May Company California was an American chain of department stores operating in Southern California and Nevada, with headquarters at its flagship Downtown Los Angeles store until 1983 when it moved them to North Hollywood. It was a subsidiary of May Department Stores and merged with May's other Southern California subsidiary, J. W. Robinson's, in 1993 to form Robinsons-May.
Hamburger's building (later May Company downtown L.A. flagship) at 8th and Broadway, ca. 1912
Hamburger's People's Store Spring Street Early 1880s
The 1939 Streamline Moderne style May Company Wilshire building, now The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
Hamburger's People's Store Spring Street 1880s
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appearance in the middle of the 19th century, and permanently reshaped shopping habits, and the definition of service and luxury. Similar developments were under way in London, in Paris and in New York City (Stewart's).
Interior of Le Bon Marché in Paris
Sokos department store building in Multimäki, Kuopio, Finland
Harrods illuminated exterior at night in Knightsbridge, London
Au Bon Marché