The Street Seen: Circle Bar
2926 Main Street @ Kinney
In 1948, a 1-story commercial building is constructed on a long-time vacant lot at 2926 Main St. From 1962 to 2023, the building is occupied by a bar. Circle Bar is closed, but the building still exists.
Before Main St Widening
Sometime after 1909,1 a 1-story brick building is constructed at 2930 Main St (between Ashland and Pier).
In 1913, A.J. Seed (1879 – 1928) opens a second-hand furniture store in the space. In 1921, Seed and G.H. McGinley (1886 - 1950) form Marine Furniture Co. They move to the Masonic Temple building on Marine.
In 1924, D.S. McEwan Electric Co, a local electrical contractor, previously at 127 Pier Ave, occupies the building.
In 1926, 2930 Main St, along with all of the other buildings on the West side of Main St, is demolished to allow for the widening of Main St.
After Main St Widening
In 1928, D.S. McEwan2 announces plans for a 3-story structure (his electrical contracting business on the ground floor and apartments above) on the vacant 2926 Main St lot.3 Nothing becomes of it, and the lot remains vacant till 1948.
In 1948, Sam Zacky4,5 builds a $8,000 25-ft x 75-ft concrete block building on the 25-ft x 78-ft vacant lot at 2926 Main St. The Zacky family still owns the property until at least 1999.6
The 1948 building is occupied by David’s Outlet clothing store until 1960.
In 1961, Charles B. Schur,7 now the lessee of 2926 Main St, obtains a parking variance8 for a beer tavern. Charlotte’s Café, operated by Schur, occupies the space from 1962 to 1966.
Charlotte’s closes, and in 1967, Schur extensively remodels the space. In 1972, the bar re-opens as The Circle.
Schur dies in 1976, and longtime Los Angeles bar owner Jack Garner (1918 – 1990)9 takes over The Circle. Gypsy tends bar.10 After Garner dies in 1990, his daughter, Patti Hayes, runs the bar.11
In 1999, Howard Alpert12 (20%) and Will Karges13 (80%) acquire the business. Karges dies in 2016.
Circle Bar closes in 2023, and Alpert turns ownership of the bar over to the landlord.
2930 Main St is probably built in 1913 - contemporaneous with the adjacent 2924 Main St. With the disruption associated with the 1926 Main St widening, there is a small change in street numbering. Before the street widening, the lot is referred to as 2930 Main, and after widening as 2926 Main. This may explain the lack (loss ?) of pre-1926 building records.
Duncan Sinclair McEwan (1874–1950). Born in Ontario, Canada, McEwan is a prominent electrical contractor who works on several important Santa Monica buildings, and City street lighting. For many years, McEwan lives at 318 Marine St. In 1931, he builds the City landmark Lido Apartments at 1453 4th (@ Broadway).
At the same time in 1928, James M. Stiles (1881 – 1966) announces plans for a 3-story structure on the vacant lot to the south (2936 Main St). In 1929, Stiles builds a $12,000 75-ft x 80-ft market. Our property, the vacant 2926 Main St lot, is leased for Stiles Auto Park - used for market deliveries and customer parking.
To the north at 2924 Main St, the 2-story Craig’s Market building is moved in 1927.
Samuel Zacky (1897- 1964). Born in Ukraine, Samuel Zacky comes with his parents to the US in 1904. From Philadelphia, the family eventually settles in Los Angeles.
In 1918, Sam marries Rose Welcher (1899 - 1989), and in 1926, Esther Charklin (1906-1988).
In 1928, Zacky opens Sam's Poultry Market at 5849 S. Western Ave ( @ Slauson). Buying live chickens to sell in his store and to other retailers, he gains a reputation for dealing in the highest-quality poultry. He sells chickens, turkeys, and ducks to unsqueamish customers looking for very fresh birds - pick out a live bird and wait until it is dressed.
During WWII, Sam and his sons Harry Zacky (1919 – 1986), Albert “Al” Zacky (1928 – 2000), and Robert Donald “Bob” Zacky (1932 – 2010) move to a San Fernando Valley ranch. In the early 1950s, they move the poultry market to Monterey Park. Sam Zack believes there will always be that corner poultry market, but Bob Zacky convinces his father that the future for poultry is in packages in supermarkets. Zacky Farms becomes a wholesale enterprise and is incorporated in 1955. When their father dies, Albert and Bob take over their family's poultry company
In 1948, Zacky’s poultry store is at 3109 W. Jefferson, and he lives at 429 N. Hayworth Ave. It is not clear what is Sam Zacky’s association with Ocean Park or why he owns the 2926 Main St property. A possible clue - Sam Pulver (1884 – 1958) operates a live poultry store at 2914 Main St from 1927 to 1947.
The 2926 Main St property is sold in 2004 for $734,007 and in 2014 for $1,350,000.
Charles B Schur (1913–1976). Born in Cleveland, OH, Schur comes with his family to Ocean Park circa 1930. He marries Olga V. Kanter (1911 – 1985) in 1933. Charles works for his father Nathan H. (Pop) Schur (1889–1965). Nathan Schur owns property on Ocean Front Walk in Venice and Ocean Park, and concessions on the Ocean Park Pier. Nathan Schur is often in court over whether he is operating games of skill or is involved in illegal gambling. In 1963, Nathan Schur is awarded $172,000 for his property at 2833-39 Ocean Front Walk, which has been condemned as part of the Ocean Park Redevelopment Project.
In 1962, after the City denies a parking variance for the change of use to tavern (there is no parking), Charles Schur gets a variance from the Planning Commission - with a condition that he leases the 25-ft x 78-ft lot corner of Main & Kinney. Should this leased parking not be maintained, the variance is void. The bar usage (no kitchen) is grandfathered.
Joe Pipersky says the mural on the ceiling of Holy Guacamole (“God Hands Adam the Taco of Life”) uses Jack Garner's visage as the face of God. It is painted from memory, as Jack had already passed five years before the painting is made. The beard is not his - it just goes with the Michelangelo version.
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Juanita Ilene "Gypsy" Gary (1920–2008). Born in Breezy Hill, Graham, Kansas, in 1940 Juanita joins the traveling “Magic Empire” circus as a ticket taker. She begins a relationship with circus owner, Greek immigrant strongman Andrew Apostole "Curly" Spheeris (1900–1951). They have two daughters (motion picture director Penelope Spheeris and art director Linda Spheeris) and two sons (musician Jimmie Spheeris (1949 -1984) and (unknown)). In 1951, Andrew Spheeris is shot and killed in Alabama. Juanita moves to California and supports her family by working in factories and bars. During the Circle Bar’s Jack Garner years (1975 to 1991), Juanita, known to one and all as “Gypsy,” tends bar and nurses egos. Still working in her 70s, she is invariably described as the busty, raunchy soul of Circle Bar. Lived at 1204 Bay St. Died in Santa Monica (aged 88).
The children of Jack Joseph Garner (1918 – 1990), Patti Hayes, Jacqueline Ericsson, and Jim Garner, are co-owners of the Circle Bar business.
Howard Jay Alpert also owns Rick’s Tavern on Main St.
William Arthur Karges III (1953 - 2016). Grows up in Malibu and gets his start in the business with his father's upscale pizza chain - Karges II is an early West Coast franchisee of Johnnie’s New York Pizzeria. From there, Will Karges grows his mini-empire to include co-owned places such as Rix, Blueberry, Jones, El Dorado, Drakes, and The Six.