The Stewart Dry Goods Company—alternately known as Stewart Dry Goods, or Stewart's—was a regional department store chain based in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. At its height, the chain consisted of seven store locations in Kentucky and Indiana. The chain in its later years operated as a division of New York–based

Associated Dry Goods Associated Dry Goods Corporation (ADG) was a chain of department stores that merged with May Department Stores in 1986. It was founded in 1916 as an association of independent stores called American Dry Goods, based in New York City. History ...

. In addition to its downtown Louisville flagship store, Stewart's locations could also be found within the Louisville metro area at

Oxmoor Center Oxmoor Center is a shopping mall in Louisville, Kentucky. Opening in 1971, its anchor stores are Macy's, Von Maur, H&M, the Apple Store and Dick's Sporting Goods, along with a Topgolf location. The mall is owned by Brookfield Properties and fea ...

(Von Maur),

Fayette Mall Fayette Mall is a regional shopping mall in Lexington, Kentucky, located at 3401 Nicholasville Road in southern Lexington. It is the largest mall in the state of Kentucky. The mall's anchor stores are Macy's, JCPenney, Dick's Sporting Goods, and ...

, Jefferson Mall (Dillard's),

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(Cinemark,

Forever 21 F21 OpCo LLC, trade name, doing business as Forever 21, was a multinational fast-fashion retailer. It was originally founded as Fashion 21 in Highland Park, Los Angeles, Highland Park, Los Angeles in 1984.Forever 21History & Facts, n.d. Retrieved ...

) and Dixie Manor (Burlington Coat Factory) The latter two had previously been L.S. Ayres stores, bought by Stewart's amid legal difficulties noted in a published history of the Stewart's chain. Stewart's continued as a separate nameplate until early 1986, when parent Associated Dry Goods had merged the stores with Indianapolis-based L.S. Ayres. Later that year, most of the former Stewart's stores were sold to Ben Snyder's. In turn, some would sell to

Hess's Hess's, originally known as Hess Brothers, was a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company was founded a single store in 1897, and grew to nearly 80 stores by its commercial peak in the late 1980s. The chains stores were ...

in 1987 or would close. By 1992, the last surviving former Stewart's store—the L.S. Ayres location in Evansville's Washington Square Mall—closed amid the ADG merger with

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 ...

of St. Louis. The Stewart's Dry Goods Company Building at 501 S. 4th Street in Louisville is listed as a Building of Local Significance on the National Register of Historic Places. Its façade is featured in one of the opening scenes from the 1981 film '' Stripes'', in which two teens dash out of a cab driven by actor

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Bill Murra ...

without paying the fare and a passenger played by actress

Fran Ryan Frances Mary Ryan (November 29, 1916 January 15, 2000) was an American character actress featured in television and films. She was born in Los Angeles, California. Career Ryan began performing at the age of six at Oakland's Henry Duffy Thea ...

is picked up.

Notes

Defunct department stores based in Kentucky Defunct companies based in Louisville, Kentucky Retail companies disestablished in 1987 Department stores on the National Register of Historic Places Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky National Register of Historic Places in Louisville, Kentucky {{Louisville-stub