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I. H. Hawkins

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Adapted from the English Wikipedia article I. H. Hawkins, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 9 August 202516 sources
I. H. Hawkins
Company typePrivate
IndustryRetail
Founded1920s
FounderIsaac Horace Hawkins
Headquarters
Redondo Beach
,
United States
Area served
California
ProductsDepartment store goods

I. H. Hawkins was a department store chain based in California throughout the 1920s and 1930s, founded and owned by Isaac Horace Hawkins.

History

Isaac Horace and Ida Hawkins during their honeymoon, April 1917

Born on March 16, 1888, in Supply, Randolph County, Arkansas,[1] Isaac Horace Hawkins passed away on January 20, 1975, in Redondo Beach, California.[2]

Hawkins relocated westward where he initially worked at a dry goods establishment in Needles, California. Subsequently, he launched his own store there before selling it and acquiring another retail location in Redlands, situated near the eastern boundary of the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.[1]

Beginning in 1923, Hawkins managed "The Hub" at 120 N. Pacific Avenue in Redondo Beach,[3] though this store was closed at an unspecified time (it was not listed among his holdings by 1928)[4] before being reopened in 1943.[5]

During the 1920s, Hawkins also owned the White House store located at 126 N. Pacific Avenue.[6] By June of 1928, Hawkins and his business partners operated the following locations:[4]

  • Two stores under Hawkins & Co. in:
  • Three Hawkins Sample stores situated in:
    • Compton
    • Inglewood
    • Porterville at 220 N. Main (later occupied by Craven Department Store)[7]
  • Three stores branded as Hawkins & Oberg Sample Stores located in:
    • Redondo Beach
    • Torrance
    • San Pedro (opened July 2, 1928) at 408 W. 6th St.
  • One store named The Low Down in Inglewood

Following June 1928, four more outlets commenced operations:

  • Hanford from February 9, 1929 until May 13, 1933,[8] located at 109 E. Seventh Street[9]
  • Santa Ana beginning April 15, 1931 at 301–3 E. Fourth Street near Spurgeon; Jack Lansdowne served as manager and part-owner,
  • Anaheim starting October 1932 at 124 W. Center Street after acquiring Ormsby's store (previously Falkenstein's Department Store),[10]
  • Bakersfield at 2006 Chester Avenue which closed in March of 1933 and was succeeded by Combs Dry Goods Co.,[11] later housing Stovall's, Urners, Minnette's (from 1953), Sorority Shop, and Pallets for Days; the building sustained damage during a fire in 2020.[12]

By early spring of 1933, the chain operated sixteen stores; however, the 1933 Long Beach earthquake on March 10 caused damage to several locations including those in Compton and Santa Ana among other Southern California sites. Consequently, eight out of the sixteen outlets had ceased operations by that year.[8]

By the year 1941, all stores except the Redondo Beach location on North Pacific Avenue had been sold off.[13] As noted earlier, The Hub store in Redondo Beach was reopened under his management in 1943.[14] Shortly thereafter, Hawkins served as mayor of Redondo Beach.[15] Additionally, he represented as a delegate at the 1952 Democratic National Convention.[16]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named story
  2. ↑ "Isaac Horace Hawkins". FamilySearch. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  3. ↑ "Statement of business name - The Hub, 120 N. Pacific Av, H. Hawkings". The Redondo Reflex. 24 August 1923. p. 7.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named stores-1928
  5. ↑ "The Hub reopens 120 N Pacific". The Redondo Reflex. 26 March 1943. p. 2. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  6. ↑ "The White House: I. H. Hawkins, Proprietor, 126 North Pacific Avenue, Redondo Beach, Phone 35". The Redondo Reflex. 14 March 1924. p. 6. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  7. ↑ "Department Store is Opened in Porterville". The Fresno Bee. 8 September 1939. p. 12. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named hanford-close
  9. ↑ "Chain Department Store for East Seventh Street". The Hanford Sentinel. 11 January 1929. p. 1. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  10. ↑ "I. H. Hawkins Co. Buys Ormsby's (which formerly was Falkenstein's)". Anaheim Gazette. 13 October 1932. p. 1. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  11. ↑ "Combs Dry Good Company Assumes Holdings of I. H. Hawkins Company of Bakersfield". The Bakersfield Californian. 28 February 1933. p. 3. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "Second fire erupts Saturday on Chester Ave., next to Tina Marie's Cafe destroyed earlier". KBAK. 12 December 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  13. ↑ "Business Experience Qualifies Hawkins". The Redondo Reflex. 28 March 1941. p. 1. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  14. ↑ "The Hub reopens 120 N Pacific".
  15. ↑ "Redondo Celebrates 50th Birthday".
  16. ↑ "I. H. Hawkins Delegate to Democratic National Convention".

Template:History of Retail in Southern California

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