L.S. Ayres
Encyclopedia
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
founded in 1872 by Lyman S. Ayres and taken over by his son Frederic in 1896. The former Ayres locations are now part of Atlanta-based Macy's Central, and New York-based Macy's East, both divisions of Federated Department Stores
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....
.
History
During the first half of the 20th century, Ayres grew to be Indianapolis' premier department store. Its fashion leadership was portrayed in a series of "That Ayres Look" ads that appeared nationally and locally from 1930s to the 1970s.The 1905 landmark downtown store, at One West Washington Street
Washington Street (Indianapolis)
Washington Street is the primary east-west street in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The street follows the route of the National Road for almost all of its length in the city of Indianapolis. For a time, its entire length was designated as U.S...
, was enlarged several times, with the largest expansion after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Ayres was the first department store in the U.S. to operate an Economy Basement Store in 1905. The L. S. Ayres Tea Room, which operated at the downtown department store from 1905 to 1990, served a clientele of fashionable shoppers in a formal setting. It has been recreated at the Indiana State Museum
Indiana State Museum
The Indiana State Museum is a museum located within White River State Park in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. The museum houses exhibits on the history of Indiana from prehistoric times up to the present day. It has one of the four IMAX theaters in the state of Indiana.-History:The museum was started...
using the original tables and chairs.
Indianapolis competitors were the William H. Block
William H. Block
The William H. Block Company was founded by Herman Wilhelm Bloch who immigrated from Austro-Hungary in 1874 and had Americanized his name to William H. Block, with the opening of a retail store located at 9 East Washington Street in Indianapolis in 1896. The company was also self identified as The...
Company, H. P. Wasson and Company
H. P. Wasson and Company
H.P. Wasson and Company, aka Wasson's, was an Indianapolis, Indiana, based department store chain founded by Hiram P. Wasson. Its flagship store, the H.P. Wasson & Company Building, was built in 1937 and is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.- History :H.P. Wasson bought the...
and L. Strauss & Co.
L. Strauss & Co.
L. Strauss & Co. was a distinctly upscale department store chain headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The store was founded in 1853 and declared bankruptcy 140 years later in 1993. The store originally was named the Eagle Clothing Company. Eagle Clothing became one of the city's retailing...
.
In September 1954, Ayres opened a new wholly owned subsidiary called Murray Showrooms, open only to the professional decorator trade. In August 1955, Ayres opened a boutique, Ayres' Boulevard Shop, in the Marott Hotel. Ayres' first branch stores opened in 1958 in Market Square in Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...
, and at Glendale Center on the north side of Indianapolis. Additional branches were opened in Indianapolis and other Indiana markets in the 60s and 70s. In 1958 Ayres acquired the John Bressmer Co. in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
(which operated under its own name). In 1968 Ayres opened small specialty fashion shops, the Sycamore Shop and Cygnet. In 1969, Ayres acquired the Wolf & Dessauer Co. with two stores in Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
; these were later converted to Ayres locations.
In 1972 Ayres was acquired by Associated Dry Goods
Associated Dry Goods
Associated Dry Goods 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:...
of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, which in 1983 merged Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
-based Pogue's and in 1985 Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
-based Stewart Dry Goods
Stewart Dry Goods
The Stewart Dry Goods company of Louisville, Kentucky, commonly referred to as Stewart's, consisted of seven department stores in Kentucky and Indiana. It was a division of Associated Dry Goods in New York City....
into L. S. Ayres. The 1972 merger with Associated Dry Goods merger placed two Associated Dry Goods store companies (Ayres and Stewart Dry Goods) competing in the same market (Louisville) for the first time. In 1986 Associated was in its turn acquired by May Department Stores
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was a national department store chain in the United States, founded in 1877 by David May. The company ceased to exist in 2005 when it was merged with Federated Department Stores, Inc . Prior to the merger it was headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri...
. The May Company soon shuttered the former Pogue's and Stewart's locations, and in 1991 merged operations with its St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, headquartered Famous-Barr
Famous-Barr
The Famous-Barr Co. , St. Louis, Missouri, was a division of Macy's, Inc. . It was formerly the hometown division 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...
division. At that time the 1905 L. S. Ayres flagship in downtown Indianapolis was closed.
The May Company was acquired by Federated Department Stores
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....
in 2005. On February 1, 2006, L. S. Ayres was subsumed into the newly created Macy's Midwest
Macy's Midwest
Macy's Midwest, St. Louis, Missouri, is a former division of Macy's, Inc. It had operations in New York, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It was created February 1, 2006 from a reorganization of the Famous-Barr division acquired August 30, 2005...
(now Macy's Central), and on September 9 of that year L. S. Ayres' non-redundant locations became Macy's.
Ayr-Way
Discount store
A discount store is a type of department store, which sells products at prices lower than those asked by traditional retail outlets. Most discount department stores offer a wide assortment of goods; others specialize in such merchandise as jewelry, electronic equipment, or electrical appliances...
divisions launched by a traditional department store. Ayres opened the first Ayr-Way store prior to both the first Kmart
Kmart
Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...
and Target
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
stores. At one time they had 47 stores in three states in the Midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
. The concept was sold by Associated in 1976 under anti-trust pressure from the Federal Trade Commission
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
. In 1980, the Ayr-Way chain, consisting of 40 stores and one distribution center, was acquired by Dayton Hudson Corporation (now Target Corporation
Target Corporation
Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the second-largest discount retailer in the United States, behind Walmart. The company is ranked at number 33 on the Fortune 500 and is a component of the Standard & Poor's...
). The stores were remodeled and reopened as Target in 1981.