Pep Boys, 256 S Atlantic Bl at Pomona, East LA

TheStranger · Post by **TheStranger** » 16 Oct 2006 21:16

I saw a photo of this on Wikipedia's East Los Angeles page...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:East ... mesign.jpg

A slightly newer Live Local shot of the site:

http://local.live.com/?v=2&sp=Point.pp5 ... d%20States___

Barrel roof and pylon sign make me think this is a former supermarket of some sort, though the pylon style is clearly not that of Safeway (although all bets are off if Pep Boys themselves added the pylon when they took over the site)...

On this site, there's a photo of a Bakersfield former Safeway that became Pep Boys in the late 1960s, so this site appears to have been similarly reused.

greebs · Post by **greebs** » 16 Oct 2006 23:33

This store opened on April 4 1968 and was built as a Pep Boys.

TheStranger · Post by **TheStranger** » 16 Oct 2006 23:39

Thanks for the info! How many "supermarket" styled Pep Boys still exist?

I have to admit, that roof and pylon completely fooled me.

greebs · Post by **greebs** » 17 Oct 2006 01:19

Here is something interesting, Safeway opened a store on 275 S Atlantic Blvd in 1960.

greebs · Post by **greebs** » 17 Oct 2006 01:20

The Pep Boys address is 256 S Atlantic Blvd.

TheStranger · Post by **TheStranger** » 17 Oct 2006 01:22

greebs wrote:The Pep Boys address is 256 S Atlantic Blvd.

It is - but 275 S Atlantic, according to Live Local, points to the same exact block...

Yet Safeway had, by that point, already abandoned the "pylon and box" with bubble roof look, in favor of Marina and gable designs (or those incorporated into shopping center motifs)...

Hmm. The mystery deepens...

According to Google, the 275 S Atlantic address...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%2 ... Angeles%22

belongs to Aladdin Insurance Services now.

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » 17 Oct 2006 01:46

The Safeway located at 275 South Atlantic was torn down in 1987 not long after the chain moved out of the area. It was replaced by the strip mall you see there today. It was a gable Safeway, since there was a marina up atlantic in monterey park, and a marina on brooklyn in east la (see superior thread). The sign was located right that corner of Pomona/Third and Atlantic.

Funny thing, the light standard there still showed directions to higways 60, 70, 99 and 101 (all decommisioned by the 70's). I wish I could have taken that sign! It was in great condition till about 2000, when someone ran the pole down.

My mom's uncle was produce manager at this store when it closed, and then was transferred to the Safeway/Vons in Montebello (which is a former Thriftimart with a slightly bubble roof).

TheStranger · Post by **TheStranger** » 17 Oct 2006 15:40

Jeff wrote: Funny thing, the light standard there still showed directions to higways 60, 70, 99 and 101 (all decommisioned by the 70's). I wish I could have taken that sign! It was in great condition till about 2000, when someone ran the pole down.

I'm thinking that's an artifact of when Atlantic Boulevard was Route 15 (supplanted by Route 7 which of course evolved into I-710)...

That was when 60, 70, and 99 each used what is now I-10, and 101 continued south down the Santa Ana Freeway and then onward to San Diego.

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » 17 Oct 2006 19:36

TheStranger wrote:
Jeff wrote: Funny thing, the light standard there still showed directions to higways 60, 70, 99 and 101 (all decommisioned by the 70's). I wish I could have taken that sign! It was in great condition till about 2000, when someone ran the pole down.
I'm thinking that's an artifact of when Atlantic Boulevard was Route 15 (supplanted by Route 7 which of course evolved into I-710)...

That was when 60, 70, and 99 each used what is now I-10, and 101 continued south down the Santa Ana Freeway and then onward to San Diego.

I'm pretty sure it was. I beleive they took you straight down Pomona for one of the routes.

runchadrun · Post by **runchadrun** » 17 Oct 2006 21:46

There's a great site covering all of the highways in California with historical information at http://cahighways.org/

No message board though.

TheStranger · Post by **TheStranger** » 17 Oct 2006 22:04

runchadrun wrote:There's a great site covering all of the highways in California with historical information at http://cahighways.org/

No message board though.

(All off topic!)

Yeah, I've contributed some info to that place over the years, and I also have a site linked there about the SF freeway system (including a map that our very own Humble Host linked me to) that I haven't updated in quite some time though.

As for 60/70/99, Atlantic hits I-10 right at that area so I'm actually thinking the gantry pointed to that interchange (since the San Bernardino was once part of all those three routes), unless they were pointing to Valley Boulevard which is the even older routing.

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » 17 Oct 2006 22:53

TheStranger wrote: As for 60/70/99, Atlantic hits I-10 right at that area so I'm actually thinking the gantry pointed to that interchange (since the San Bernardino was once part of all those three routes), unless they were pointing to Valley Boulevard which is the even older routing.

Was Garvey 70, Valley 60/99 at one point?

TheStranger · Post by **TheStranger** » 17 Oct 2006 22:57

Jeff wrote:
TheStranger wrote: As for 60/70/99, Atlantic hits I-10 right at that area so I'm actually thinking the gantry pointed to that interchange (since the San Bernardino was once part of all those three routes), unless they were pointing to Valley Boulevard which is the even older routing.
Was Garvey 70, Valley 60/99 at one point?

I think both Garvey and Valley were 60/70/99 all together at one point, with the split being in Pomona (where 60 followed Mission Boulevard along the current Route 60 route, while 70/99 stayed on what is now I-10) where they ran seperately until Beaumont. 99 split again, this time for good, in Indio (along current Route 86) and 60/70 continued to Phoenix.

runchadrun · Post by **runchadrun** » 18 Oct 2006 13:43

Can I get back to the topic of Pep Boys?

I was just looking up a grocery store in Lawndale to see what it is now, and found that it's now a Pep Boys. I seem to remember that it was an Alpha Beta and before that it looks like a Thriftimart. The address is 14411 S. Hawthorne Blvd.

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2& ... ene=883813

Though you can't really tell from that picture it's similar in architecture to the Albertsons on Wilcox and the 60 in Montebello. I think Jeff can check me on that :)

greebs · Post by **greebs** » 18 Oct 2006 20:23

This store was a Lucky's. There was a Boys Market close by on 14310 S. Hawthorne Blvd that was converted into a Ralphs in 1995, and was recently closed.