An advertisement beckons one and all to attend the grand opening of the WHITTIER DOWNS J.C. Penney. The store was officially dedicated in August 1955. We have included this piece of retail ephemera because it describes precisely what merchandise a 1950s, "dry-goods" Penney's store would have carried. 

Advert from the J.C. Penney Company

A circa-1956 site plan shows the sibling shopping centers. KING COLE SQUARE (1952) housed around 60,000 leasable square feet and twelve tenants. WHITTIER DOWNS MALL (1955) encompassed 200,000, with a tenant list of twenty-one. The WHITTIER DOWNS parking area had spaces for 800 autos.

WHITTIER DOWNS MALL TENANTS 1956:

J.C. PENNEY / F.W. WOOLWORTH 5 & 10 (with luncheonette) / THRIFTY DRUG (with luncheonette) / FOOD GIANT supermarket (with delicatessen, snack bar, liquor department and Van de Camp Bakery) / Adrienne's Camera, Luggage & Jewelry / C & M Shoe Service / Dave's Sportswear / Donald G. Weiner and Fred W. Winnen, Optometrists / Follin's Shoes / Gallenkamp Shoes / Hairstyles by Jeri / Huddle Whittier Restaurant / Irish Cleaners / Jaxson's ladies' wear / Joy Togs ladies' wear / M & E Stationers / Mode O' Day Frock Shop / Sievers Television & Appliance / Uncle Dom's Toy Shop / Youth Town children's clothing / Whittier Downs Mall Barber Shop 

IN KING COLE SQUARE:

KING COLE supermarket / Busy Bee Shoe Shop / B & W Cleaners / Charley's Barber Shop / Cy's Paint, Hardware & Custom Draperies / Family Outlet Shoe Store / Jinny & Bobby Beauty Salon / King Cole Square Laundromatic / Owl Rexall Drug (with luncheonette) / Petterson's Do-Nuts / US Post Office / Vilott's Variety Store 

A WHITTIER DOWNS logo montage is composed of trademarks of stores that operated in the complex during the 1950s and '60s. A logo for McCoy's Markets is also included. This store replaced Food Giant in October 1972.