Fifth Street Store

Its original official name was Steele, Faris, & Walker Co., and from 1909 Muse, Faris, Walker Co., but during this period it promoted itself simply as the "Fifth Street Store".[1][2] Later it would change its name to Walker's.[3]

In 1946, it was renamed Milliron's, after C. J. Milliron, the president and controlling stockholder at that time. Milliron joined the stores as an attorney in 1917, and became president in September 1943. He purchased the store from William A. Faris.

It was located at the southwest corner of Fifth and Broadway.

The company replaced the building with a new eight-story store completed in 1924. From 1925 the store began to advertise as Walkers — co-founder Ralf (R. M.) Walker would later found what would be San Diego's largest department store chain, Walker Scott. In 1946 it changed its name to Milliron's. The Broadway Department Store purchased the store in 1950 and closed it in 1956, when Ohrbach's opened a branch there. Ohrbach's sold the building in 1959.[4]The building still exists and consists of loft condominium (Shybary Grand Lofts, 312 W. Fifth St.) with retail on the ground floor.[5]

Milliron's Westchester opened on March 17, 1949,[6] designed by prominent retail architect Victor Gruen and cost $3,000,000 to build.[6] The grand opening was a large event and the architecture - with its straight lines combined with large curves at the angles; its triangular window displays jutting out from the store; and the deck to its rooftop parking deck – was considered a landmark in retail architecture.[7][8][9] The store was sold shortly afterwards, in June 1950, to The Broadway.[10]

Former Walker's Downtown Long Beach store

Walkers/Walker's opened their first branch store in Downtown Long Beach at 4th and Pine - Pine being the main shopping artery - in 1933. Meyer and Holler designed the 1928 art deco building.[11] In 1952, they spent $300,000 to expand to 132,000 sq ft (12,300 m²), adding 5 escalators, more than the total number of escalators in Long Beach at the time. Walker's Long Beach opened a second Long Beach store at Los Altos Center in 1954 which it sold to The Broadway shortly thereafter in 1956.[12][13] Walker's sold its Downtown Long Beach store in 1960, but it continued to operate as Walker's until 1978.

Walker's opened a branch store in Downtown San Diego in 1935, which separated in the early 1950s and became Walker Scott.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]

• "Fifth Street Store becomes Milliron's", J. H. Graham (blog), September 18, 2017