Safeway supermarkets is a name I haven’t seen in Los Angeles for a very long time, but back when this photo was taken in 1936, it was brand new to the LA market. It was a 5509 Sunset Blvd, which put it just west of Western Ave. A far cry from the slick corporate uniformity of later decades, I love the charm of Spanish tiled roof which lends more of a local market feel, along with that sign standing over what looks like a wishing well.
These days, that site is home to a WSS shoe store. This image is from August 2022.
Before the WSS shoe store it was Orchard Supply and Hardware. I got my seedlings and potting soil etc. there. I later bought a great pair of (probably discontinued) leather shoes at WSS. Remarkable because they mostly sell cheap, junky stuff.
I love the stand alone sign with wrought iron and floodlights in front of the original Safeway store. It must have looked alluring at night. A lot of former Safeways are now Von’s. I used to love Safeway supermarkets. Von’s? Not so much.
Notice the Sam Seelig signage about the right roof line? Here’s some back story on that: https://www.groceteria.com/store/national-chains/safeway/safeway-history/
Martin, there is some sort of cosmic energy that draws you once more to that particular intersection! It’s the corner that you posted with the olde timey, AAA-sponsored traffic signal that I commented on a while back, with the theatre that became a Pussycat Theatre, and the Sacred Heart College/The AFI Campus a few blocks north… Incidentally, this building was a DIY place called Builders’ Emporium in the 1980s, before it was an Orchard Supply Hardware. I’m not sure if BE built the structure, or if some other business did.