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".[1]
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.[2]
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.[3]
On October 8, 1948, Famous-Barr opened its first branch store in Clayton, Missouri at the intersection of Forsyth and Jackson.[4]
In 1955, Famous-Barr opened another branch store, at the Northland Shopping Center in Jennings — a mall owned by Famous-Barr's corporate parent, the May Companies.[5][6] The Northland store celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1980.[7]
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 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 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 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.
^Famous-Barr: St. Louis Shopping at Its Finest, Edna Campos Gravenhorst, p.21
^St. Louis commerce: official publication of the St. Louis Regional Commerce ... - St. Louis Regional Commerce & Growth Association - Google Books. January 1997. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
^Lees, Jaime. "St. Louis Then and Now: The Former Famous-Barr Building Downtown". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
^"Immediate start on Famous-Barr store on north side planned". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. February 14, 1954. pp. 3A. Retrieved January 9, 2019. Plans for an immediate start on construction of a North Side store for Famous-Barr Co. were announced yesterday by Morton D. May, president of May Department Stores Co. and general manager of Famous-Barr. It is the first unit to be built in the Northland Shopping Center, a $12,000,000 project planned for a 62-acre tract at Lucas and Hunt road and West Florissant avenue, Jennings, with parking space for 5000 automobiles. Opening of the Famous-Barr store is scheduled for the early autumn of 1955, May said.
^"Famous-Barr shows its new Northland". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. August 18, 1955. pp. 3A. Retrieved January 9, 2019. Executives of St. Louis department stores and public officials toured the eight acres of Famous-Barr Co.'s new Northland branch store last night in a preview showing of the modern structure at Lucas-Hunt road and West Florissant avenue, Jennings. The store, its three upper levels faced with red brick, is the center of a $12,000,000 shopping center, which will serve the rapidly-growing population of north St. Louis county. Shelves and display cases on all floors, including the basement of the store, were filled with merchandise in readiness for the store's opening at noon tomorrow.
^Gravenhorst, Edna Campos (2014-11-11). Famous-Barr: St. Louis Shopping at Its Finest. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN978-1-62585-230-4.
External linksedit
Official website (Archive)
December 02, 2023
famous, barr, famous, clothing, store, redirects, here, defunct, angeles, based, famous, department, store, famous, department, store, originally, famous, barr, division, macy, formerly, federated, department, stores, headquartered, louis, missouri, railway, e. Famous Clothing Store redirects here For defunct Los Angeles based Famous Department Store see Famous Department Store The Famous Barr Co originally Famous and Barr Co was a division of Macy s Inc formerly Federated Department Stores Headquartered in St Louis Missouri in the Railway Exchange Building it was the flagship store of The May Department Stores Company which was acquired by Federated on August 30 2005 On February 1 2006 it was subsumed into the newly created Macy s Midwest division The Famous Barr Co IndustryRetailFounded1911FounderDavid MayDefunctSeptember 9 2006FateAcquired by Macy sSuccessorMacy sHeadquartersSt Louis MissouriProductsClothing footwear bedding furniture jewelry beauty products and housewares ParentThe May Department Stores Company 1911 August 30 2005 Federated Department Stores Inc August 30 2005 September 9 2006 WebsiteArchived official website at the Wayback Machine archive index Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksHistory edit nbsp Cursive logo used throughout the 70s and 80sThe 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 amp 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 1 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 2 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 3 On October 8 1948 Famous Barr opened its first branch store in Clayton Missouri at the intersection of Forsyth and Jackson 4 In 1955 Famous Barr opened another branch store at the Northland Shopping Center in Jennings a mall owned by Famous Barr s corporate parent the May Companies 5 6 The Northland store celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1980 7 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 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 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 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 editStix Baer Fuller an earlier competing St Louis department store List of defunct department stores of the United StatesReferences edit Famous Barr St Louis Shopping at Its Finest Edna Campos Gravenhorst p 21 St Louis commerce official publication of the St Louis Regional Commerce St Louis Regional Commerce amp Growth Association Google Books January 1997 Retrieved 2012 08 17 Lees Jaime St Louis Then and Now The Former Famous Barr Building Downtown Riverfront Times Retrieved 2021 02 24 CLAYTON HISTORY SOCIETY HISTORY OF FAMOUS BARR BUILDING Archived from the original on 2013 06 07 Immediate start on Famous Barr store on north side planned St Louis Post Dispatch February 14 1954 pp 3A Retrieved January 9 2019 Plans for an immediate start on construction of a North Side store for Famous Barr Co were announced yesterday by Morton D May president of May Department Stores Co and general manager of Famous Barr It is the first unit to be built in the Northland Shopping Center a 12 000 000 project planned for a 62 acre tract at Lucas and Hunt road and West Florissant avenue Jennings with parking space for 5000 automobiles Opening of the Famous Barr store is scheduled for the early autumn of 1955 May said Famous Barr shows its new Northland St Louis Post Dispatch August 18 1955 pp 3A Retrieved January 9 2019 Executives of St Louis department stores and public officials toured the eight acres of Famous Barr Co s new Northland branch store last night in a preview showing of the modern structure at Lucas Hunt road and West Florissant avenue Jennings The store its three upper levels faced with red brick is the center of a 12 000 000 shopping center which will serve the rapidly growing population of north St Louis county Shelves and display cases on all floors including the basement of the store were filled with merchandise in readiness for the store s opening at noon tomorrow Gravenhorst Edna Campos 2014 11 11 Famous Barr St Louis Shopping at Its Finest Arcadia Publishing ISBN 978 1 62585 230 4 External links editOfficial website Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Famous Barr amp oldid 1110428270, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
