Twin Peaks Film Location – Twin Peaks General Store

In Episode 1001, Norma Jennings pays a visit to the Twin Peaks General Store where she runs into the cotton ball-obsessed Nadine Hurley. This is the only time that the General Store appears in the entire series. In reality, the location used for this store – Valley Hardware Toys & Trains – was found in Monrovia, California. The shop was found just down the street from Wagon Wheel Do-Nuts (a deleted scene location from Season 1) and the Hayward House exterior from Seasons 1 and 2. Let’s take a closer look.

LOCATION HISTORY

Valley Hardware Toys & Trains was located at 612 Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia. The 5,400 square foot building was constructed in 1902. It had a few tenants throughout the 20th Century including J.J. Renaker Furniture which occupied the building in 1916. Mc Mahon’s Furniture had been in the building until about 1956. The building sat vacant until Paul Finkenbiner moved his Valley Hardware store into the spot in 1962.

Finkenbiner and Henry Provost had operated Advance Hardware (later known as Valley Hardware) across the street at 527 S. Myrtle Avenue since purchasing the business from previous owners in 1945. Once they made the move, the store was remodeled and air conditioning was added. For the next 39 years, Valley Hardware would become a staple in the downtown area.

Valley Hardware was sold to a new owner in April 1984 so Finklebiner could retire and “enjoy life.” His retirement would be short lived as he died from cancer a few months later on June 10.

John Gross assumed responsibilities for the hardware shop that year, and operated the store until selling it to David Gayman in October 1988. Gayman was profiled in an October 10, 1995 article in the Los Angeles Times

“[David] worked for many years in the ready-mix concrete business in the San Fernando Valley and only stumbled across the opportunity to buy this hardware store in October, 1988. A store like this has tremendous overhead and tremendous inventory. Before I bought it, I saw what it was going to take in sales to break even and I knew we could not do it.

But I had always had an interest in toy trains and trucks and so we decided to sell a good variety of model trains and toys. They make up about 40% of our total sales and take up about 20% of our floor space. I only wish the other part of our business did as well as the toys. Thank God there’s no Home Depot of train stores.”

Jan Marugg from the Monrovia Chamber of Commerce introduced Mr. Gayman in the Monrovia News Post on January 1, 1989.

This means that David was the store owner when the Twin Peaks scene with Norma Jennings and Nadie Hurley was shot at some point in fall 1989.

Gayman appears to have sold the shop in the mid-2000s  and it was replaced with a Pinkberry (which has a lease in the space until 2022). I first visited the location in 2013 and returned again in 2020 (more on that in a moment).

I searched nearly everywhere on the internet for photos from the location when it was Valley Hardware. Nothing! I means nothing exists (aside from a newspaper clipping or two). Thankfully, the now defunct InTwinPeaks.com posted images from the shop’s exterior when it was open.

A Home Depot opened near the shop in the 1990s which may have helped contribute to the shop’s closure. Gayman went on to found a weekly street fair in 1992 that continues today in the area.

A few additional looks at the shuttered Valley Hardware when InTwinPeaks.com visited in the late 2000s. Despite the lack of location photos, there is still a lot to explore from this brief scene.

THE MODEL TRAIN

The scene opens with a model train station with a snow-covered “TWIN PEAKS” sign mounted on the roof.

Valley Hardware had an elaborate model railroad display in the front window, so most likely, this station was already a part of the display. The crew added “Twin Peaks” to connect it to the fictional town.

The camera follows the model locomotive as it chugs along the track.

ENTER NORMA

Norma Jennings enters the scene carrying a red-striped tray with drinks and food.

Here’s a look at the spot from inside the Pinkberry when I visited on January 27, 2013. It appears the trees were probably replaced at some point after the episode was shot.

Fellow author Vinnie Guidera snapped this photo during his visit in March 2016.

A similar view from my return visit to Pinkberry on October 12, 2020.

When I first visited the location on July 13, 2010, I could only take photos of the exterior as the Pinkberry location wasn’t officially open.

The location was closed when I visited in October 2020, so I could only grab exterior shots.

VIEW ACROSS THE STREET

Norma continues walking toward the entrance of the Twin Peaks General Store. Notice the Santa Anita Family Service sign in the background.

Google Maps

Santa Anita Family Service closed its doors at the end of September 2018 according to an August 2018 article from the Monrovia Weekly. Since the Google Maps image above is from 2016, it’s difficult to say if the signs seen in the scene have been removed.

I have a few photos from the buildings across the street when I visited downtown Monrovia on July 13, 2010.

After Santa Anna Family Services left the building in 2018, Human Services Association moved in.

Human Services Association (HSA) is a private nonprofit agency whose principal mission is to provide families with compassionate and comprehensive care to promote wellness and build strong communities.

HSA was founded in Bell Gardens in 1940 as an outreach effort of the Presbyterian Church USA, when floods in the area highlighted the pre-existing and growing problems of poverty in Bell Gardens and surrounding southeast Los Angeles County communities.

I would love to know what happen to those awesome Santa Anna and Senior Center signs. Long gone I’m sure.

THE LOGGING TRUCK

Along with the Santa Anita Family Service sign, a giant log truck can been seen parked across the street in Episode 1001.

The truck looks to be similar to one seen in Episode 1005 as it pulls into Big Ed’s Gas Farm. Look carefully at the logo on the driver side door as it appears to match the truck logo from Episode 1001.

As Norma continues her walk, we catch a reflection of someone inside the shop. I wonder if this was David Gayman, the owner of Valley Hardware at the time.

I combined images from Norma’s walk to create a panoramic image of the front of the Twin Peaks General Store. How I wish I could have seen that model railroad display. It looked impressive!

ACROSS THE STREET

As Norma Jennings approaches the front door, we can see buildings along Myrtle Avenue in the background.

As Norma Jennings approaches the front door, we can see buildings along Myrtle Avenue in the background. The exposed brick wall from Episode 1001 is now covered with plants.

1001

I never noticed this until researching this article but there is a second crew-added “Twin Peaks” sign on another building in the model railroad display.

I was surprised to see that the red neon sign seen behind Norma in the episode was still in the shop window across the street.

INSIDE THE SHOP

Norma enters the shop and we get a better look at the food tray. I tried identifying where she got the food but there isn’t too much detail. For some reason, part of me thinks it could be hamburgers and soft drinks from In-N-Out Burger.

In-N-Out Burger

My rationale is that the two cups she is carrying have either red or green stripes, which look awfully similar to In-N-Out Burger drink cups. But it’s doubtful we’ll ever know. Now I’m craving In-N-Out!

Another thing I noticed just inside the shop is a giant chainsaw bear.

I though perhaps it was the bear from Big Ed’s Gas Farm or perhaps the bear from the deleted Gazebo scene from the Pilot Episode. Nope.

But the wall-mounted animal next to the chainsaw bear looks like it could be the same one from the Blue Pine Lodge set as seen in Episode 1004.

Norma bumps into Nadine Hurley who just finished purchasing a bag full of cotton balls. Look in the distance and you’ll see two shovels being held up by wall mounted deer feet. Are those Dr. Amp shovels? Ha!

But the deer feet could be the same ones from Room 315 at the Great Northern Hotel (the points on the wall-mounted part look the same). Again, we have no way to confirm since I haven’t found any interior images from the shop.

NADINE AND NORMA

The scene switches to close-up shots of Norma and Nadine having a conversation. From what I can tell, this is the only time we see this particular scarf on Norma.

Norma wears a different scarf in Episode 1005 at the Double R Diner and Big Ed’s Gas Farm and again in Episode 2016 when she visits Hank Jennings in jail at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department.

I was unable to find an exact match of the COTTON BALLS (!!!). The closest thing I found was White Dove cotton balls, but I have no way to confirm without a clearer view of the packaging.

But the packaging does a magic trick in this episode, probably due to multiple takes. When Norma collides with Nadine, the packaging is face up. In the top image above, it is face down (notice the barcode). The bottom image shows Nadine picking up the packaging which has now magically turned face up.

It looks like she purchased 100 count bags of COTTON BALLS (!!!).

Nadine departs and Norma contemplates what she just witnessed.

INTWINPEAKS.COM

Below is a tribute image (click to enlarge) from the location page originally found on InTwinPeaks.com.