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Photo by Chris Bales, 2005 |
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L.A. Cinema Storage isn’t a storage warehouse, but it’s themed as one. Old movie props line the higher parts of the walls and hang from the roof supports. But where you can reach things, it’s a retail shop. |
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Hollywood Boulevard at Yester Studios is lined with stores selling Disney character merchandise. L.A. Cinema Storage specializes in all things with Disney characters for kids—t-shirts, caps, toys, sunglasses, costumes, plush, plush, and plush. Did we mention plush? |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2005 Pacific Electric logo at the top of the façade |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2012 Mission Revival architecture |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2008 Intentionally cluttered interior |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2008 Minnies and Disney Princesses |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2008 Mr. Potato Head parts, including parts exclusive to Disney |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2007 Plush patio |
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If there’s not enough plush for you inside the store, check out the plush under the canopy along the Hollywood Boulevard sidewalk. While you’re out there, check out Banana Co. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2007 “Office” of Banana Co. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2007 Banana Co. |
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Perhaps there’s an elaborate backstory for why a cartoonish “hut” with a slapdash corrugated roof is tacked onto the outside of L.A. Cinema Storage, and why it’s named after an elongated, easily peeled fruit. If so, it seems to be a well-kept secret. |
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L.A. Cinema Storage opened May 1, 1991—exactly two years after the grand opening of Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World on May 1, 1989. Before becoming L.A. Cinema Storage, the space operated under three other names. At the park’s opening, it was Pacific Electric Pictures. The Disney-MGM Studios Guide Book described it like this: “Star in your own home video version of a Hollywood spectacular. Personalized ‘Star’ merchandise available.” Pacific Electric Pictures was part of the new park’s attempt to provide an entry street with experiences, not just traditional retail shops—nicely blurring the line between shops and attractions. At Sights & Sounds, guests could record their own music videos. Cover Story put guests faces onto the covers of Hollywood magazines. There was a cost involved, but there was also something to take home. On May 26, 1990, after slightly more than a year as Pacific Electric Pictures, the space became Calling Dick Tracy. Guests could still make videos to take home, but these now involved taking part in a Dick Tracy adventure. The Walt Disney Company had high hopes for its 1990 Touchstone release, Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty, Madonna, and Al Pacino. It was supposed to launch a film franchise and a significant theme park presence. Box office results doomed those plans. Calling Dick Tracy closed January 12, 1991. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2008 Busy corner after the opening of Sunset Boulevard |
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After just a week, on January 19, 1991, the space reopened as Legends of Hollywood—which closed less than two months later on March 9, 1991. If the name Legends of Hollywood sounds familiar, it’s because a store with the same name opened on June 12, 1994—right next door to L.A. Cinema Storage—as part of the park’s Sunset Boulevard expansion. In 2012, Disney announced plans to open a Disney version of a Starbucks inside each of the six domestic Disney theme parks. The Main Street Bakery at Magic Kingdom Park, Fountain View at Epcot, and Creature Comforts at Disney’s Animal Kingdom would be re-imagined, with each keeping its old name. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios (as Disney-MGM Studios had been renamed in 2008), L.A. Cinema Storage would become that park’s Starbucks. The name would change too. L.A. Cinema Storage closed June 15, 2014. Trolley Car Café opened February 4, 2015. |
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Photo by Chris Bales, 2007 Ivy Substation in Culver City (converted to a theater in 1992) |
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The new name was a nod to the Pacific Electric Railway Company, the long-gone Los Angeles urban rail system that would eventually inspire the Red Car Trolley at Disney California Adventure. The Pacific Electric logo had been on the building since 1989. In fact, the building was modeled after a real Pacific Electric building from 1907, the Ivy Substation in Culver City, California, which housed equipment to convert A.C. power to D.C. power. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 Trolley Car Café from across Hollywood Boulevard |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2015 Sign with the vintage Starbucks logo |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 Trolley Car Café interior |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 High-volume Starbucks |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2016 Tasty food items beckoning |
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It was a good transformation. Outdoor tables replaced the weird Banana Co. “hut” and the cheap-looking outdoor plush shelves. The interior is functional and efficient, with an industrial look that is supposed to reflect the 1920s and 1930s. It’s a big improvement over the “storage” theme of L.A. Cinema Storage. |
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© 2023 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated May 5, 2023 |
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