Florencita Theatre
1830 E. Florence Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90001
1830 E. Florence Avenue,
Los Angeles,
CA
90001
1 person
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My father, Dr. White, owned the building from around 1970 through the late 1990s when he sold it to Elia’s Pet Shop. He ran a vaccination clinic there well into his mid-80s. He sold it to another vet around 2008. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 90. He bought it from another vet, Dr. Helfer who owned it for many years. My understanding is that it was a private residence prior to becoming a vet hospital in the 40s or 50s. Never heard of it ever being a theater. It was called A&A Dog & Cat Hospital.
Mike Buoy can you contact me if you get this message?
about this area and your comment.
i grew up in the florence area .the florencita was at the sw corner of florence av and walnut dr. a carwash is now at this corner.i went to school across the street at florence av elementary in the early fifties.. mleopold
L.A. County Assessor’s office says the building currently on this site (southwest corner of Florence and Walnut) was built in 1981. The Florencita Theatre is gone.
I will tell you what I know about the building mentioned in the post added by Ken MC.
Elias' Pet Warehouse is a pet store owned by members of the Ornelas family (Elias and Rosa who are brother and sister). It is part of a chain of many small community-oriented pet stores in the Los Angeles area that was started by Miguel Ornelas SR. (d.1992). Some of the original Elias' Pet Shop / Warehouse businesses were purchased by Jesse Ornelas and converted into the more commercial Pet Source.
The Elias' Pet Warehouse’s address is:
1808 E. Florence Ave.
Los Angeles, California 90001
(323)581-3156
The building that the pet warehouse is in is composed of two floors. The upper floor is the residence of Rosa Ornelas and her family. The lower level is the pet store itself. The pet store has been around since the early 1990’s. It is well known for the beautiful artwork that the owners of the business change around often due to vandalism by graffiti. The Elias' Pet Warehouse building has been featured on a popular Latin Saturday night variety show named “Sabado Gigante” and a Disney movie still in production featuring a guinea pig. The Ornelas family, particularly Miguel Sr. and Elias have previously been featured on popular Latin television shows like “Christina” in which they displayed many of their beautiful birds.
Before the Ornelas family purchased the building, it belonged to Dr. John N.S. White who used the building as an animal hospital for decades.
I do not know if it may have been the Florencita Theatre at one point. The building itself is rather large, however, the layout inside gives no impression of a theatre. If one is TRULY interested, Dr. White still services the pet store on Sundays for animal vaccinations and a quick phone call to the business to ask Dr. White about the history in the Florence Ave. area may help.
I didn’t think so when I saw it, either. I think the theater is long gone.
From a overhead view it does not look like a theatre building let aloan a theatre that sat 575 people.
1835 Florence was across the street. This was the first building on the even side starting from 1800. Maybe Elias has more than one store.
Here are some photos from July 2007. This may or may not be the theater:
http://tinyurl.com/ynsgh5
http://tinyurl.com/2eoa8w
http://tinyurl.com/ysnwbr
http://tinyurl.com/yr9zmd
Cliches come to life, from the LA Times dated 12/7/44:
Using a handkerchief over his face as a mask, a bandit held up Miss Wilma Wallace, 16, cashier at the Florencita Theater at 1830 E. Florence Avenue, late Tuesday night and escaped with $35, according to reports at the Sheriff’s Firestone substation.
If the original building still exists, it’s a pet shop. The entire building has been painted over, so it’s hard to tell if this is the original or a new building on the Florencita site. I will post the pictures later and we can take a look.