A Fun Place Back in the Day

Few stores become landmarks in Lakewood. The is one of them.

The South Tacoma Way business icon — located just inside Lakewood’s borders — originally opened as a hardware store in 1946 by E.L. Irwin and M.L. Bradshaw

While the entertainment and retail store was small, dreams and marketing plans were big. It was quickly dubbed the biggest, little store in the world. It drew crowds during the 1950s with its novice entertainment attractions such as sidewalk sales, elephant rides and carousel horses.

More attractions soon came.

Television, music and movie stars found their way at autograph signings as the years passed. Notable visits included appearances by boxing legend Joe Louis, Burt Ward, the actor who played Batman’s sidekick, television cowboy The Cisco Kid and Patti McGee, the world champion female skateboarder. And let's not forget Sheena, Queen of the Jungle in her real television show costume.

And then there was Ivan, the gorilla. The 500-pound silverback arrived in 1964. He stayed in the Lakewood home of his handler at night and appeared at the shopping center during the day. The gorilla grew older and stayed full-time at the center, living there for 30 years.

After mounting protests by animal rights groups rising cost of his care, Ivan was sent to Zoo Atlanta in 1994, where he remains one of the zoo’s main attractions.

The B&I is now home to a collection of independent retailers, ranging from a and knife shop to a foam mat vendor and an arcade. B&I now survives as a shadow born out of its former glory. Faded posters of its history are preserved under glass along the main hallway.

But it still remains the only place in Lakewood where people can still play Pac Man and Asteroids as a way to relive their 1980s childhoods.