to know, that the area behind the sound barrier will soon be the new home of 3 holes of Westchester Golf Course.
And yes, we used to catch frogs and polliwogs ON Lincoln Boulevard!
All the best,
Duke Dukesherer
What a wonderful photo and story. I live in Mar Vista and drive past this store each day on my way to work in El Segundo. I’ve always liked this building and feel it has a very modern appearance; I would not have imagined it was nearly 60 years old. It’s fun to imagine how one might have perceived its appearance in 1949. I would have loved that rooftop restaurant and it would be fun if someone were to recreate it.
I hope your community will use the Mervyn’s vacancy as an opportunity and put this wonderful building to good use. That area has some great stores and much potential. If I could offer one more suggestion if anyone of influence is reading, it would be to use the street being redone as an opportunity to encourage merchants in the area to use their Sepulveda-facing entrances, creating a nice, walkable streetscape. Seems many have chosen to open only to the lot on the other side, giving Sepulveda, particularly between La Tijera and Manchester, a rather “sad” appearance. All those blank walls and closed entrances are not attractive.
You can barely tell the building from when it was Milliron’s and the Broadway, the rooftop parking is gone, the angled street display windows are gone, the inside is full of cheezy “Drop Ceilings” etc etc etc.