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The Famous-Barr Co. (originally Famous and Barr Co.) was a division of
The company can be traced back to Motte's, a store founded in 1874 by Jesse W. Motte, who sold boots and shoes at 714 Franklin Street. In 1876, Motte took on as business partner his store's supervisor, Joseph Specht. The two added clothing to their wares, and presently moved the store to 703–705 Franklin, where it was listed in the city directory as Famous, Motte & Specht. It was more popularly known as the Famous Clothing Company — "famous" reportedly coming from the public's referring to the store as the "famous place for bargains".
Retailer David May acquired the Famous Clothing Store in 1892. Sometime later, he acquired William Barr Dry Goods Co. In 1911, he merged the two to create Famous-Barr.
Famous-Barr was one of many St. Louis retail companies that owned a resort along the Meramec River between the early 1900’s to 1940’s.
In 1914, David May opened a new Famous-Barr department store in downtown St. Louis, the first air-conditioned department store in the country.
On October 8, 1948, Famous-Barr opened its first branch store in Clayton, Missouri at the intersection of Forsyth and Jackson.
In 1955, Famous-Barr opened another branch store, at the Northland Shopping Center in
Official website
(Archive) {{Macy's history Defunct department stores based in Missouri Companies based in St. Louis Retail companies established in 1911 Macy's Retail companies disestablished in 2006 Defunct companies based in Missouri 1911 establishments in Missouri 2006 disestablishments in Missouri May Department Stores
Macy's, Inc.
Macy's, Inc. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, File ...
(formerly Federated Department Stores). Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
, in the Railway Exchange Building, it was the flagship store of The May Department Stores Company
The May Department Stores Company was an American holding company of department stores founded in 1877 by David May. It operated several regional department stores throughout the United States, which were managed as distinct business divisions ...
, which was acquired by Federated on August 30, 2005. On February 1, 2006, it was subsumed into the newly created Macy's Midwest
Macy's Midwest was a former American division of Macy's, Inc. based in St. Louis, Missouri. It had operations in New York, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In 2008, Macy's Midwest division mer ...
division.
History
The company can be traced back to Motte's, a store founded in 1874 by Jesse W. Motte, who sold boots and shoes at 714 Franklin Street. In 1876, Motte took on as business partner his store's supervisor, Joseph Specht. The two added clothing to their wares, and presently moved the store to 703–705 Franklin, where it was listed in the city directory as Famous, Motte & Specht. It was more popularly known as the Famous Clothing Company — "famous" reportedly coming from the public's referring to the store as the "famous place for bargains".
Retailer David May acquired the Famous Clothing Store in 1892. Sometime later, he acquired William Barr Dry Goods Co. In 1911, he merged the two to create Famous-Barr.
Famous-Barr was one of many St. Louis retail companies that owned a resort along the Meramec River between the early 1900’s to 1940’s.
In 1914, David May opened a new Famous-Barr department store in downtown St. Louis, the first air-conditioned department store in the country.
On October 8, 1948, Famous-Barr opened its first branch store in Clayton, Missouri at the intersection of Forsyth and Jackson.
In 1955, Famous-Barr opened another branch store, at the Northland Shopping Center in Jennings
Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include:
*Jennings (Swedish noble family)
A–G
*Adam Jennings (born 1982), A ...
— a mall owned by Famous-Barr's corporate parent, the May Companies. The Northland store celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1980.
In 1991, it took operational control of the L.S. Ayres division in Indiana, and in 1998 took on The Jones Store in Kansas City when May acquired that chain in the aftermath of the Dillard's
Dillard's, Inc. is an American department store chain with approximately 267 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The company a ...
acquisition of Mercantile Stores Co. Both chains retained their names, but shut down their headquarters.
The Famous-Barr name was retired on September 9, 2006, when Federated converted most of Macy's regional department stores to the Macy's
Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...
nameplate, with the exception of the Eastland Mall store in Evansville, Indiana. The Eastland Mall store closed and became Dillard's instead due to the existing Lazarus
Lazarus may refer to:
People
*Lazarus (name), a surname and a given name
* Lazarus of Bethany, a Biblical figure described as being raised from the dead by Jesus
* Lazarus, a Biblical figure from the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus
* Lazar ...
store which already became Macy's in 2005. The downtown St. Louis store and headquarters were first shrunk and then closed in summer 2013; the remaining retail employees moved to other stores, while the headquarters staff moved to Earth City.
See also
* Stix, Baer, Fuller, an earlier competing St. Louis department store *List of department stores converted to Macy's
This is a list of department stores converted to Macy's and sister brand Bloomingdale's by way of mergers and acquisitions. Macy's became a national brand through these conversions, and replaced many regional department stores with local heritage ...
* List of defunct department stores of the United States
This is a list of defunct department stores of the United States, from small-town one-unit stores to mega-chains, which have disappeared over the past 100 years. Many closed, while others were sold or merged with other department stores.
Depar ...
References
External links
Official website
(Archive) {{Macy's history Defunct department stores based in Missouri Companies based in St. Louis Retail companies established in 1911 Macy's Retail companies disestablished in 2006 Defunct companies based in Missouri 1911 establishments in Missouri 2006 disestablishments in Missouri May Department Stores