From 1880 to 1890, the population of Los Angeles doubled from 50,395 to 102,479 people. In January 1895 the J. W. Robinson Co., which by that time advertised simply as "The Boston Store", announced that after only eight years at Spring Street, more spacious quarters were necessary, and that a new four-story "Boston Dry Goods Store Building" was under construction at
239 S. Broadway (razed, currently site of a parking lot), opposite the then City Hall. It was designed by
Theodore Eisen and
Sumner Hunt, designer of the
Bradbury Building. On October 1, 1895, Robinson's opened the new store. The new building was promoted at the time as a sign that Los Angeles had come into its own as a "metropolitan center" and that it was no longer necessary to make "annual pilgrimages to San Francisco" to obtain a wide selection of fine merchandise. The front was "Grecian" (
Greek Revival) in style, of light cream brick and terra cotta. It featured an elaborate
Corinthian-style cornice crowning the façade. Above it rose a high parapet broken by a high-relief entresol panel. All of this was surmounted by elaborate
acroteria. 60-foot-long, 19.5-foot-high
plate glass windows illuminated the ground floor. Just above the second floor the façade was
Colonial style and above that
Doric-style features. The building had passenger and freight elevators, and skylights illuminated through to the ground floor. The first/ground floor and part of the basement were devoted to retail with a central cashier's and wrapping desk, offices were also on the ground floor, receiving and shipping were also in the basement, while the two upper floors housed the main part of the manufacturing and wholesale departments, which moved down from Temple Street. The second floor housed various merchandise departments, areas to display delicate fabrics under gas light, a desk with stationery for customers to write, and the ladies' "parlors" (restrooms). In 1908 the store opened up a 5-story extension at the back, fronting on Hill Street. The architect was
Theodore Eisen.
Flagship store construction As Los Angeles continued to grow, so did Robinson's business and in 1914 it announced its construction of a new $1,000,000, (~$ in ) seven-story flagship store with over nine acres () of floor space, along the south side of
West Seventh Street stretching alone the complete block between Grand and Hope streets. Frederick Noonan and
William J. Dodd were the architects. The store opened on September 7, 1915. The building was expanded to the south in 1923 at a cost of $900,000 (~$ in ), Dodd and Richard, architects, for a total of . In 1934, the building was remodeled for between $100,000 (~$ in )–200,000 to a "restrained Modernistic" exterior, shedding some its more exuberant Art Deco features and adding more parking facilities. Robinson's was the largest store of what became a new upscale
Seventh Street shopping district to the southwest of the concentration of department stores along Broadway, with
Ville de Paris (later
B. H. Dyas),
Coulter's,
Haggarty's, and
Desmond's opening stores nearby. The Robinson's store closed in 1993 and the building, 600 West Seventh Street, currently houses telecommunications (voice, data and internet servers), offices and ground-floor retail. The store contained the following departments: • First (ground) floor: ribbons, parasols, umbrellas, laces and trimmings, lace neckwear, feather boas, ceilings, gloves, handkerchiefs, fancy boas, fancy hairpins and combs, jewelry, leather goods, stationery, men's furnishings, boys' furnishings and clothing, "bargain square" • Second floor: art needlework, linens, sheetings, wash goods, linings, silk dress good patterns, ladies' restrooms, design room, beauty parlors and shoe shining dept. • Third floor: cloak and suit for misses and ladies, French room for imported gowns and hats, baby shop for fine layette materials and outfitting, mourning goods, children's dresses, petticoats, blouses, millinery, sweaters, bathing suits, kimono, bathrobes, house dresses, corsets, knit underwear, muslin underwear and aprons • Fourth floor: rugs, draperies, pictures, brasses, statuary, cut glass, art porcelains and toys • Fifth floor: offices, auditorium, alteration dept. and workrooms • Sixth floor: hospital and reserve stockroom • Seventh floor. employee cafeteria, two outdoor "courts", women's employee restroom, large "court" and lounge for men • Seventh/top floor: roof garden and café
Acquisition by ADG and expansion Associated Dry Goods (ADG) bought Robinson's in 1955 (the term used by CEO Edward R. Valentine in the press was that Robinson's "affiliated with" ADG.) At that time the chain's sales were $32.5 million annually, with $12 million coming from the Beverly Hills branch. The Robinson's stores became, like the former May Co. locations, mid-range department stores, which market research firm NPD Group characterized as having an "identity crisis" because "they tried to be something for everyone and ended up being nothing for anyone". Federated Department Stores (which had bought Macy's in 1994 and changed its name in 2007 to
Macy's, Inc.) bought May Department Stores in 2005. Robinson's-May was dissolved in 2005–6, and the former Robinson's stores were closed, sold, or turned into
Macy's or
Bloomingdale's branches. == Stores ==