First J.C. Penney, then Ross: Discount retailers occupied key SLO location for 90 years
The exit of Ross from downtown leaves an empty spot in a storied San Luis Obispo location.
For over nine decades, two discount retail chains, J.C. Penney Co. and then Ross Dress for Less, occupied the space across from what is now the Downtown Centre entrance.
They operated in almost the same footprint.
When Penney’s was established, it did not reach from Higuera to Monterey Street.
The Higuera Street building was built by Ignatz Steinhart in 1908. It was one of the first buildings to span San Luis Creek.
J.C. Penney Co. came to San Luis Obispo in 1929 and survived the stock market crash and Great Depression that followed.
Perhaps the founder’s background helped them through.
How J.C. Penney was founded
James Cash Penney grew up poor and worked hard when he took a job at a dry goods store selling grain, flour and beans.
At the Golden Rule Mercantile he proved so adept he was offered a promotion to manage his own store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
By 1913 he had bought out his partners, and the 34 Golden Rule stores became J.C. Penney.
His father was a farmer and preacher. Later in life, Penney would focus on agricultural and spiritual philanthropy.
After the Great Depression and war years, the Higuera Street location had become too small for what had grown into a national chain. In August 1961, the store celebrated a $286,000 remodel. Retail space now stretched a full block from Higuera Street through to Monterey.
The Aug. 9, 1961, article said the merchandise would be first quality and because the chain operated efficiently, low prices would be passed on to customers.
Manager John F. Groene said, “Penney’s is now three times larger than our former store.”
The latest fluorescent lights were installed, and the store was now air-conditioned.
Many local contractors worked on the project and had congratulatory ads in the Telegram-Tribune, including Smee’s plumbing, Kyle Co. roofing, Maino Construction and San Luis Mill and Lumber.
For over three more decades, the slab-fronted store would be one of the retail leaders downtown.
The July 26, 1979, article said turnover was rare with only six managers in the five decades since Penney’s opened.
A Nov. 25, 1987, article says Penney’s store was targeted by shoplifters who “boosted” $16,000 in clothing from the store. One person would distract a clerk while others would take armloads of clothing out the door.
With the store’s two entrances, the shoplifters had an advantage — until they were arrested with bags of clothing stuffed in two cars.
Penney’s gives way to Ross in the 1990s
In 1990, leases were coming up for Penney’s, and nationally, the retail giant was facing competition from more nimble retailers.
When the impending closure was announced on July 31, 1990, shopper Inez Vargas said, “I’ve been shopping here since 1952, and I’m sorry to hear that it’s closing.”
“Like a lot of other elderly people, I can’t always find transportation to get to the mall. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Others blamed the city.
“When the town wouldn’t let Penney’s into the (Central Coast Plaza) mall a few years ago, that was the beginning of the end,” said Connie Dougherty, a sales associate.
Penney’s locked the door for the final time in SLO on Dec. 24, 1990, and a staff of 40 was laid off.
The Paso Robles store at 13th and Park St. had closed in the summer of 1989.
Though Penney’s for a while had a small locations in San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles, the store was no longer a downtown fixture in either city.
The closest store is now in Santa Maria.
Today, there are questions about the future of downtowns as brick-and-mortar stores face challenges from online retailers.
In 1990 the empty store was a particularly big hole in the downtown because across the street, the French Pavilion development was stalled after demolishing the old Sears building and others.
The former Penney’s building’s new owners decided to remode,l and it was one of the first major downtown structures to get an earthquake retrofit.
A November 1990 story by David Eddy said the 1960 addition was structurally sound but the original 40% needed a steel frame built inside.
“It will be like a building within a building,” said San Luis Obispo architect Tom Courtney.
The renovation of 868 Higuera cost at least $1 million and was in the style of “Classic Main Street,” with earthquake-safe styrofoam cornices glued to the exterior.
The lease for Ross Stores Inc. was signed, and it opened July 1991.
Unlike Penney’s, Ross was later allowed a second store in the Madonna Plaza in 2019.
They took over part of the space vacated by the closure of Sears, who had moved there from their original downtown location.
The downtown Ross closed Jan 18, 2022.
