Ships Coffee Shop was a small chain of

coffee shops A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

with iconic

Modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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 ...

. The architectural style is classified as

Googie Architecture Googie architecture ( ) is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, Jet aircraft, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popu ...

. Ships was especially known for its signage.

Martin Stern Jr. Martin Stern Jr. (April 9, 1917 – July 28, 2001) was an American architect who was most widely known for his large scale designs and structures in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is credited with originating the concept of the structurally integrated ...

was the architect. The Ships menu included Shrimp Louie, Navy bean soup, Ship Shape Burger, Steak-O-Bob, Chicken Pot Pie and Hot Cake Sandwich. Sunbeam toasters were located at tables and on the counters for customers to prepare their own toast. There were three Ships locations opened by resterauteur Emmett Shipman and his father Matt Shipman, at Westwood, Culver City and La Cienega. They were open 24 hours, 365 days a year, never closing. The Westwood (two part) Ships CS/CG (Coffee Shop/Chicken Galley)

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard ( wɪɫ.ʃɚ is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue (Santa Monica), Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue (Lo ...

and Glendon Avenue, was the second to open (1958). It closed on Thursday September 20, 1984 and was demolished shortly after, to make way for a 20 story office building. The Ships at

La Cienega Boulevard La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that runs from the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in the north to El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne in the south. It was named for Rancho Las ...

and Olympic Boulevard, was the last to open (1963). It closed at 4pm on Wednesday 30 August 1995 and was later demolished. This was the Ships which featured in the film Into The Night. The Culver City Ships at Washington Boulevard and Overland Avenue, was the first to open (Dec 1956), and last to close, at 4pm on Thursday 31 August 1995, although it re-opened on Friday 20 October (under new management, Matthew 'Matt' Shipman, son of Emmett Shipman) and finally closed on November 25, 1996 (after the lease expired). The building was later occupied by Starbucks, but was remodeled beyond recognition in 2013. Ships continued to live on for a few years, through their Official Website (from 2011), run by 'Mr. Ships', (Matthew 'Matt' Shipman, son of Emmett Shipman) until his untimely death in 2016. The website closed down in December of that year (Exactly 60 years after the first Ships Coffee Shop opened for business).ShipsCoffeeShop.com - Official Website
/ref> Like the Culver City restaurant, after being closed down, the website was reinstated for just over a year, before closing down permanently.

References

{{Reflist Defunct restaurants in Los Angeles Googie architecture in California