Pico Rivera Liquor (Gone)
Pico Rivera, CA
Photo courtesy Sal Garcia

Here's an old roadside marquee for the Pico Rivera Liquor in where else but Pico Rivera, CA. This sign was torn down a few years ago and replaced by a plastic sign. Many thanks to Sal Garcia for info. 07-06

The store belonged to the commercial landscape that grew around Pico Rivera’s postwar housing developments. As subdivisions replaced agricultural land, independent markets and liquor stores supplied the nearby households. Their signs became part of the daily route, often more recognizable than the buildings beneath them.

Pico and Rivera merged into one city in 1958, during that period of rapid suburban growth. A store carrying the community’s name fit naturally into the streetscape, even if its precise opening date remains elusive.

Unfortunately, the replacement followed a familiar pattern: custom metalwork and neon out, backlit plastic in. The name could remain while much of what made the roadside view interesting disappeared.

UPDATE: The vintage Pico Rivera Liquor marquee was removed before July 2006 and replaced with a plastic sign. 10-26

North Shore Liquors (Closed)
Salton City, CA
Photo courtesy Bill Herzog

The North Shore Liquor Store no longer has gas, liquor, bait or sporting goods. But you can still get a cold beer there! Many thanks to Bill Herzog for info. 05-08

The supplied archival reference places the store in the November 1966 Salton Seafarer, under operator Rollie Dunlap. That puts it squarely in the sea’s resort years, when boating, fishing, and waterfront development gave businesses along Highway 111 plenty to advertise.

UPDATE: The sign was there the last time I was out there. The place has been closed for quite some time. 10-26

Santa Monica Liquor
Santa Monica, CA
Photo courtesy Scott Strickland

Look above the corner of Wilshire and Tenth Street for Santa Monica Liquor and its neon bottles. The marquee does more than announce the store. It puts on a little demonstration overhead, with the bottles lighting in sequence. This one survived the earlier sign-ordinance scare and was still standing proudly during the October 2009 visit. 10-09

Likely dating from the 1950s, the sign lets its neon extend beyond the metal cabinet. The bottles appear suspended against the sky, rather than painted onto a solid panel. After dark, the supports become less noticeable and the illuminated shapes get their chance to show off.

On September 28, 2000, the city included the freestanding neon display on its Final List of Meritorious Signs. A liquor store advertisement had earned a place among the signs Santa Monica considered worth keeping. Fortunately, survival also came with some upkeep: the marquee received fresh paint in 2014.

UPDATE: Santa Monica Liquor is still open at 1001 Wilshire Boulevard, now offering app-based ordering and delivery alongside its walk-in business. The bottle-topped sign survives, with photographs documenting it again in 2024. Modern shopping below, old-fashioned neon above. 10-26

Quicker Liquor
Fontana, CA
Photo courtesy Jack Wright

There’s more history behind Quicker Liquor than its speedy name suggests. The Sierra Avenue store has been a familiar Fontana stop for years, including this September 2010 view of its illuminated marquee. 09-10

Local family recollections place the Mayer family behind the counter in the early 1960s, when Kaiser Steel helped shape Fontana’s working life. That history would predate the 1977 opening carried by some business directories.

UPDATE: Quicker Liquor is still open at 9757 Sierra Avenue. Its longtime pole sign reportedly remains, advertising a neighborhood business whose roots may reach back more than 60 years. 10-26