Ships Coffee Shop

Ship's Coffee Shop sign on Olympic Boulevard

Ships Coffee Shop was a small chain of coffee shops with iconic Modern architecture in Los Angeles, California. The architectural style is classified as Googie Architecture. Ships was especially known for its signage. Martin Stern Jr. was the architect.

The Ships menu included Shrimp Louie, navy bean soup and cottage cheese with peach or pineapple. Toasters were located at tables and on the counters for customers to prepare their own toast.

There were three Ships locations opened by resterauteur Emmett Shipman and his father Matt Shipman, at Westwood, Culver City and La Cienega. They were open 24 hours, 365 days a year, never closing.^[1]

The Westwood (two part) Ships CS/CG (Coffee Shop/Chicken Grill) at Wilshire Boulevard and Glendon Avenue, was the second to open. It closed on September 20th 1984 and was demolished the following day, to make way for a 20 story office building.

The Ships at La Cienega Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard, was the last to open (1968). It closed one week before the Culver City location and was later demolished. This was the Ships which featured in the film 'Into The Night'.

The Culver City Ships at Washington Boulevard and Overland Avenue, was the first to open (Dec 1956), and last to close, on 31st August 1995, although it re-opened for a short time (under new management) and finally closed in 1996. The building was later occupied by Starbucks, but was remodeled beyond recognition in 2013. ^[2]

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