Oct 2025 · SFGATE
After four years of work, the Woolworth's building in downtown Bakersfield is restored, with the nation's last Woolworth's lunch counter back in service.
SFGATE's Andrew Pridgen followed the Woolworth's restoration from an empty, dust-filled hall to its grand reopening, and the story it tells is of a downtown landmark brought back piece by piece.
Four years, every piece catalogued
Owners Emily and Sherod Waite bought the building through their firm, Moneywise Wealth Management, and set out to restore it rather than remodel it. Working with architect Daniel Cater of Cater Design Group, the team removed, catalogued and restored the building down to the hardware, with architectural historians and restoration specialists guiding the work. Wallace & Smith built the project.
The counter, and why it matters
Woolworth's once ran thousands of stores across the country, and its lunch counters carry a place in civil-rights history through the 1960 Greensboro sit-in. Bakersfield's is now the last one in the U.S., and the article describes visitors moved to tears on seeing it whole again. Chef Richard Yoshimura built its menu from research into the old Woolworth's offerings: burgers, fries, shakes and a patty melt.
A building with a new life
Alongside the lunch counter, the ground floor carries retail and seating, the basement is now an event and concert venue, and Moneywise has moved its headquarters onto the second floor. Cater credits the team that delivered it: “great buildings can’t happen without great contractors.”
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Originally reported by SFGATE. Read the original coverage.