J. W. Robinson's Los Angeles - from the 1915 italianate building to the art deco remodeling of the 1923

Joseph Winchester Robinson was a merchant from Waltham, Massachusetts who moved to Riverside, California in 1882. In 1883 he opened the Boston Dry Goods Store at the Allen Block .

In 1887 he moves to a new, larger store in the Jones Block. He kept expanding and moving all around Los Angeles until 1915 when at the 7th and Grand, J. W. Robinson's flaghsip stroe opened. An ivnestment of $1,000,000. The lovely structure was designed by  Frederick Noonan and William Richards of Dodd & Richards, with a 1923 southern expansion designed by the same architects.

A Store devoted to fine goods, J. W. Robinson Co. is an institution of California, and few tourists or travelers visit Los Angeles without including this exceptional mercantile house in their sightseeing lists. 

In 1923 it went under a large remodeling, getting a new and spectacular art deco design.

While the store closed in 1993, the building still stands in an excellent condition.