Museum Square or the SAG-AFTRA Building , originally the Prudential Building is a landmark building at 5757–5779 Wilshire Boulevard , spanning two city blocks along that street, on the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles housing SAG-AFTRA . It was opened in 1949 and was the tallest and, at 517,000 sq ft (48,000 m), the largest privately owned structure in Los Angeles at that time. Welton Beckett of Wurdeman & Becket was the architect who designed it in the International Style . The building was part of the decentralization program by Prudential (1948-1965), with Rubin arguing that it included a "deliberate" urban-shaping policy: dazzling office buildings with large parking lots were constructed at the edges of established business districts.
20-509: Arts & Architecture magazine described the building as a symbol of Los Angeles and the western way of life. During the 1930s and 1940s, the Miracle Mile had become one of the most important shopping districts in the city, with several large department stores and several junior department stores. This building was symbolic of the district's addition function as a major office district. Prudential Insurance Los Angeles offices were located here as
40-461: A $ 1,000,000 remodel by Welton Becket , architect, and reopened in November 1953 as Ohrbach's-Downtown. Ohrbach's closed its branch and sold the building in 1959. The building still exists and consists of loft condominium (Shybary Grand Lofts, 312 W. Fifth St.) with retail on the ground floor. The success at this branch was short-lived. It first closed five floors as an economic move, and in 1959 closed
60-463: A dress manufacturer. After a time there was a dispute between the partners. Wiesen refused to sell so Ohrbach leased quarters nearby to open a second store thus forcing Wiesen to sell. When Ohrbach opened his store, he believed in cutting service to the bare essentials and sharing the savings with his customers. He also priced his goods in even numbers, while most of his competitors priced their goods in odd prices. Wiesen brought women's ready-to-wear in
80-483: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ohrbach%27s Ohrbach's was a moderate-priced department store with a merchandising focus primarily on clothing and accessories. From its modest start in 1923 until the chain's demise in 1987, Ohrbach's expanded dramatically after World War II , and opened numerous branch locations in the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas . Its original flagship store
100-677: The 5th and 6th floors of the Newark building relocated to space at the 34th Street store. The company's credit operations, also headquartered in the Newark building were moved to space in the firm's Bergen Mall location. At the time of Ohrbach's departure the other department stores operating in Newark stated they were still committed to downtown, but they began closing in 1976. By 1992, the last remaining firm, Macy's / Bamberger's , shuttered its downtown location. In June 1986, Brenninkmeyer's Amcena (renamed American Retail Group in 1994) acquired Howland-Steinbach from Supermarkets General Corp and announced
120-708: The Miracle Mile store led the firm to open another branch in Downtown Los Angeles when it acquired the twelve-story Milliron's building at 312 W. 5th St., corner of Broadway in August 1953. At the time, Broadway was approaching the end of its decades-long status as ground zero for mid- to upscale department store shopping for the Los Angeles metropolitan area, with the huge square-block flagship stores of Bullock's , The Broadway , May Co. and nearby, Robinson's , and suburban malls barely having launched. The store underwent
140-869: The Miracle Mile store was relocated in the former Seibu Department Store at Wilshire and Fairfax Avenue . This is the current location of the Petersen Automotive Museum . Ohrbach's was an anchor of the Los Cerritos Center in Cerritos , in the 1970s. In the mid-1970s, the company opened another store in the Glendale Galleria in Glendale, California. The architecture of the Cerritos and Glendale store featured an unusual tile façade to identify Ohrbach's in these new large malls. Ohrbach's supplied clothing for
160-594: The branch because of poor results. On November 3, 1962, it opened its third L.A.-area store in the Gateway Cities , at La Mirada Shopping Center , measuring 100,000 square feet (9,300 m ). In 1964, Ohrbach's opened a 104,000-square-foot (9,700 m ) store in the San Fernando Valley 's Panorama City Shopping Center (the building is now occupied by the Valley Indoor Swap Meet . In 1965,
180-401: The case of restaurants) menus, silverware, matchbooks, and napkins. After Wurdeman's death in 1949, Becket formed Welton Becket and Associates and continued to grow the firm to the extent that it was one of the largest architectural offices in the world by the time of his death in 1969. In 1987, his firm was acquired by Ellerbe Associates, and the merged firm continued as Ellerbe Becket until
200-613: The end of 2009, when it was acquired by AECOM . It is now known as Ellerbe Becket, an AECOM Company. Becket's buildings used unusual facade materials such as ceramic tile and stainless steel grillwork, repetitive geometric patterns, and a heavy emphasis on walls clad in natural stone, particularly travertine and flagstone . With The Walt Disney Company and the United States Steel Corporation , Becket's firm co-designed Disney's Contemporary Resort , which opened in 1971 at Walt Disney World Resort . The Contemporary
220-627: The fashion industry in California encouraged the company's expansion to the state. The firm utilized the services of a buying office in Los Angeles as early as 1939, and by 1945 opened its own. In 1948, it leased three floors and the mezzanine in a wing of the Welton Becket –William Wurdeman designed Prudential Insurance Building (now known as Museum Square or the SAG-AFTRA Building) on Wilshire Boulevard ’s Miracle Mile . The success of
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#1732851983074240-476: The form of job lots, seconds, manufacturer's overstock and irregulars. Ohrbach sold these in large volume at low prices. After buying Wiesen's interest in 1928, he added men's and children's furnishings and accessories. He started to “trade up” his women's wear and offer higher style garments. Other policies formalized at this time were: no price advertising, minimal sales force, no alterations, no deliveries, cash and carry and no special sales periods. The growth of
260-550: The last half of the 20th century. Following race rioting in July 1967, business declined at downtown stores, and conditions continued to worsen during the early 1970s. In 1973, Ohrbach's announced that it would close its store in Newark following the Christmas shopping season of that year. The store closed in January 1974 following a liquidation sale, and the remaining corporate offices located on
280-583: The shuttering of all six Greater Los Angeles locations as well as Ohrbach's flagship store on 34th Street. The remaining five stores, plus one unit under construction in the Smith Haven Mall reopened under the Steinbach banner on February 1, 1987. Despite the announcement earlier in the year, some California locations operated at least into 1987 and were closed as follows:↔ Welton Becket Welton David Becket (August 8, 1902 – January 16, 1969)
300-472: The television soap operas The Edge Of Night , All My Children , Dark Shadows , The Doctors , the short-lived weekly drama Coronet Blue , comedies Mister Ed , I Love Lucy , The Donna Reed Show , and others. In 1954, Ohrbach's moved from its Union Square location to West 34th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues across from the Empire State Building . The eleven-story building
320-462: Was an Ohrbach's department store until it moved down the street in 1965, and a branch of Security-First National Bank. Addition of an office building by Prudential furthered the spread of office space along Wilshire Boulevard, with the land around turning into a high-density office district by 1960s. 34°03′45″N 118°21′13″W / 34.0624°N 118.3536°W / 34.0624; -118.3536 This Los Angeles –related article
340-675: Was an American modern architect who designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California . Becket was born in Seattle, Washington and graduated from the University of Washington program in Architecture in 1927 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree ( B.Arch. ). He moved to Los Angeles in 1933 and formed a partnership with his University of Washington classmate Walter Wurdeman and Angeleno architect Charles F. Plummer . Their first major commission
360-477: Was formerly occupied by McCreery and Company Department Stores . In 1962, the Netherlands based Brenninkmeyer Company bought an interest in the firm and increased its ownership until Nathan Ohrbach retired in 1965 and it obtained complete control. In 1967, they opened their first suburban New Jersey store at The Bergen Mall . Ohrbach's was one of five anchor stores located in downtown Newark, New Jersey during
380-630: Was located on Union Square in New York City . It maintained administrative offices in Newark and in Los Angeles . The retailer closed the Newark offices in the 1970s. Paul László designed the Union Square store as well as many of their other stores. Ohrbach's first store opened on October 4, 1923, in the fire-damaged building where Adolph Zukor operated the world's first nickelodeon . Founder Nathan M. Ohrbach launched his store with partner Max Wiesen,
400-560: Was the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in 1935, which won them residential jobs from James Cagney , Robert Montgomery , and other film celebrities. Plummer died in 1939. The successor firm Wurdeman and Becket went on to design Bullock's Pasadena (1944) and a couple of corporate headquarters. Wurdeman and Becket developed the concept of "total design," whereby their firm would be responsible for master planning, engineering, interiors, furniture, fixtures, landscaping, signage, and even (in
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