Bullock’s Returning to Downtown : Department Store to Open Wednesday in New Location

After a three-year absence, Bullock’s Department Stores has come back to downtown Los Angeles.

The 23-store chain, which opened its first downtown facility in 1907, will cut the ribbon on its new store in Seventh Market Place on Wednesday. The store is located at 925 West 8th St.

A premier opening benefit was held Friday at the new store to aid the Museum of Contemporary Art, and a sold-out fashion show and brunch to raise money for the Los Angeles Central Library’s “Save the Books” campaign will be held today.

“We plan to offer the downtown customer the ultimate urban shopping experience,” Allen Questrom, Bullock’s chairman, said. “We have tailored our merchandise assortment to be responsive to the needs of the executive man and woman and to showcase it in a beautifully appointed setting.”

Sources familiar with the new store say it cost about $14 million to build.

The color scheme used throughout the 125,000 square-foot store is a range of muted pastel tones, peach, celadon, ivory, mauve and blush. Columns and pediments provide a dramatic visual backdrop to the fashion merchandise.

The aisles are floored with Italian marble and tile, and the lighting system is designed to approximate natural daylight. Each department has its own atmosphere, defined by color and props. Finishes in the 20,000-square-foot men’s department, for example, are decidedly masculine, with natural wood and black laminate surfaces.

PCL Inc. built the new structure and was the general contractor for the exterior of the building. The Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is responsible for the exterior architecture.

Interior architectural and contracting duties were performed by the Bullock’s store planning department.

Kathy McConville, an 11-year Bullock’s employee, has been named general manager of the store. She previously had been general manager of the Bullock’s store in Lakewood. Bullock’s moved out of its original downtown location, at 7th and Hill streets, in 1983. The old store was too large and wasn’t in the type of urban setting desired by the company, a spokeswoman said. The structure is now the home of St. Vincent’s Court Jewelry Center.

More events to celebrate the opening of the new store are scheduled for the next several days.