Retro Friday: "If They Knew Then What We Know Now" Edition

Perhaps there's a reason the May Co. and Pioneer Chicken are out of business: Bad marketing karma. Above, can you imagine this ad running now? From 1984, a May Company commercial touting a big fur coat sale. (BTW, isn't it odd that the May Co. logo was similar to the current Macy's logo, given that Macy's replaced Robinsons-May in SoCal?)

Meanwhile, below: Can you imagine this ad running now? From 1984, O.J. Simpson touts the joys of another abandoned chain, Pioneer Chicken.

A Visit to Downtown's Old May Co. Building

(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.