Quote:
Originally Posted by sopas ej
In 1958, Robinson's opened its third branch store in Pasadena (its 2nd branch store being a "winter only" store in Palm Springs). This was the last free-standing Robinson's, subsequent ones being built attached to shopping malls.
Pasadena Robinson's Grand Opening Day, May 12, 1958. I guess by this time, the PE cars stopped running down Colorado Blvd. In the pic, you can see that the poles for the trolley wires hadn't been taken down yet.
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Thanks for the info on the Pasadena Robinson's! Mom used to take me along to go shopping there a lot in the early 1960s. I didn't realize until now just how new the building was back then. I have lots of memories of Robinson's Pasadena. I lost my first baby tooth there! I remember really liking the turkey sandwiches at the Round Robin Restaurant on the top floor of Robinson's. They had a great coin and stamp department there, too. Mom could park me there for an hour or more and do her shopping without me being under foot all the time. Finally, my weirdest memory of the Pasadena Robinson's is hearing Napoleon XIV's "They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha Ha!" on the radio for the first time ever as we drove out of the Robinson's parking garage.
I only remember going to the downtown Robinson's once, and that was to get one specific coin for my collection: a U.S. 20-cent piece. In fact it was the last coin Mom ever bought for me. I think that was in 1967. I remember the store was pretty run down inside. Their Round Robin Restaurant was downright shabby.
In 1966, Robinson's opened a large store at West Covina Plaza, which was only about 7 miles from our home, so we stopped going to the Pasadena store after that. It was originally a standalone store, but was connected to the mall as an anchor store when West Covina Plaza became an all-indoor mall in the mid-1970s. There was a small Clifton's Cafeteria adjacent to the West Covina Robinson's, too. I seem to recall that the West Covina Clifton's stayed open for years after the iconic googie Clifton's at nearby Eastland Center closed its doors.
I also remember Desmond's had a standalone store right next door to Robinson's at West Covina Plaza, though the building was a Tower Records for much longer than it was a Desmond's. The 1960s Robinson's was remodeled quite extensively in the late 1980s, when West Covina Plaza underwent a vast expansion and became Westfield West Covina. Sears moved in where Robinson's was, and Robinson/May's moved into a new anchor store at the opposite end of the mall. I never went into that store. I think it's a Macy's now.
Sorry for the rambling!
-Scott