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Buffums

Buffums, originally written as Buffums' with an apostrophe, was a chain of upscale department stores, headquartered in Long Beach, California. The Buffums chain began in 1904, when two brothers from Illinois, Charles and Edwin Buffum, together with other partners, bought the Schilling Bros., the largest dry goods store in Long Beach, and renamed it The Mercantile Co. The store grew to a large downtown department store, and starting in the 1950s, grew slowly over the years to be a small regional chain of 16 speciality department stores across Southern California at the time of its closure in 1990.[1][2][3]

Over the years, the stores gained a reputation as the "Grand Dame" of department stores in the area. The stores' interiors were known for large chandeliers and other upscale touches. The chain marketed itself as "Buffums Specialty Store," in an attempt to differentiate itself from other local chains, including The Broadway and Bullock's, and the national stores such as May Co. and Robinson's. Its most famous advertising line, "I've been to Buffums," was used in newspaper and television advertisements during the 1970s and '80s. It was also known for its "Bag-A-Bargain" promotion that placed actual shopping bags (printed with a discount offer) in local newspapers.

Like other local department stores of the era, Buffums was challenged by old-fashioned business models, changing consumer tastes, and the arrival of Seattle-based retailer Nordstrom. The chain was bought in the 1970s by the Australian-based David Jones, which looked to sell the struggling chain in the 1980s. By the time of the sale it had become part of Adelaide Steamship Company, an Australian conglomerate, who never found a buyer. In a last-ditch effort to modernize, Buffums installed new IBM point-of-sale registers in all stores in 1990 (to complement their data center's newly purchased IBM AS/400, IBM's then-new midrange computer), only to enter liquidation following the 1990 Christmas shopping season.

Stores

Flagship

Buffums' Downtown flagship grew as follows:[4]

The predecessor of Buffums, '''Wm. Schilling & Sons''' dry goods store opened in 1892 at the corner of 2nd and Pine in Long Beach. By 1902 they were located at the Stafford Block, 127–129 Pine Avenue, and described as a "commodious", 6250 sqft "department store", "embracing a complete line of dress goods ladies and gents furnishings, clothing, shoes, hats and caps, blankets, comforts, etc".. That same year the father William retired and the firm became Schilling Bros.[5]

In 1904, a partnership bought the Schilling Bros. business for $65,000 (~$ in ); the partners were Charles and Edwin Buffum arrived from Illinois, and local businessmen S. Townsend, W. L. Porterneld and C. J. Walter. The company started operating as The Mercantile Co. The 127–129 Pine Avenue Schilling Bros. store, several doors south of Broadway, would eventually become the men's shoe store of the future Buffums flagship store.[4] The next year, the Mercantile Co. announced the purchase of a lot on the southwest corner of Pine and Broadway, 74.5 ft. by 150 ft. (11175 sqft with the intention of building a five-story building on it. However, the building would only be three stories and was completed in 1912.

The store competed downtown with smaller, local Long Beach department stores like Marti and Wise Cos. as well as Sears and Ward's, all of which opened large new stores downtown in 1928-9.[8] In the early 1950s Lakewood Center would provide competition with May Company California and Los Altos Center, with The Broadway for the suburban shopper.

The complex was sold in 1981 and was demolished in 1985[9] to create office space (as of 2020 a WeWork,[10]) and Buffums moved its Long Beach store operation and headquarters to the nearby Long Beach Plaza mall when it opened in 1982.[11]

  • 1924: added a new six-story building; the "New Buffums'" opened in stages in early May, 1924[6]
  • 1941: built the "Autoport" parking garage (still standing)
  • 1960: added a Varsity Shop, Red Cross Shoe Store, and four-story parking garage
  • 1964: added 14,000 sq. ft., expanded to occupy the full block of Broadway between Pine and Pacific, for a total of 180000 sqft of floor space in the Downtown flagship complex. The new space housed a full Interior Design and Home Furnishings area as well as a "Sportsman's Shop".[7]

Branches

When Buffums was liquidated it had 16 locations:[3][12]

Relaunch

A California investor group filed Buffums' Stores, LLC. with the California Secretary of State in January 2015.[40] According to the buffumstores Facebook site, they re-launched in a small specialty format in October 2015, located in the Belmont Shore neighborhood of Long Beach.[41] This reappearance of the Buffums name in retail was short-lived, however, as the former principals of Buffums Stores, Inc. moved their operations to Naples, FL, opening their store there under the name The, and shuttering the Belmont Shore 2nd street Buffums storefront in March 2016.[42]

See also

  • Dorothy Buffum Chandler

References

  1. Stuart Silverstein. Buffums to Close in May, Ending 87-Year History : Retail: The department store chain lost $4.2 million its last fiscal year. The jobs of 1,400 employees will be eliminated. Los Angeles Times, March 14, 1991, retrieved 9 July 2012^
  2. Stuart Silverstein. Buffums' Closings 'Like Losing an Old Friend' The Los Angeles Times, March 15, 1991, retrieved 9 July 2012^
  3. Long Beach Lost: The Buffums' department store in Downtown • Long Beach Post Long Beach Post, 2018-11-10, retrieved 2018-11-14^
  4. New Buffums' Store Opens; 5th Under Way Long Beach Independent, October 2, 1969^
  5. Wm. Schilling & Sons Long Beach Press, 1902-12-15, retrieved 2020-11-07^
  6. Buffums new 5th floor lounge and beauty rooms open Press-Telegram, 11 May 1924^
  7. Ken Chilcote. Buffum's will expand store to Pacific Ave. Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram, January 26, 1964^
  8. Long Beach Marks Record-Breaking Era in Construction Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1929^
  9. Reminiscing Revealed Signal Tribute, 23 May 2008, retrieved 12 April 2025^
  10. Long Beach Lost: The Buffums' department store in Downtown • the Hi-lo November 10, 2018^
  11. Robert Gore. Buffums building in LB is sold October 16, 1981^
  12. Buffums to shut all 16 department stores UPI^
  13. An Asset to Santa Ana The Register, 11 May 1948^
  14. Wurdeman & Becket Architects for New Buffums' The Register, 2 July 1950, retrieved 7 November 2023^
  15. Shelby Grad. History : SANTA ANA : When Downtown Was the Hot Spot Los Angeles Times, May 31, 1993, retrieved May 24, 2021^
  16. Buffums' The Department Store Museum, retrieved 24 May 2021^
  17. Buffums' Marina Opened by IBC's Stella Márquez Long Beach Independent, 20 July 1961, retrieved 15 March 2024^
  18. 6265 E. 2nd St., Long Beach, CA Google Maps, retrieved 15 March 2024^
  19. Buffums' murals by Millard Sheets return to Pomona 7 December 2018^
  20. Millard Sheets murals commissioned for Buffums Pomona Progress-Bulletin, 6 October 1961^
  21. Advertisement for Buffums Independent from Long Beach, California, Newspapers.com, 27 July 1965, retrieved 15 March 2024^
  22. What's the story behind the Fashion Island koi pond? The Orange County Register, May 2, 2012^
  23. Dick Turpin. Fashion Island Sets New Style in Shopping The Los Angeles Times, 10 September 1967, retrieved 15 March 2024^
  24. La Habra Fashion Square advertising supplement Los Angeles Times, 14 March 1968^
  25. The Department Store Museum: Buffums 20 October 2023^
  26. I. Magnin San Diego (Fashion Valley) Grand Opening September 26, 1992^
  27. I. Magnin to Fill Buffum's Vacancy in Fashion Valley Los Angeles Times, July 17, 1991, retrieved October 14, 2023^
  28. Fashion Park Opens Officially Monrovia Daily News-Post, October 14, 1974^
  29. Some Gain Seen From the Loss of Buffums Los Angeles Times, March 17, 1991^
  30. Waterfront shopping Independent Press-Telegram, 31 January 1976^
  31. Harbor Bank given Marina branch OK Independent Press-Telegram, 10 July 1976, retrieved 26 April 2019^
  32. ("A milestone event in Southland retail merchandising will take place in Glendale on Thursday, October 14, when the 1,000-foot long shopping mall of the $70-million Glendale Galleria...") Glendale Galleria Mall Opens to Public Los Angeles Times, October 13, 1976, retrieved March 11, 2010^
  33. Center growing with addition of 15 new stores and Buffum's coming soon Los Angeles Times, 25 May 1978, retrieved 21 November 2013^
  34. Nick Green. Macy's will consolidate three stores into two at Del Amo mall, paving way for new anchor Daily Breeze, June 6, 2014, retrieved October 13, 2023^
  35. Interactive Map Manhattan Village official website, retrieved October 14, 2023^
  36. Ivers Agrees to Sell Store in La Canada to Buffums Chain 21 August 1986^
  37. T.J. Maxx 663 Foothill Blvd Plaza De La Canada La Canada, CA Department Stores - MapQuest www.mapquest.com, retrieved 2021-04-23^
  38. John Hussar. Buffums opens doors The Desert Sun, 18 October 1989, retrieved 18 August 2019^
  39. Desert Sun 28 March 1989 — California Digital Newspaper Collection^
  40. California Secretary of State Website^
  41. Buffums Belmont Shore www.facebook.com^
  42. b.Store History www.thebstore.com^