It’s hard to believe that this Art Deco gloriousness was a supermarket, let alone the first one in Los Angeles. Hattem’s opened in 1927 at 8039 South Vermont Ave. Not only that, but it was open 24 hours a day and issued trading stamps. (Monday was double stamp day!) If you ask me, the era of LA supermarket peaked with its first incarnation and it’s been downhill ever since!
This shot is from 1931:
The building is still there, largely intact, is now a Church of Scientology community center. This is how it looked in March 2019:
The building depicted was not at 43rd and Western; it’s actually Hattem’s Vermont Avenue market exterior, which was at 8039 South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles (ca. 1932). The structure remains there today in almost its identical form, though it’s mutated from a Jewish-owned supermarket to now a Church of Scientology (!).
The building was completed some time during or after 1930 based on the dated working drawings I have in my office. The added high efficiency spotlights illuminating the tower in lieu of klieg lights were designed by me. Additional stem-mounted lights were added by the current tenants when they removed the awnings we had replaced. It would not be so bad, even with their signage and cell antennae, if they even occupied the building. It is currently empty and bringing down the mixed use shops and condos we built in 1995.
The building depicted was not at 43rd and Western; it’s actually Hattem’s Vermont Avenue market exterior, which was at 8039 South Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles (ca. 1932). The structure remains there today in almost its identical form, though it’s mutated from a Jewish-owned supermarket to now a Church of Scientology (!).
The building was completed some time during or after 1930 based on the dated working drawings I have in my office. The added high efficiency spotlights illuminating the tower in lieu of klieg lights were designed by me. Additional stem-mounted lights were added by the current tenants when they removed the awnings we had replaced. It would not be so bad, even with their signage and cell antennae, if they even occupied the building. It is currently empty and bringing down the mixed use shops and condos we built in 1995.
Thanks for stopping by, John, and for all that info.