Marti's, also known as the Hugh A. Marti Co., was a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, US, opened in February 1923 at 411 Pine Avenue, taking over the Boadway Bros. Long Beach store. Hugh Albert Marti was the President and General Manager. Marti had worked for

Buffums Buffums, originally written as Buffums with an apostrophe, was a chain of upscale department stores, headquartered in Long Beach, California. The Buffums chain began in 1904, when two brothers from Illinois, Charles and Edwin Buffum, together wit ...

and opened his own department store in 1923. The store expanded over the next five years, one by one taking over leases of adjacent spaces, until by 1928 it had acquired the entire space to build a large new consolidated store. The new store cost approximately $1,000,000 including the land, covering plot, at the northwest corner of Pine and Fourth streets, 4 stories plus a basement. It opened partially in February 1929 and fully on July 25, 1929, with the mayor of Long Beach speaking at the inauguration. It featured a 70-foot-long "fountain" (i.e.

soda fountain A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The machine combines flavored syrup or syrup concentrat ...

a long counter with seats serving refreshments and light meals) in the basement. architects

Meyer & Holler Meyer & Holler was an architecture firm based in Los Angeles, California, noted for its opulent commercial buildings and movie theatres, including Grauman's Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Chinese and Grauman's Egyptian Theatre, Egyptian theatres, built ...

. In December 1932, Marti's merged with Long Beach department store The Emporium (not related to The Emporium of San Francisco), as from December 30 operating at the former Emporium store at Broadway and Locust, now branded Marti's, and closing the old location at 4th and Pine. The store held a grand re-opening on January 12, 1933. Marti's in its advertising thanked its customers for their support despite the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and in an advertisement profiled its new location: "Marti's New Store will be a Good Store Designed for the Masses without Frills and Fancies…but a Good Store" Still, due to the effects of the Depression and the 1932 Long Beach earthquake, Martí lost control of the store. Marti dissolved the Marti Co. in 1934. The building became

Walker's Long Beach The Fifth Street Store was a major department store in Los Angeles opened in 1905. Name The official name of the company and store changed many times: *1905–1909: Steele, Faris, & Walker Co. - the official company name and name under which the ...

store. Two years later, he joined the Harris Department Stores in the

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

area, where he had lived previously in Redlands, in the roles of controller, treasurer and member of the board of directors. He retired from Harris in August 1966 but continued to do consulting work for them.

Hugh A. Marti

Hugh Albert Marti was born on 5 February 1889 in

Windsor, Missouri Windsor is a city in Henry and Pettis counties, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,901 at the 2010 census. History Windsor was laid out in 1855, and originally known as Belmont. Its name was changed to Windsor in 1859, after Windsor ...

. He married Wilfred Rose Foote in 1914 in

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located a ...

, and she died in 1940. He remarried in 1943 to Betty Virginia Iaine. Hugh Marti died on 15 November 1967 in Redlands, where he is buried."Hugh Marti 1889 1967", FamilySearch
/ref> He was survived by 6 children.

External link

Illustration of old and new locations, 1933
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References

Defunct department stores based in Long Beach, California {{US-retail-company-stub