The local LaGrovers, Miracle Milers and West 3rd Street communitites should get ready to do the happy dance soon: The A. F. Gilmore Group (of The Original Farmers Market) Developement on 3rd and Fairfax is up on it’s legs and is alive! I have been following up daily on construction progress and they are moving fast- our Trader Joes(as reported by Curbed LA) should be opening it’s doors soon. I feel like that lady in the mid 90′s Marshall’s commercial”open, open, open…”
The grocery company filed an application last year to open on the northwest corner of Third and Fairfax. This is where there A.F. Gilmore plans to put a mid-century modern style retail center designed by architect McKently Malak. The rumors aren’t 100% set in stone however looking at the design layout it looks like “Market” design: this would be the third Trader Joes in the Mid-City West neighborhood. (There are the La Brea and Third / Fairfax and Third stores, and one planned in developer Rick Caruso’s Burton and San Vicente planned project which is gaining momentum as well.)
BELOW IS BEFORE:
I just snapped these AFTER pics today:
From the side where perhaps the market location will be:
As far as the businesses and tenants that will occupy the swanky new Mid Century Shopping Center is tentative, as well as any Grand Openings, I predict the rumored froyo shop to occupy will be serving up swirls by the beginning of summer.
A litttle Gilmore History:
As I walked through the Farmer’s Market today I couldn’t help but double take this picture of Mr. Gilmore and Marilyn Monroe, opening day of Gilmore Bank in 1955.
Some Famer’s Market History:
As Farmers Market at Gilmore Island became an international landmark, the property surrounding it grew famous with it. E.B. Gilmore, rarely missed an opportunity. Thus in the 1930s and ’40s, he gave Angelenos the opportunity to experience live sporting events.
In 1934, a few months before Farmers Market opened, Gilmore built the first race car track designed specifically for midget car racers, a venue built of love and commercial savvy. Gilmore loved racers and his marketing sense led him to support them as a “demonstration” of Gilmore Oil products.
His romance with cars extended well beyond the construction of Gilmore Stadium. As a sponsor, E.B. Gilmore took vehicles to the Winner’s Circle at the Indianapolis 500 in 1935 and 1937. As a patron, he helped establish a land speed record which lasted for eight years. As a businessman, he created “Economy Runs” which evolved into modern stock car racing. In 1987, E.B. Gilmore was elected to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame and in 1992, he was inducted into the Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa.
Gilmore Stadium was also home to the Bulldogs, the first professional football team in Los Angeles. Art Aragon, the Golden Boy of boxing, fought in the 18,000 seat stadium. The site was also used for rodeos, wrestling matches and even swimming. This was also where presidential candidate Harry Truman delivered his famous “stiff upper lip” speech. No sooner had the Gilmore Stadium become a fixture in Los Angeles than E.B. Gilmore acted again. Gilmore Field was constructed in 1938 to accommodate the Hollywood Stars, a minor league professional baseball team of the Pacific Coast League, owned by Bing Crosby, Barbara Stanwyck, and Cecil B. DeMille.
Gilmore Field was perhaps the most intimate baseball venue ever created in a metropolitan area. Home plate was exactly 34 feet from the seats, first and third bases only 24 feet away. Gilmore Field taught a generation of Angelenos to love baseball. The Hollywood Stars popularity created the climate which helped persuade the owners of the Dodgers to move west, before the 1958 season.
The concept of elaborate architecture gave way to wooden stalls, and the vast vision gave way to a modest business approach. Farmers were charged a mere 50¢ per day “rent” – but the “Idea” had a power all its own.
Farmers Market reached and surpassed the lofty vision which launched it. By the time the decade had lapsed, the gross was greater than the predicted six million dollars, but commercial volume was the least of the Market’s achievements.
Farmers Market became the central meeting place for Angelenos – “Meet me at 3rd and Fairfax” is still one of the most common phrases in the city. It also became, and remains, the must-see tourist attraction in Southern California.
As a part of an expansion and reconstruction project in 1941, Farmers Market became the home of the Clock Tower, which has become an international landmark. In tribute to Earl B. Gilmore, Roger Dahlhjelm, and Fred Beck, the words “An Idea” were inscribed on the Clock Tower.
At the turn of the millennium, the one-time dairy farm adapted once again. Following years of careful planning, the A.F. Gilmore Company completed an arrangement to develop several acres of property into one of the most delightful, and amazingly popular, shopping and entertainment venues in the nation. The Grove, developed by Caruso Affiliated Holdings, features a wonderful array of stores, restaurants, the finest movie theater complex anywhere, and a streetscape which is inviting, friendly, and specifically designed for strolling. At the same time, the Gilmore Company created North Market, now home to the ultra-modern Gilmore Bank building, a number of street-level shops, and two stories of offices. While these new additions have greatly enhanced the experience, which draws millions of visitors to Farmers Market, the Market itself remains what it has always been – a delightful and utterly charming place to meet, eat, shop, and stroll.
Now entering its eighth decade as one of the most popular places anywhere in the U.S., Farmers Market remains “An Idea” whose time is now.
Telephone: (323) 933-9211, Toll Free: (866) 993-9211
Fax: (323) 549-2145
Address: 6333 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Information provided by Curbed LA and much thanks to The Gilmore Group.
