Country Club Center (Gone)
Covina, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The sign for Country Club Center keeps things fairly simple until you look at the top. Bulb-like tips project above the main panel, adding a little space-age decoration to this neighborhood shopping center at 2646 E. Garvey Avenue South. It’s a small touch, but enough to separate this one from the plain rectangular signs farther down the road.

Shopping centers didn’t all need enormous towers or revolving panels to get noticed. A few unusual shapes could give an entrance its own identity, becoming familiar to motorists making the same drive through town. You might forget which shop occupied a particular storefront, but remember the sign that told you where to turn. Country Club’s decorative tips gave an everyday shopping stop a little extra roadside personality.

UPDATE: Country Club Center was redeveloped and remodeled several years ago, and the old sign disappeared around that time. The makeover changed a familiar stretch of Garvey Avenue, taking those little space-age accents with it. This photograph brings back the center’s earlier appearance, when the Country Club name still greeted passing motorists from its old perch. 10-26

Rosemead Arma Center
Pico Rivera, CA
Photo courtesy Sal Garcia

The sign for Rosemead Arma Center brings a little space-age style to this Pico Rivera shopping strip. Its geometric framework gives the center more personality than a plain tenant directory, making it worth noticing even when you have no shopping to do. It’s another example of an everyday neighborhood stop with an advertisement that rises above the ordinary.

The name points to its location near Rosemead Boulevard and Arma Street. Like Para-Lamo and other locally named centers, it gives motorists a clue to the crossroads before they reach the parking lot.

UPDATE: This sign still stands proudly today. 10-26

Garfield Plaza (Altered)
Monterey Park, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The old sign for Garfield Plaza was a familiar sight to motorists passing through Monterey Park. Shopping center signs like this could become part of the daily scenery, marking the turn into a parking lot long before you stopped to think about their design. After enough trips past, the sign could be easier to remember than the individual shops below. 04-06

Garfield Plaza’s advertisement eventually received a different look. The change was already noted in the original April 2006 report, so the version pictured here belongs to an earlier chapter of the shopping center.

UPDATE: The old sign had been redone by 2006 and no longer looked as shown in this photograph. The sign was modernized and is somewhat reflective, though it's great to see that the Garfield Plaza shopping area still survives. 10-26

Cross Roads Shopping Center (Gone)
La Mirada, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The old sign for Cross Roads Shopping Center recalls a neighborhood shopping stop in La Mirada. Its roadside presence helped motorists find the shops before turning into the parking lot. The sign’s age wasn’t known when this photograph was added, but it had enough character to earn a second look. 04-06

Located at Imperial Highway and Telegraph Road, Crossroads included a Safeway supermarket and a Baskin-Robbins remembered by longtime residents. The former Safeway building later housed Moskatels and Michaels, giving shoppers several different reasons to visit the same familiar corner over the years.

UPDATE: Redevelopment plans approved in 2012 called for a Walgreens and demolition of several older storefronts, including the former Baskin-Robbins. Other businesses were to remain as the property changed in stages. The old sign’s removal date has not been confirmed, but this photograph preserves the Cross Roads name from an earlier chapter of shopping in La Mirada. 10-26