The Street Seen: 2654 Main (1938 - 1987)
2654 Main Street between Ocean Park & Hill
A Safeway Market is built at 2654 Main St in 1938. This is the building’s evolution up to 1988.
When Main Street is widened by 40 feet in 1926, all of the buildings on the west side of Main St, from Hollister to the City’s south limits, are demolished.
[1938 - 1958] Safeway Market
The 1-story, 80 ft by 70 ft building (on the 200 ft by 70 ft lot) is built for Safeway in 1938.1 The Streamline Moderne style building is designed by Los Angeles architect Frank L. Stiff2 and constructed by William P. Neil. The interior is column-free, with wood roof trusses spanning between the masonry and concrete perimeter walls. The south 120 ft of the lot is used for parking.
Up till 1977, 2654 Main is the only significant building on the west side of Main St. between Ocean Park and Hill.
[1958 - 1968] Sears
In 1958, replacing Safeway, Sears Roebuck & Co. opens a parts store - which later becomes a Sears appliance repair center.
In 1962, a 1,000 sq-ft wood frame structure for Sears is built in the parking lot on the south end of the building.
[1968 - 1972] Coastal Dynamics Corp
In 1968, Maitland J. Peak’s Venice-headquartered Coastal Dynamics Corp leases the 2654 Main building. Coastal Dynamics has an assortment of businesses including, aircraft edge-lighted instrument panels, offset printing, and dental chairs. Coastal Dynamics moves to Thousand Oaks in 1972.
[1973 - 1980] Old Venice Noodle Company
As part of the early 1970s revival of Main St, the commercial space is converted into a 200-seat spaghetti restaurant - the Old Venice Noodle Company.3 In 1973, a 2,400 sq-ft, wood frame and stucco addition is built on the south end of the building.
[1978 - 1980] Brandy’s
In 1978, with another 2-story addition to south of the Old Venice Noodle Company restaurant, the property owner opens Brandy’s Bar.4
[1982 - 1987] Josephina’s
By 1982, Old Venice Noodle Company is run down. With a goal of visually tying the wood frame additions on the south (Brandy’s) to the 1938 building (Old Venice Noodle Company), the building exterior is extensively ($0.5 MM) remodeled in 1982.5
Collins Foods International opens Josephina’s6 with a 133 ft frontage along Main St in 1982. A single entrance (blue canvas awning) is made between the restaurant and the bar with a new stucco pilaster to match the 1938 building’s original pilasters.
In 1987, Josephina’s owner, Collins, acknowledges that its fast food prowess does not transfer to white tablecloth service. Collins closes all of the chain’s Josephina’s and the restaurant equipment is all sold at auction.
[1988] New Ownership
In 1987, 2654 Main St is sold. The new owner’s concept is instead of just a single tenant, to partition the building into four stores.
In 1938 there are 8 Safeway stores in Santa Monica
Franklin Lambert Stiff (1871 – 1959). Born in OH, Stiff marries Marie E. Carney in MO in 1900, and they have two sons, Raymond S. Stiff and Edmond R. Stiff. He comes to Los Angeles in 1903. Stiff designs grocery stores - Safeway Market (2654 Main St Santa Monica, 1938), Safeway Market (1549 West Adams, 1938), Safeway Market (3909 W. Sunset Boulevard, 1939), and Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) Market (5635 Hollywood Boulevard, 1939). Stiff designs the Sunset Hills Presbyterian Church (Los Angeles, 1916) and the storefront alterations to Desmond’s (Los Angeles, 1933). Stiff is credited with designing several theaters in Los Angeles including the Union Theatre (1122 West 24th Street, 1910), the Victoria Theatre (2570 W. Pico Boulevard, 1913), the Maynard Theatre (2488 W. Washington Boulevard, 1914, demolished), and the Mesa Drive Theatre (Los Angeles, 1925, unbuilt).
The Old Venice Noodle Company, associated with the Old Spaghetti Factory and owned by the Vancouver, BC Pulos family, is one of the first glimmers of the gentrification (some say ruination) of Main St in the 1970s. The restaurant is a world of authentic antiques, stained glass, and complete spaghetti dinners starting at $1.95.
Brandy’s is a disco operation with (unpermitted) dancing. While the Old Venice Noodle Company is a family-friendly Italian-American restaurant, Brandy’s acquires an unfavorable reputation for serving minors, drug sales, and fighting. It also negatively impacts the neighborhood by attracting many customers not from the Santa Monica area.
In 1982, what was a nicely designed Moderne structure (the 1938 building) is insensitively altered to blend with the bland, poorly detailed 2-story wood frame additions to the south. The historical damage includes removing the stucco canopy that extends across the front of the 1938 building.
The original Josephina’s opens in Sherman Oaks in 1974. By 1985, Josephina’s, with 15 upscale locations in the western US, is owned by James A. Collins’ Collins Foods International - a Marina Del Rey based fast-food corporation. Josephina’s buildings do not have a common branding - each outlet is individually designed.
