It’s time to take a trip down memory road and revisit stores that use to occupy Alhambra’s Main Street.
Starting from the “Alhambra Book Store” located on Main Street. You may not have ever known its existence but according to a Los Angeles Times article, the book store carried over 250,000 volumes and averaged more than 400 customers a day! The bookstore which opened around the 1960s was located on Main Street by Chapel next to Prober’s Shoes.
Prober’s Shoes was another long standing business in Alhambra. Opened in 1936, the shoe store was founded by Ben Prober, whose wife sold her diamond wedding ring to pay for the first 200 pairs of shoes. Prober was known as “The Last of the Original Old Time Shoe Dogs,” and was a successful shoe retailer who helped revolutionize sales and outsold his competition. Google his name and learn about sales tactics!
Besides having individual retail stores, Main Street has also had its share of department stores. Liebergs (probably not a name you have heard of), was family-owned and started by Betty Jean Morton and Pres Lieberg in 1926. The store had three stories and was a popular destination for people to shop because it had its own parking lot!
Another department store you probably haven’t heard of is Butler Brothers. A chain department store that opened in 1951 on 343 E. Main Street, it closed after 21 years and was replaced by the Nahas department store.
Aside from retail shops, Main Street has also lost the El Rey Theatre. The theatre originally opened as Temple Theater in 1921 and was later renamed to El Rey, located at 335 W. Main Street. The theater was built to fit 800 people for an estimated cost of $50,000. The location closed after the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake.
Given Main Street’s history of shops that have come and gone, make sure to continue to show support to the existing stores and help them stay in business!
