(Flickr pic via army.arch)
Born as Hamburger's Department Store in 1903 (read more here, the May Co. bought Hamburger's and took over this building (at 8th and Broadway) as its flagship downtown Los Angeles location in 1923. Sadly, May Co. abandoned it in the mid-1980s. Now sadly crumbling as the Broadway Trade Center, there are still some hints of its glorious past, both inside and out. "The May Company" signs remain, as do little "H"s found all over the facade for "Hamburger's." We recently walked inside, and I took some pics of what we saw:
Elevator
A leftover directory of how the May Co. was organized before shutting down.
Disassembled escalator
Inside May Co. now
awning
"Erected 1903"
The May Co. and Robinson's merged in the early 1990s to form Robinsons-May -- but as you know, Macy's bought out Robinsons-May and eliminated the brand in 2008. Want more May Co. history? Check out the Department Store Museum here.
1 comment:
Eric Lynxwiler and I urban explored this building a few years ago. somehow we made it all the way upstairs to the top floor but it was just corridors with offices. nothing fun to see.
on our way down the stairwell we found that all the doors leading to the floors were locked and were afraid we were trapped in the stairwell. luckily the very last door at the bottom was unlocked. fun times!
Post a Comment