Bullocks Article Index for
Bullocks
Articles about
Bullocks
 

Information About

Bullocks




Bullock's was a Department Store based in Los Angeles, California . The company operated main stream department stores all across California, with some stores in Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated the more upscale Bullocks Wilshire in parts of Southern California.


HISTORY

Bullock's was founded in 1907 at Seventh & Broadway in downtown Los Angeles by John G. Bullock, with the support of The Broadway Department Store owner Arthur Letts. In 1923, Bullock and business partner P.G. Winnett bought out Letts' interest after his death and the companies became completely separated. In 1929 Bullock & Winnett opened a luxury branch on Wilshire Boulevard , named, appropriately enough Bullocks Wilshire .

In 1944 Bullock's acquired I. Magnin & Co. , a venerable, San Francisco -based luxury chain. This was followed by the acquisition of the then public-owned Bullock's-I. Magnin organization in 1964 by Federated Department Stores , much to the dismay of surviving founder P.G. Winnett, who publicly lambasted the deal (which was initiated by his own son-in-law Bullock's President Walter W. Candy Jr.).

Bullock's, Bullocks Wilshire, and I. Magnin retained their autonomy under Federated, as well as their carriage-trade bent, with I. Magnin expanding into the . In 1988, after a brusing takeover battle between Robert Campeau and Macy's for Federated, Bullock's and I. Magnin were sold by Campeau to Macy's as a consolation prize for one billion dollars, which plunged Macy's into debt.The new owners responded by dismantling Bullock's Los Angeles corporate offices,merging Bullocks Wilshire into I. Magnin, and Bullock's into its Macy's South division, thus sending what had been Federated's most profitable division into a precipitous decline and alienating the local customer.

The end came quickly for Bullock's after Macy's filed for bankruptcy protection, with the Bullocks Wilshire stores being renamed I. Magnin in 1990, I. Magnin and Bullock's being pruned of their underperforming branches, and I. Magnin itself being dissolved in 1995 once Federated Department Stores reappeared on the scene and acquired Macy's . In 1996 following the acquisition of Broadway Stores, Inc., Federated consolidated all its traditional department store business in California under the Macy's nameplate, ending 89 years of Bullock's.


LUXURY MARKET

Although the Bullocks Wilshire stores was deemed the most exclusive, the Bullock's stores at South Coast Plaza , Beverly Center , Century City and Sherman Oaks Fashion Square offered upscale designers such as Giorgio Armani , Jean-Paul Gaultier , Missoni , Krizia, Valentino , Salvatore Ferragamo , Byblos, Hugo Boss and Gieves & Hawkes. The South Coast Plaza and Beverly Center Bullock's stores were the flagship stores which catered to a more upscale clientele.


FORMER BULLOCK'S LOCATIONS


Arizona



Southern California



Nevada



Former Bullock's North locations


Northern California



Former Bullocks Wilshire locations


Southern California



REFERENCES