Another Father of the Bride location that fellow stalker Chas, from the ItsFilmedThere website, tracked down recently was the Side Kicks shoe factory owned by George Banks (aka Steve Martin) in the flick. And while I had been absolutely dying to stalk the place for what seemed like ages, I just could not seem to figure out where on earth it was located. Then last month Chas managed to get into contact with several of the movie’s crew members, one of whom not only remembered the exact address of the warehouse (432 South Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena), but also informed him that while the building was vacant at the time of the filming, it was now occupied by Snyder Diamond, a high-end kitchen and bath appliance retailer. And while I was BEYOND excited when Chas told me the news, because a new company had taken over the space, I did not have high hopes that it would be very recognizable from the movie.
So imagine my surprise when I walked through the doors and discovered that the building looked almost exactly the same as it did when Father of the Bride was filmed over two full decades ago! I just about died of excitement and then proceeded to walk almost every square inch of the place, soaking in the many memories of the movie that came flooding back to me.
As you can see in the above screen captures, the ceiling area, windows, interior pipes and brick walls all still look EXACTLY the same today as they did onscreen in 1991. The only real difference is the fake kitchen and bath set-ups which have since been installed on the main floor.
I was most excited to stalk the warehouse’s upstairs mezzanine, which was used as George’s office in Father of the Bride.
Sadly though, that particular area has been completely gutted and all of the interior walls, doors, and windows removed and now looks entirely different than it did when the movie was filmed.
A view of George’s office area from the ground floor of Snyder Diamond is pictured above.
The circular staircase leading up to George’s office has also, sadly, since been removed.
The exterior of the Snyder Diamond building, which was not shown in Father of the Bride, is quite beautiful. The Tudor-style structure, which was originally constructed in 1922, is currently on the National Register of Historic Places. As I mentioned above, the property was vacant at the time of the filming, which allowed producers to come in and dress it as they pleased. Sometime after the movie was lensed, Thomasville Furniture moved in. They vacated the property in 2005, whereupon it was leased by Snyder Diamond. For whatever reason, when Father of the Bride Part II was filmed in 1995, location scouts found a different Pasadena area building to stand in for the Side Kicks factory.
Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Chas, from the ItsFilmedThere website, for finding this location. You can check out Chas’ Father of the Bride filming locations page here.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: Snyder Diamond, aka George’s Side Kicks shoe factory from Father of the Bride, is located at 432 South Arroyo Parkway in Pasadena.
