The Joseph Magnin Company was a high-end specialty

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 ...

founded in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, by Joseph Magnin, 4th son of

Isaac Magnin Isaac Magnin (1842–1907) was a Dutch-born American businessperson, carver and gilder. He was the co-founder of I. Magnin, an upscale women's clothing store in San Francisco, California. Early life Isaac Magnin (or Moeijen) was born into a Je ...

founder of the I. Magnin department store. Joseph Magnin Co. and I. Magnin Co. were rivals.

History

The San Francisco Examiner Sun Jul 21 1918

In 1913, Joseph Magnin left I. Magnin & Co. and bought into a partnership of the Newman-Levinson store, which changed its name to Newman-Magnin and in 1919 to Joseph Magnin Co. The store was located at the corner of Stockton and O'Farrell Streets. At the time, I. Magnin Co. was located at Grant and Geary Streets. However in 1948 when I. Magnin built the new flagship store at Stockton and Geary streets, the two flagship stores were less than a block apart. Initially Joseph Magnin was a midrange purveyor of

apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

and

millinery Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners made and sold a range of accessories for clothing and hairstyles. ...

and was viewed as a second-rate I. Magnin. Within the

garment industry Clothing industry or garment industry summarizes the types of trade and industry along the production and value chain of clothing and garments, starting with the textile industry (producers of cotton, wool, fur, and synthetic fibre), embellishm ...

, Joseph Magnin Co. was known as "the other Magnin". For many years Joseph Magnin Co. operated in the shadows of I. Magnin. I. Magnin had many established providers of better fashions and demanded exclusivity. Vendors were barred from selling to Joseph Magnin if they wished to continue to do business with I. Magnin. To partially address this, Joseph Magnin rented the vacant 4th floor of the Stockton/O'Farrell store for a number of years to newly emerging local talent, the designer/manufacturer Eleanor Green, for her design studio and factory. Joseph Magnin at times did use

consumer confusion Consumer confusion is a state of mind that leads to consumers making imperfect purchasing decisions or lacking confidence in the correctness of their purchasing decisions. Confusion Confusion occurs when a consumer fails to correctly understand o ...

on the Magnin name to their advantage by calling the store J. Magnin in signage, advertisements, and store bags. The store also self identified as JM.

Post-war era

After World War II, under the leadership of Joseph's son Cyril Magnin, the Joseph Magnin Co. went more upscale and began courting the younger woman's market. JM advertisements were distinctive as being glamorous, sophisticated, trendy and youthful. One newspaper ad went to print without the Magnin name. Cyril was furious until he was told the item had sold out since everyone knew it was a JM ad.

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

purchased the suit she wore when she married

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...

in 1954 at JM. As of 1960 the store was one of the first in San Francisco to employ

Asian-Americans Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for ...

in customer service. In 1967, JM was responsible for buying Lynda Bird Johnson's

trousseau Trousseau, a French term for "small bundle", may refer to: *A dowry *The wardrobe and belongings of a bride, including the wedding dress or similar clothing *A hope chest, glory box or its contents *Trousseau (grape) Trousseau () or Trousseau N ...

. The store also included the "Wolves' Den" department for men only. Men could shop in a clublike area while seated, served martinis, smoking cigars, and being shown merchandise by JM's most attractive women.

Sale and Demise

In 1969, Cyril Magnin arranged for the Joseph Magnin Co. to be purchased by

Amfac, Inc. Amfac, Inc., formerly known as American Factors and originally H. Hackfeld & Co., was a land development company in Hawaii. Founded in 1898 as a retail and sugar business, it was considered one of the so-called Big Five (Hawaii), Big Five compan ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Amfac owned Liberty House, among other stores on the West Coast and Hawaii. Cyril remained the chairman of the board of JM. Joseph Magnin grew to a chain of 32 stores. In 1977, Amfac sold Joseph Magnin Co. to investors led by the Hillman Company and Gibbons, Green & Rice. Hillman sold the stores in 1982; in 1984, Joseph Magnin Co. filed for bankruptcy and closed its stores.

South Coast Plaza store

The two-story Joseph Magnin store in

South Coast Plaza South Coast Plaza is a regional shopping mall in Costa Mesa, California. The largest shopping center on the West Coast of the United States, its pre-COVID sales of over $1.5 billion annually were the highest in the United States. Its 275 retai ...

, in

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

, (branch #30), opened in the mall's Carousel Court on March 14, 1968. This store was notable for its original architect,

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...

, and the architects and designers who worked on its 1979 renovation. Architects

Massimo Massimo () is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Massimo Agostinelli (Max Agos) (born 1987), Swiss-based Italian American artist, entrepreneur and activist * Massimo Agostini (born 1964), Italian football man ...

and Lella Vignelli, and Gere Kavanaugh designed some of the store interiors, including the in-store restaurant, Le Soupçon, which featured a plethora of market umbrellas. The renovation was a poster child of then-CEO

Edward Gorman Edward Joseph Gorman Jr. (November 2, 1941 – October 14, 2016) was an American writer and short fiction anthologist. He published in almost every genre, but is best known for his work in the crime, mystery, western, and horror fields. His no ...

's effort to "breathe new life" into its stores at the end of the 1970s. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' remarked: "The Costa Mesa store--remodeled and reopened last month, is that prototype. Its were designed … to reflect JM's focus on the unique and contemporary, with shelf units, counters, even dressing rooms on wheels for flexibility in arranging merchandise, lighting on interchangeable ceiling tracks, and a "meandering" path laid out through the departments instead of in the standard grid pattern."

Branches

Joseph Magnin had as many as 49 stores at one point, and 24 by the time of bankruptcy and closure. Stores included:

San Francisco

* Stockton at O'Farrell at Union Square * Three

Embarcadero Center Embarcadero Center is a commercial complex of four office towers, two hotels, and a shopping center located in San Francisco. An outdoor ice skating rink is open in the center during winter months. Embarcadero Center sits on a site largely bo ...

* Montgomery at Bush * Fox Plaza *

Stonestown Galleria Stonestown Galleria is a shopping mall located in San Francisco, on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of the city It is located immediately north of San Francisco State University and near the former campus of Mercy High School (San Fra ...

* Fox Plaza, Civic Center area

Rest of the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

* San Mateo, East 4th Ave. at San Mateo Dr. *

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

Stanford Shopping Center Stanford Shopping Center is an upscale open air shopping mall located on Route 82 ( El Camino Real) at Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto, California. It is on the campus of Stanford University although the university only owns the land and not th ...

* San Jose, Valley Fair *San Jose,

Eastridge Eastridge, officially Eastridge Center, is a shopping mall in San Jose, California, located in the Evergreen, San Jose, Evergreen district of East San Jose. Eastridge opened as the largest mall on the U.S. West Coast, West Coast in 1971 and has ...

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, Kaiser Center *

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

, 2560 Bancroft Way * Hayward, Southland Mall * Walnut Creek, Broadway Plaza *

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

, Sun Valley * Santa Rosa, Coddingtown Mall

Sacramento metropolitan area The Greater Sacramento area is a metropolitan region in Northern California comprising either the U.S. Census Bureau defined Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade metropolitan statistical area or the larger Sacramento–Roseville combined sta ...

* Downtown Plaza * Florin Center * Country Club Centre * Citrus Heights, Sunrise Mall

Other Northern California

* Carmel Plaza *

Modesto Modesto ( ; ) is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,069 according to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, it is the 19th-most populous city in California. Modesto is locate ...

Southern California

Airport Marina Hotel The Airport Marina Hotel was an 800-room, first-class hotel located at the 8601 Lincoln Boulevard at the southwest corner of Manchester Avenue, in Westchester, Los Angeles, near Los Angeles International Airport. Its architect was Welton Beck ...

(a.k.a. Amfac Hotel), Lincoln Bl. at Manchester Ave., Westchester near

LAX A lax is a salmon. LAX as an acronym most commonly refers to Los Angeles International Airport in Southern California, United States. LAX or Lax may also refer to: Places Within Los Angeles * Union Station (Los Angeles), Los Angeles' main tr ...

* Broadway Plaza (now "The Bloc"),

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and ...

, Topanga Plaza *

Century City Shopping Center Westfield Century City is an outdoor shopping mall in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It has of gross leasable area and is anchored by Bloomingdale's, Macy's, and Nordstrom. The mall has been owned by Westfield-affili ...

* Glendale: Glendale Fashion Center (opened 1966) Later, Joseph Magnin moved to the

Glendale Galleria The Glendale Galleria is a large three-story regional shopping center and office complex located in downtown Glendale, California, United States. Opened in 1976 with of retail space, it is the third-largest mall in Los Angeles County after Lak ...

and in 1979 a local retailer, Webb's, expanded into its space. *

Marina del Rey Marina del Rey ( Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The eponymous harbor is a major boating and water recreation destination of the Greater Los Angeles ar ...

* Santa Barbara * Sherman Oaks Fashion Square * Torrance, Del Amo Fashion Square *

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge o ...

( Orange County),

(opened March 14, 1968; see previous section for detailed history) *

La Habra Fashion Square La Habra Marketplace, formerly La Habra Fashion Square, is an open-air regional mall in La Habra, California, built by the Bullock's department store chain. Welton Becket and Associates were the architects. It was the last and largest of the "Fa ...

(opened August 10, 1968, ) *

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

, Desert Fashion Plaza - (opened 1969, ). (see also History of retail in Palm Springs) *

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, Fashion Valley (opened 1969) * Ventura, Buenaventura Center

Nevada

* Crystal Bay, Lake Tahoe, Cal-Neva * Stateline, Lake Tahoe, Crescent V shopping center *

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

Meadowood Mall Meadowood Mall is a one-level, super-regional mall in Reno, Nevada, managed by Simon Property Group, which owns 50% of it. Meadowood Mall contains 125 retailers and restaurants and it is anchored by Macy's, Macy's Women, Macy's, Macy's Men/Home, ...

* Reno, Park Lane Centre (opened November 1966, ) *

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Fashion Show Mall Fashion Show Las Vegas is a shopping mall located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It was developed by Summa Corporation and Ernest W. Hahn, the latter also serving as general contractor. The mall features Dick's Sporting Goods, Dil ...

Denver

* Cherry Creek Shopping Center *

Cinderella City Cinderella City Mall was a large shopping center located in Englewood, Colorado, United States. The mall was officially opened for business on March 7, 1968, and demolished in 1999. It once was the largest covered shopping center west of the M ...

Downtown Denver Downtown Denver is the main financial, commercial, business, and entertainment district in Denver, Colorado, United States. There is over of office space in downtown Denver, with 132,000 workers. The downtown area consists mostly of the neigh ...

, 16th & Stout

Elsewhere

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, ZCMI Center Mall *

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, Kahala Mall *Honolulu, Amfac Center, now Topa Financial Center *

Aiea, Hawaii ʻAiea (; , ) is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the CDP had a total population of 9,338. Geography ʻAiea is located at (21.385900, −157.9309 ...

, Pearlridge Mall

References

Sources

* Birmingham, Nan Tilson, ''Store'', 1978, . * Frick, Devin, ''I. Magnin & Co. A California Legacy'', 2000, * Hendrickson, Robert, ''The Grand Emporiums'', 1980, * Magnin, Cyril and Robins, Cynthia, ''Call Me Cyril'', 1981, * Mullane, James Thomas, ''A Store to Remember'', 2007, {{ISBN, 978-0-9788513-0-9 * Steger, Pat, "A Fitting Tribute", ''San Francisco Chronicle'', April 6, 1999 1915 establishments in California 1984 disestablishments in California Companies based in San Francisco Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Defunct department stores based in the San Francisco Bay Area Retail companies disestablished in 1984 Retail companies established in 1915 Union Square, San Francisco