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Building History

The Ville de Paris Department Store occupied first-floor space in the Homer Laughlin Building between 1904 and 1917. Under new ownership (that of the Emporium of San Francisco), it moved to a new building at 422 West 7th Street in 1917, and was replaced by the Grand Central Market at 317 South Broadway.

Frenchman Auguste Fusenot (1850-1907) immigrated to San Francisco, CA, in 1873, and began working for the Verdier Brothers' famed City of Paris Dry Goods Store. By 1893, Fusenot had become a shareholder in the firm, and convinced his partners to open a branch location in Los Angeles, CA, in 1893. This first location operated for eleven years, rapidly becoming one of Los Angeles's premiere dry goods stores. Outgrowing this first outlet, it moved to much larger quarters, containing about 93,540 square feet, in the Laughlin Building. This new store extended the width of a block, stretching from Broadway to 314-322 Hill Street.

Building Notes

The Ville de Paris operated in the basement and on the first floor, each measuring 110 x 327 feet, and on the first and second floors, the floor plates measuring 90 x 120 feet. (See "Ville de Paris, 19 years Ago and Today," Los Angeles Herald, 11/09/1912, p. 25.)

PCAD id: 22908