Von Maur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Private/Department store |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1872 |
| Headquarters | Davenport, Iowa |
| Key people | Charles R. von Maur, Co-Chairman Richard B. von Maur, Co-Chairman James D. von Maur, President |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, jewelry, handbags, beauty products. |
| Website | Von Maur website |
Von Maur is an upscale specialty department store chain with virtually all stores located in the Midwestern United States, except one in Louisville, Kentucky. The chain, based in Davenport, Iowa, sells upscale brand-name apparel, accessories, cosmetics, gifts, jewelry and shoes. As of November 3, 2008, the chain has 24 stores in nine states. (A planned store opening for 2010 in Missouri will mark the chain's entry into a tenth state.) All of its stores are anchors of shopping malls or lifestyle centers. A hallmark of some of the Von Maur services are a no-interest bearing credit card account, free shipping and free gift wrapping. Another signature element of Von Maur stores is a live pianist who performs for customers during normal business hours. It competes on the same level as Nordstrom, and Lord and Taylor.
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[edit] History
[edit] Beginnings
In 1872 German immigrant J. H. C. Petersen and his three sons opened a store in a 20-foot-by-50-foot storefront in downtown Davenport, Iowa. The store would eventually expand and move into the Redstone Building at 2nd and Main Streets in Davenport.
In 1916, the J. H. C. Petersen Company sold their store to a partnership of R.H. Harned, C.J. von Maur, and Cable von Maur. C.J. von Maur, who also came from Germany, established the Boston Store (later renamed Harned & Von Maur) in downtown Davenport in 1887. Despite the common ownership, Petersen's and Harned & Von Maur would continue to operate as separate stores for twelve years, even after C.J. von Maur died in 1926. On May 7, 1928, Harned & Von Maur merged with the Petersen's store in the Redstone Building. The store was renamed Petersen Harned Von Maur, which was often shortened to "Petersen's". The von Maur family assumed complete ownership of the store after R.H. Harned died in 1937.
[edit] 1970s-1980s
In the company's centennial year of 1972, Petersen Harned Von Maur opened its first branch store at Duck Creek Plaza in Bettendorf, Iowa. Another branch store opened at SouthPark Mall in Moline, Illinois, in 1974. In 1976, Petersen's opened its first store outside the Quad Cities area at Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, Iowa. The company continued to open new stores in shopping malls throughout Iowa and Illinois during the late 1970s and 1980s; along the way it acquired two former Killian's department stores in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, Iowa, in 1981. As the company shifted its focus to malls, the Petersen Harned Von Maur flagship store in downtown Davenport closed in 1986. (The Redstone Building is now home to the River Music Experience.)
Petersen Harned Von Maur shortened its name to Von Maur in 1989 to reflect the von Maur family's management of the company. One year later, it moved its corporate headquarters and executive offices from the Redstone Building to a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m2) building on Brady Street (near the interchange with Interstate 80) in Davenport. The company distributes all of its merchandise from this building using its own fleet of semi-trucks. It also has its own credit union and credit department as well as a print shop.
[edit] 1990s
Von Maur successfully entered the Chicago market in 1994 with a 207,000-square-foot (19,200 m2) flagship store at Yorktown Center in Lombard, Illinois. From there, the company expanded its geographic reach into Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Nebraska during the late 1990s and early 2000s while closing stores in Bettendorf, Iowa and Muscatine, Iowa, during this period. In 2004 Von Maur expanded into Michigan by taking over two mall locations of the defunct Jacobson chain (The Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Laurel Park Place in Livonia, Michigan). In late 2005 it opened a store at Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus, Ohio, the 23rd store in the chain. On January 31, 2007, Von Maur closed its store at Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which brought the store count down to 22. On Saturday, September 13, 2008, Von Maur opened its 23rd store, a 140,000 sq ft (13,000 m2) store in Phase II of The Greene, a project of Steiner Associates in Dayton, OH. The 24th store at the Corbin Park Lifestyle Center in Overland Park, Kansas had its soft opening on Monday, November 3, 2008 and the grand opening on Saturday, November 8, 2008.
[edit] Von Maur shooting
On Wednesday, December 5, 2007, the Von Maur Westroads Mall location in Omaha, Nebraska, was the site of a mass shooting. A sole gunman identified as Robert A. Hawkins, age 19, entered the store, which has three levels, killing eight people and injuring five others before killing himself. The shooting started at 1:42pm. In response to the shootings, the company closed that location and set up a victims fund through the United Way of the Midlands[1]. The store reopened on December 20, 2007.[2].
[edit] Today
Today, the privately held company remains under the leadership of the Von Maur family, including co-chairmen Charles R. von Maur and Richard B. von Maur, as well as president James D. von Maur.
[edit] References
- FundingUniverse.com. "Von Maur Inc. Company History". http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Von-Maur-Inc-Company-History.html. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
