Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills

Saks Fifth Avenue at 9600 Wilshire Boulevard is a department store in Beverly Hills, California. It is part of the Saks Fifth Avenue company. It was designed by the architectural firm Parkinson and Parkinson, with interiors by Paul R. Williams.[1][2]

The store opened in 1938.[3] The exterior of the building was designed by the Parkinsons, with the interior completed by Williams in the Hollywood Regency style.[1] David Gebhard and Robert Winter, writing in Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide described the building as having "enough curved surface to suggest that the thirties Streamline Moderne could be elegant".[4] The store was expanded and redesigned by Williams in 1940 and 1948.[5] The store was immediately successful upon opening and it would subsequently expand to almost 74,000 square feet (6,900 m2) and employ 500 people.[5]

Williams's designs for the store marked a departure from traditional department stores by reducing the emphasis on commerciality that foresaw the rise of boutique stores in the 1980s and 1990s. Only a few examples of merchandise were displayed in hidden recesses. The President of Saks Fifth Avenue, Adam Gimbel, said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that "Each room attempts to create a mood which is in keeping with the merchandise sold there. For example, a Pompeian room done in cool green with appropriate frieze is used for beach and swimming pool costumes and a French provincial room houses informal sports and country clothes The accessories are carried in an oval room done in a Regency spirit".[5]

The individual shipping areas of the store were semi-enclosed which prevented distraction for customers.[1] Williams created an interior reminiscences of his designs for luxurious private residences, with rooms lit by indirect lamps and footlights focused on the clothes.[1] New departments for furs, corsets, gifts and debutante dresses were added in the 1940 expansion.[5]

The Terrace Restaurant, a rooftop restaurant run by Perino's, served customers for several years.[1] It was expanded in the 1940s renovations to provide cover during inclement weather.[5]

The store featured in the 2005 film Shopgirl. The story had originally been set in Neiman Marcus but Saks Fifth Avenue lobbied the film makers to portray their store instead.[6][7]

References
  1. "Saks Fifth Avenue". Los Angeles Conservancy. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  2. "Saks Fifth Avenue, Los Angeles, CA". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  3. "Saks Fifth Avenue". Time Out. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  4. David Gebhard; Robert Winter (1994). Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide. Gibbs Smith. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-87905-627-8.
  5. "Saks Fifth Avenue". Paul Williams Project. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  6. Gladys L. Knight (11 August 2014). Pop Culture Places: An Encyclopedia of Places in American Popular Culture [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 280. ISBN 978-0-313-39883-4.
  7. Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair Publishing Company. 2004. p. 274.

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