Quigley's

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Quigley's (also Quigley's Department Stores, Quigley's Variety Stores) was a chain of variety stores and junior department stores in Los Angeles County, California, from 1936 through 1990. [1]

Contents

Roger Bemis (R. B.) Quigley retired from Woolworth's and opened the first Quigley's in 1936, near the corner of Sunset and Fairfax, just north of what is the border of West Hollywood today. At the time, there was little competition from supermarkets for the types of products that variety stores (or "five and dimes") sold. His slogan was "basic merchandise at a reasonable price" was his slogan. [1]

In 1948 Quigley's was owned and operated by R. B. Quigley, [2] J. H. (James Harold) Quigley, [3] [4] and W. S. Manning. [5]

Expansion

Stores were opened as follows:

City/neighborhoodLocation      Opened      Notes Source 
Hollywood 7916 Sunset Bl. at Fairfax Av. First listed in the phone directory in the 1930s [6] [7]
Los Feliz 1815 N. Vermont Av.by 1947 [8] [6]
Westchester 8816 S. Sepulveda Bl.1953The building was part of Bed Bath & Beyond through 2021. [9] [10] [11] [12]
Burbank 1611 W. Verdugo Av. at Olive1945Staff of 20 in 1948, 8,500 sq ft (790 m2) [6] [5]
Windsor Hills 4435 W. Slauson Av. [6]
Van Nuys 6711 Van Nuys Bl. at Vanowen1948 [13]
Long Beach Plaza, 6428 E. Spring St.1953 [14] [15] [16]
Sherman Oaks Chase Knolls, 13401 Riverside at Fulton195518,000 sq ft (1,700 m2). Closed in 1990. [1] [17] [18]
LakewoodCarwood, 4240 Woodruff at CarsonJun 7, 1956 [19] [20]
Belmont Shore 5026 E. Second St.May 4, 19618th store upon opening, 4th store in Long Beach–Lakewood area [14] [21]
Downey Downey Shopping CenterAfter 1961 [14] [22]
Azusa 305 E. GladstoneAfter 1961 [14] [11]

The last store, Sherman Oaks, closed in 1990. Despite Quigley's calling itself a department store over the years, the Los Angeles Times put Quigley's squarely in the category of variety store. The newspaper reported that the staff prided itself on the slogan, "if you can’t find it any place else, Quigley’s has it." [1]

Quigley's Belmont Shore and Plaza were voted in the top 100 of most missed things in Long Beach, according to a poll by columnist Tim Grobaty [23] in the Long Beach Press-Telegram . [24]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Klein, Karen E. (12 April 1990). "'Masterpiece of a Store' Will Close Its Doors : Quigley's: For 37 years, it sold "all the bingles and bangles, the little nitty- gritty things no one else wanted to sell."". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  2. ↑ "Roger Bemis Quigley". FamilySearch. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  3. ↑ "James Harold Quigley". Family Search.
  4. ↑ "James H. Quigley". FamilySearch. United States Census. 1950. Retrieved 28 March 2024. general merchandise
  5. 1 2 "Quigley's". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. 22 November 1948. p. 24.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Image 259 of California - Yellow Pages - Los Angeles Central Area - August 1953 A through MONEL". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. 1953. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Image 116 of California - Yellow Pages - Los Angeles - September 1938". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. 1938. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "Classified ad for Quigley's at 1815 N. Vermont". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. 15 June 1944. p. 22. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  9. ↑ "Image 259 of California - Yellow Pages - Los Angeles Central Area - August 1953 A through MONEL". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  10. ↑ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California". Newspapers.com. 4 May 1958. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  11. 1 2 City Business Directory of Greater Los Angeles. City Business Directory Publishers. 1961. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "8816 S. Sepulveda Bl., Los Angeles" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  13. ↑ "Advertisement for Quigley's Van Nuys grand opening". The Van Nuys News. 4 November 1948. p. 24. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 4 "Quigley Department Store in Belmont Shore Opening Today…5026 E. Second St.…8 stores…4 in LB-Lakewood". Press-Telegram. 4 May 1961. p. 69. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  15. ↑ "Advertisement for Plaza Shopping Center". Press-Telegram. Long Beach, California: newspaperarchive.com. 16 October 1968. p. 101. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  16. ↑ "Local Center Opening Set". Independent. 21 June 1953. p. 30. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  17. ↑ "Belief in Valley's Future / Chase Knolls Shop Center". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. 18 January 1955. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  18. ↑ "New Quigley's Store Open for Valley Shoppers Oct. 13". Valley News. 13 October 1955. p. 47. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  19. ↑ "Carwood Business Group Forms, Picks First Officers". Independent. 31 May 1956. p. 43. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  20. ↑ "Ad for Carwood Center". Press-Telegram. 16 October 1955. p. 40. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  21. ↑ "EPA parking fee plan out". Independent. 9 February 1974. p. 13. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  22. ↑ "Downey Shopping Center ad". The Los Angeles Times. 10 October 1963. p. 186. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  23. ↑ "Tim Grobaty: books, biography, latest update". Amazon.com. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  24. ↑ "Tim Grobaty: Readers come up with extensive - ProQuest". Press -Telegram. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
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