The elegant art deco structure, Bullock’s Wilshire of 3050 Wilshire Boulevard, became the first department store to provide a parking lot or "motor court" when the store opened in 1929. It was closed in 1992 by the owner of the time, I. Magnin, after being looted in the Los Angeles riots. The building now houses Southwestern University’s School of Law.

The largest department store chain in the West used to be the former Los Angeles-based Broadway Stores, operator of The Broadway department stores. The company was bought out by the Federated Stores, operators of Macy’s and Bloomingdales.

According to the Competitive Media Reporting and Publishers Information Bureau, the leading U.S. advertisers in 1994 were Los Angeles County-based Walt Disney Company at $503.6 billion and Mattel at $175.1 million.