Bijou Theatre

As chronicled in this week’s new San Diego Reader, with an updated and expanded version of the ongoing Pussycat Theater project – View link

The owners from 1974 to 1982 were Bob and Susan Carson. Walnut Properties, who ran California’s Pussycat Theatre chain, coveted the locale, but was unable to close a purchase deal on the property until 1982.

As with many Pussycats in the chain’s fading days, Walnut ceased day to day operation in the late-80s. New management leased the theater from Walnut, keeping the Pussycat signage and operating the locale as a Pussycat (also like at many other latterday ‘Cathouses). In this case, a former Walnut employee leased the property and ran it, Walnut’s former district manager of northern California, Mrs. Paula Miranda (no relation to Walnut co-founder Vince Miranda),

The city of Stockton seemed fairly resigned to the long-lived porn oasis just off the so-called Miracle Mile, until civic leaders began applying pressure to close the locale in the early ‘90s. The theater locked its doors in January 1993.

Hi theatre fans !!! I am what you should now refer to as the bijou theatre’s very last employee…I workeddd there from 1990 until its last heaving sigh in 94'… and I can tell you that the aforementioned city leaders did not play fairly! They conducted A local business owners meeting and together voted out the Bijou Theatre from the Miracle Mile even though it wasn’t really on The Miracle Mile and after that we started getting vice squad officers into the theater all the time harassing patrons and driving them away eventually we were making almost no money at all and soon enough they raided us and took away our business license, mind you this place was here for 25 years very sad to see it go