Frost Bros. was a high-fashion retail chain based in

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

. The retailer opened its first store in 1917 at 217 E. Houston Street in

Downtown San Antonio Downtown San Antonio is the central business district of San Antonio, Texas, and the urban core of Greater San Antonio, a metropolitan area with nearly 2.5 million people. Downtown San Antonio is encircled by Texas State Highway Loop 1604, 16 ...

. Frost Bros. was known for quality personal service, including name recognition, purchase preferences, and personal shoppers. Their customer service was on the same level as

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...

, and

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...

. Frost Bros. filed for bankruptcy protection in April 1988, and its four remaining stores were liquidated in mid-1989 after the company failed to successfully reorganize.

History

Founders in 1917 : Frost Brothers Company, San Antonio, was chartered in June 30, 1917, with capital of $20,000. The incorporators were Jonas Martin Frost Sr. (1888–1945), William Cohen Frost (1884–1942), and Harry Hertzberg (1883–1940). 1960–1989 :

Irving Mathews Irving Allen Mathews (8 Apr 1917 Toledo, Ohio – 7 February 1994, San Antonio) was an American specialty retail executive, who devoted 41 years to Frost Bros., formerly of San Antonio, Texas. He also served as Board Chairman of the Federal Rese ...

was Frost's chief executive officer from 1960 through 1986. Manhattan Industries acquired the specialty chain in 1970. Manhattan Industries would merge upscale Houston department store

Battelstein's Battelstein's is a commercial skyscraper located on Main Street in downtown Houston, Texas, United States. From 1924 until 1980, it housed an eponymous department store founded by Philip Battelstein. Originally only two floors, it was expanded to ...

under the Frost Bros. name. In 1972, Manhattan Industries would acquire Lichtenstein's department store in Corpus Christi and begin operating the location as Frost Bros. beginning in 1977. In 1980, it was acquired for $27.2 million by the Garfinckel, Brooks Brothers, Miller & Rhoads, Inc. retail conglomerate. By 1986, Frost Bros. operated 12 locations in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and a

Gucci Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci ( , ), is an Italian Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Florence. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and ...

boutique at Copley Plaza in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Murry Berkowitz, as merchandise manager / buyer and leader, was responsible for the unique product selection and individual employee growth which made this store unique within North America. : The specialty retail chain was purchased by Dallas businessman

Sam Wyly Samuel Evans Wyly (born October 4, 1934) is an American businessman. He first appeared on ''Forbes''s list of richest Americans in 2000 with a net worth of $750 million, and he remained on that list throughout 2010 with a net worth of $1 billio ...

and his wife,

Torie Steele Wyly Torie is a given name and a nickname. Notable people with this name include the following Given name *Torie Osborn (born 1950), Danish activist, and author Nickname *Victoria Clarke (born 1959), American communications consultant known as Torie S ...

, from Manhattan Industries in 1986. Sam Wyly named

Joel Edward Rath Joel or Yoel is a name meaning "Yahweh Is God" in Hebrew and may refer to: * Joel (given name), including a list of people named Joel or Yoel * Joel (surname), a surname * Joel (footballer, born 1904), Joel de Oliveira Monteiro, Brazilian football ...

(born 1938), a top executive at

, to the position of president and chief executive officer of Frost Bros. shortly after completing the purchase. : Frost Bros. acquired

Delman Shoe Salons Horse-drawn carts in Indonesia have various regional names such as Dokar, Cidomo, Delman and Andong. ''Dokar'' is mostly used on Bali and ''cidomo'' on Lombok. The carriages are pulled by a single horse and are brightly colored with tassels and be ...

in June 1987 and operated Delman as a division of Frost Bros. : In 1988

Don Morris Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

was named chairman and chief executive officer of Frost Bros.

Larry Gore Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boone, ...

, president of Delman, assumed the additional responsibilities of president of Frost Bros. Morris and Gore succeeded Joel E. Rath, who resigned as president and chief executive officer of Frost Bros. Wyly, the chairman of Frost Bros., remained the majority stockholder. : After failing to reorganize while operating under bankruptcy protection, Frost Bros. was liquidated in mid-1989.

Personnel

Founders * Jonas Martin Frost Sr. (1888–1945) * William Cohen Frost (1884–1942) * Harry Hertzberg (1883–1940) Executives * Gilbert Lang, elected president of Frost Bros. in 1962 * Sidney Berkowitz, worked at Frost for 17 years (left in 1947); in 1950, he became executive director of

Neiman-Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a spin-off of the Hudson ...

' office in New York * Murray Berkowitz * Richard Frontman, former dress-designer who became president *

Irving Allen Mathews Irving Allen Mathews (8 Apr 1917 Toledo, Ohio – 7 February 1994, San Antonio) was an Americans, American specialty retail executive, who devoted 41 years to Frost Bros., formerly of San Antonio, Texas. He also served as Board Chairman of the Fed ...

(1917–1994), buyer, store president, director; 1945 to 1988 *

Eugene Lacritz Eugene Edward (Gene) Lacritz (16 November 1929 in Salem, Massachusetts – 18 May 2012 in San Antonio) was an American conductor, clarinetist, saxophonist, and a 31-year professional in management roles at four former specialty retail institution ...

(1929–2012), senior executive; 1963 to 1988

References

{{Authority control Defunct department stores based in Texas Retail companies established in 1917 Retail companies disestablished in 1989 Companies based in San Antonio Defunct companies based in Texas 1917 establishments in Texas 1989 disestablishments in Texas