The Bullocks Wilshire department store circa 1929, the year it opened. At the time the venture was considered risky because it stood outside the traditional city center. (And the fact it opened a month before the stock market crash probably didn’t help either.) We can see from this photo that there were still homes standing along Wilshire Boulevard. I don’t know for sure, but I’d guess that the success of the store – it was the first to cater to the “carriage trade” (i.e. mobile people in automobiles) probably encouraged the growth of businesses along Wilshire.