I. H. Hawkins

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I. H. Hawkins was a chain of department stores in California during the 1920s and 1930s owned by its namesake, Isaac Horace Hawkins.

History[edit]

Isaac Horace and Ida Hawkins April 1917 on honeymoon

Hawkins was born March 16, 1888, in Supply, Randolph County, Arkansas[1] and died January 20, 1975, in Redondo Beach, California.[2]

He moved west and worked in a dry goods store in Needles, California then opened his own store there. He then sold the store and bought another, this time in Redlands,[1] now near the eastern edge of the Greater Los Angeles suburbs.

Hawkins operated "The Hub" at 120 N. Pacific Redondo Beach starting in 1923,[3] closed it at some point (it is not among his stores listed in 1928)[4] and reopened it in 1943.[5] Hawkins also operated the White House store during the 1920s at 126 N. Pacific.[6] By June 1928 Hawkins and partners operated:[4]

  • 2 Hawkins & Co. stores in:
  • 3 Hawkins Sample Stores in:
    • Compton
    • Inglewood
    • Porterville: 220 N. Main. Later the site of the Craven Department Store.[7]
  • 3 Hawkins & Oberg Sample Stores in:
    • Redondo Beach
    • Torrance
    • San Pedro (July 2, 1928) 408 W. 6th St.
  • 1 store branded The Low Down, Inglewood

4 additional locations that opened after June 1928 included:

  • Hanford (February 9, 1929 – May 13, 1933),[8] 109 E. Seventh[9]
  • Santa Ana (April 15, 1931), 301–3 E. Fourth St. at Spurgeon. Jack Lansdowne was manager and part owner.
  • Anaheim (October 1932), 124 W. Center, purchased Ormsby's, prior to that Falkenstein's Department Store.[10]
  • Bakersfield, 2006 Chester Av., closed March 1933, taken over by Combs Dry Goods Co.[11] (later Stovall's, Urners, Minnette's (1953), Sorority Shop, Pallets for Days). Premises damaged in 2020 fire.[12]

By early 1933, Hawkins operated a total of 16 stores, but τhe 1933 Long Beach earthquake on March 10 of that year damaged stores in Compton, Santa Ana and elsewhere in Southern California. By 1933, 8 of the 16 locations had closed.[8]

By 1941 he had sold all of the stores except the one in Redondo Beach on North Pacific Avenue.[13] As mentioned above, he reopened The Hub store in Redondo Beach in 1943. Hawkins served as mayor of that city shortly thereafter.[14] He served as a delegate to the 1952 Democratic National Convention.[15]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "I. H. Hawkins Tells Story of His Life". The Register. 14 August 1931. p. 26. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  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. ^ a b "Hawkins & Oberg ad showing stores". News-Pilot. 30 June 1928. p. 12. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  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. ^ a b "I. H. Hawkins Closes His Dry Goods Store Here". The Hanford Sentinel. 15 May 1933. p. 5. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  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. ^ "Redondo Celebrates 50th Birthday". The Los Angeles Times. 28 April 1942. p. 32. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  15. ^ "I. H. Hawkins Delegate to Democratic National Convention". The Los Angeles Times. 4 January 1952. p. 7. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
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