Title supplied by cataloger. The Sears, Roebuck & Company Mail Order Building, located in Boyle Heights, was built in 1927 as a distribution center for the company's mail order department. It was designed in the Art Deco style by the architectural firm of George Nimmens Company and was constructed by Scofield Engineering-Construction Company in record-breaking time: a mere 6 months, at a cost of $5,000,000. On completion, the building had nine stories and a basement, a 226-foot Art Deco tower, and a total floor area of approximately 11 acres. The Sears building was one of the largest in Los Angeles, and it attracted more than 100,000 visitors in the first month of operation. In May of 1991 after 64 years of operation, Sears announced that it would close its regional distribution center in Boyle Heights, and its doors were officially closed in January 1992 - eliminating 585 full-time, and 775 part-time jobs. Considered to be one of the iconic landmarks of LA's Eastside, it has been the subject of several renovation proposals since the mid-1990s. The Boyle Heights Sears building was designated Historic-Cultural Monument #788 in August 2004, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 21, 2006 - #05001407. Looking west down Olympic Boulevard from just east of Soto Street in Boyle Heights. Seen are the Shull & Phillips tire shop (left) which sells Associated Oil gas, a Foster and Kleiser billboard for United States Rubber Company (Uniroyal) tires, the Sear's Building and a Coca-Cola delivery truck (right). Photograph dated January 5, 1950.
Type
image
Format
1 negative :safety ;13 x 18 cm. Photographic safety negatives
Shull & Phillips (Los Angeles, Calif.) United States Rubber Company Coca-Cola Company Sears, Roebuck and Company Associated Oil Company Department stores--California--Boyle Heights (Los Angeles) Stores & shops--California--Boyle Heights (Los Angeles) Service stations--California--Boyle Heights (Los Angeles) Signs and signboards--California--Boyle Heights (Los Angeles) Streets--California--Boyle Heights (Los Angeles) Tires--California--Los Angeles Automobiles--California--Los Angeles Advertising--Tires--California--Los Angeles Electric lines--Poles and towers Art deco (Architecture)--California--Boyle Heights (Los Angeles) Lost architecture--California--Boyle Heights (Los Angeles) Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Olympic Boulevard (Los Angeles, Calif.) Boyle Heights (Los Angeles, Calif.) Los Angeles Photographers Collection photographs Blackstock Collection photographs George Nimmens Company
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