Evil CVS

About

Evil CVS, also known as Goth CVS, is a nickname given to a CVS store located inside the former Golden Gate Theatre on Atlantic Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The former theatre was converted into a CVS in 2012 and its appearance was unaltered, as it is considered a historical site by the city of LA, giving it a unique aesthetic. In the late 2010s, the CVS earned the nickname "Evil CVS" for its gothic appearance, inspiring memes referring to it as an evil building over the following years.

Origin

The "Evil CVS," formerly known as the Golden Gate Theatre, is located at the corner of Whittier and Atlantic Boulevards in East Los Angeles. It was built in 1927 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. It was designed by William and Clifford Balch and was once surrounded by the Vega Building, which was demolished in 1990 after suffering damage from an earthquake. Since 2012, the Golden Gate Theatre has been the home of a CVS pharmacy.^[1]

On April 14th, 2018, the evilbuildingsblog Tumblr^[2] page, a gimmick account that posts evil-looking buildings, posted a photograph of the CVS, writing, "This CVS Building in Los Angeles," garnering around 40 notes in eight years. This is the earliest known post to refer to the building as evil. On August 6th, 2019, a screenshot of the post was reposted to /r/evilbuildings,^[3] garnering over 22,000 upvotes in five years (shown below).

Spread

The CVS gained viral spread over the following years as the subject of memes, most referring to it as the Evil CVS. On May 20th, 2021, it was reposted to /r/evilbuildings,^[4] garnering over 6,000 upvotes in three years. On June 12th, 2023, the official @cvs TikTok^[5] page posted a video giving background info and a tour of the CVS store, garnering over 2,700 likes in a year (shown below).

On September 6th, Instagram^[6] user inhalemybees posted a never smoke dat shit meme credited to Instagram^[7] user certified.drainers.only referencing Evil CVS, garnering over 57,000 likes in nine months (shown below, left.

The meme was reposted numerous times, including by X^[8] user @origins_audio later that day, garnering over 86,000 likes in the same span of time. On September 11th, X^[9] user @LAPUTAPANCHIKO posted the image with a new caption, garnering over 6,500 likes in roughly nine months (shown below, right). On September 26th, X^[10] user @kirawontmiss reposted the certified.drainers.only meme, garnering over 100,000 likes in a similar timeframe.

On May 7th, 2024, Tumblr^[11] user didyoujustspitonme posted a meme about someone printing off a "meme pack" for his friend in jail, with one of the included memes being the Evil CVS meme, garnering over 7,000 notes in a month and gaining viral spread. On June 24th, TikToker^[12] @noahglenncarter posted a video explaining the Evil CVS meme and the building's history, garnering over 560,000 views in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References