Store Profiles: Famous-Barr

Famous-Barr has the least information available about it's history of all of the May chains, ironic given the store's history within the company.

In 1911, David May, who ran St. Louis-based The Famous Clothing Store with business partner Moses Shoenberg, acquired the William Barr Dry Goods Company, and merged it with Famous to create, of course, Famous-Barr. In 1913, the company opened a massive flagship store that took up the entire square block created by Olive, Locust, Sixth, and Seventh streets.

As with many other department stores of the era, Famous-Barr began expanding into suburbia; one of the first locations was located at Northland Mall in Jennings, MO; which opened in 1955.

From the late 1950s through 2003, May was on a buying spree, picking up many department stores from coast-to-coast. But respecting local brands, the Famous-Barr brand would never reach a national audience. In 1991, Famous-Barr's St. Louis headquarters took control of Indianapolis' L.S. Ayers operations, and in 1998, did the same with Kansas City's The Jones Store.

Famous-Barr: 1911 to September 9, 2006 at 9:30am CST