Comments on: Department Stores in Southern California – J.W. Robinson & Co

By: John Coghlan

John Coghlan — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:45:38 +0000

Oct. 1st 2012 … Worked at JWR for six years downtown – Director of Branch Renovations.
Donley, Harcus – Mr Frank. … Great group. Slayden was the last ‘old school’ President. Then Mr. Kelley came out from the East to try to resuscitate the decline and finally Mr Largay of Goldwaters Arizona.
He let whole departments go – ours included.
Frankly glad. Became a curator for the city.

I was under the impression that JWR valley became the Broadway – then Walmart. All the same building. Did work there on the main floor when JWR and most other stores -planning – case moves, special programs etc.
Somebody might do an L.A.Plan check – or phone book/address check.

JWR valley was BIG – as the drawing indicates – three stories with a restaurant on the top floor – Broadway retained that for awhile I believe. There was a Van Nuys Blvd entrance so I don;t see how it could have been over by Food For Less .. .which is not next to V.N.Blvd. I thought the mall was added later. Another site says otherwise.
JC

By: Rich

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By: power

power — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:06:21 +0000

Hi! Great blog!

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:26:20 +0000

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By: jplummer

jplummer — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:15:20 +0000

Your heart must pitter pat every time you think about your heritage and what your family accomplished. The Yosemite Park Company was also a wonderful thing in addition to the great retail businesses.

I will add more as I get more postcards. I hope you will follow the development of this story.

John Plummer

By: Mark Dohrmann

Mark Dohrmann — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 04:03:22 +0000

Thanks for posting this. My great Grandfather was FW Dohrmann and my Grandfather ABC Dohrmann and though I never had the pleasure of knowing either gentleman I do so love reading of their exploits in SF Business and in the Yosemite Park Company.

Again…thank you

By: jplummer

jplummer — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:58:06 +0000

Between 1880 and 1900, numerous retailers across the nation were called The Boston Store. This was because much of apparel manufacturing was done in New England at the time and because Boston had cache.
Thanks for your comments.

By: jplummer

jplummer — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:54:27 +0000

I apologize for the typo of Santa Rosa instead of Santa Barbara. I know the store in Santa Barbara as I visited it several times.
I will keep researching the founding date. I will also research the date the name was changed from Boston Store to J.W. Robinson. As you can see, the first postcard shows the Boston Store. It is a very rare card. But, because of its design, it was certainly produced after 1891.
If you have more information, please let me know.

By: mini cooper parts

mini cooper parts — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 05:44:31 +0000

Great post. Thank You

By: Randy Hansen

Randy Hansen — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:50:55 +0000

Robinson’s actually began in 1883, as The Boston Dry Goods in honor of Joseph Winchster Robinson’s Boston roots, and was renamed J. W. Robinson just after his death in 1891. Wikipedia incorrectly states the year as 1957 when Associated Dry Goods bought Robinson’s, which was actually two years earlier. I do believe you mean “Santa Barbara” rather than “Santa Rosa” which is in Northern California.

Also, like Bullock’s (in the San Franciso area), Robinson’s and their parent company started an off-shoot namesake chain in the early 1970′s. It was called “Robinson’s of Florida”, headquartered in St. Petersburg. May Dept. Stores sold them to Maison Blanche, which in turn sold them to Dillard’s.