um hi
brie dressed for the prom.
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mostly from Wikipedia:
White Front
was a chain of discount stores in Southern California and the western United States from 1959 through the mid-1970s. They were noted for the architecture of their store fronts which was an enormous, sweeping archway with the store name spelled out in individual letters fanned across the top.The name White Front was said to refer to the practice of lining up appliances like washers, dryers and stoves in front of the store, giving it a “White Front.” Another feature of each store was that each had a separate key booth located in the parking lot.
The company was founded in 1929 in Los Angeles. In April 1959, the then two stores were acquired by Interstate Department Stores, Inc., which expanded the chain to other California locations and broadened its retail mix beyond the original house wares. In September 1960, Interstate also acquired Topps, which at the time had ten stores [beyond California]. For several years, White Front was the leading discount store in the United States.
In 1973 the company made an abortive attempt to expand into Oregon at the Mall 205 in Portland, Oregon. A television ad campaign to introduce the store featured Allen Ludden of Password fame (most store openings were promoted by Hollywood stars). The Portland store failed largely due to complications with coordinating sale ads printed in Southern California with deliveries of the advertised merchandise to Portland. Frustrated by being unable to get advertised specials after a long drive to the suburban store, customers stopped coming, numerous complaints were filed, and the store finally closed.
White Front entered the Seattle/Tacoma market of Washington State in 1969. Five stores were built in high-traffic areas in Burien, Tacoma, north Seattle, Bellevue, and Everett, but were all closed by about 1972. White Front was said to have left the Seattle market “while the paint was still drying in the parking lot stalls.” The local media as well as businesses, government agencies, and community leaders would play on that as well as calling the stores eyesores and a waste of space since each store had a large footprint (150,000 square feet). Some also pointed it out as a flawed attempt to “Californianize” the area, which might have led some local residents not to shop at the stores. Due to the struggling economy of the “Boeing Bust” of the late 1960s and early 1970s and the exodus of people leaving the area, it would take some time before new ownership was found for some of these vacant buildings.
from Brie:
Junk! If you bought a black & white television there, the knob would come off in your hand, when you got home.
Used to get my clothes there –made Robert Hall look good!
The Pacoima store also had 3 balls (perhaps symbolic of a pawn shop) on top of the front arch, through which you entered the store, which really looked like a giant funnel!
The first White Front store was destroyed during the historic Watts riot of 1965.
I remember seeing a closed White Front store in Oakland, while riding the BART.
Also, Jayne Mansfield
and the Canadian Beatles opened the White Front store in Sacramento!
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bobby-soxer:
bobby-soxing:
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Dawn:
&
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“Very very sexy!”
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college girl brie:
&
brie as Shirley Temple:
