A couple of days ago I posted a photo of a Silverwoods clothing store in downtown LA. This one is the Silverwoods I think of whenever I see the name. Opening in 1929, it was in the Wilshire Tower Building at 5522 Wilshire Blvd, on the southeast corner of Burnside Ave. That neon sign is really quite striking when lit up at night, both on the corner and at the top of the tower. I wasn’t familiar with the other name in the sign. According to Wikipedia, Hart Schaffner & Marx made ready-to-wear clothes for men, and dates back to 1872 Chicago. They closed on September 17, 1991 due to declining sales.

Dave E. said: “Originally promoted as F. B. Silverwood, after its founder, was a men’s clothing store chain founded in Los Angeles in 1894 by Francis Bernard (F.B. “Daddy”) Silverwood, a Canadian-American originally from near Lindsay, Ontario. He was a colorful character covered in the newspapers, a “songster” composer of popular songs, Shriner, and who famously married in 1920. The first store opened on May 8, 1894 at 124 S. Spring St., carried only men’s furnishings, had 4 employees and had sales of $38,000 in that year. Silverwood’s then moved to a larger location at 221 S. Spring St. The flagship store was established in 1904 at Sixth & Broadway. In 1920 the store removed to temporary quarters at 320 S. Broadway while the old store was torn down starting January 26, 1920. A brand-new 115,420 sq ft (10,723 m2) six-floor store was built on the site of the old one at 6th and Broadway. The new store opened September 1, 1920. Photo is the store on Wilshire Blvd (Miracle Mile). The company incorporated in November 1920; at that time there were four branches (Long Beach, Bakersfield, Maricopa and San Bernardino)[4] plus the flagship. F. B. Silverwood died in March 1924. In later decades the store was purchased by Hartmarx and focused on business suits until the end, after eventually becoming out of sync with the clothing preferences of Southern California men. By 1992 when the chain closed, Silverwoods had grown to an eighteen store chain with branches across Greater Los Angeles.”

Although Silverwoods is long gone, that building is still there and in pretty good shape. This image is from November 2023.