Schreiner's, also known as Charles Schreiner & Company, was a department store located in downtown

Kerrville, Texas Kerrville is a city in, and the county seat of, Kerr County, Texas, Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population of Kerrville was 24,278 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr (Texas politi ...

, operated by

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

-based

Dunlaps Dunlaps, based in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, was a family-owned chain of department stores in the central and southern United States catering to most classes depending on the location. The chain operated under the trade names of Dunlaps, Stripling & ...

History

In 1858, Charles Schreiner, Sr., a French immigrant and former Texas Ranger, purchased a small general store at

Camp Verde Camp Verde ( yuf-x-yav, ʼMatthi:wa; Western Apache: Gambúdih) is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town is 10,873. The town hosts an annual corn festival in July, sponsored and orga ...

, which was a military post 15 miles south of Kerrville. Schreiner contracted with the government to supply the soldiers with beef and other supplies. After fighting in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, he moved to Kerrville, where he and an associate opened a store in 1869 (parts of the original wooden store still exist behind the current stone building). He bought out his partner in 1879, and expanded his business to include banking, ranching, and marketing wool and mohair. Schreiner's was the first business in America to value mohair. The bank got so much business by 1893, Charles had to build a separate building for it. One of his major contributions to the community was the founding of the Schreiner Institute (Now

Schreiner University Schreiner University is a private Presbyterian university in Kerrville, Texas. The university enrolls an estimated 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers over 40 four-year undergraduate programs, an MBA and a master of education. ...

) in Kerrville in 1917. Dunlaps acquired the store in 1991 and pledged to operate it just the way it was and under the same name in the same building. Dunlaps, unable to secure financing for a loan it had made, declared bankruptcy and was dissolved by the end of 2007. All of its remaining stores closed before the end of the year. Schreiner's closed its doors for the last time on September 23, 2007. The building has since reopened under the same name and features a number of smaller retail stores and boutiques.

References

Sources

Biography of Charles SchreinerPhoto of Schreiner's on FlickrSchreiner University HomepageThe Daily Times: Schreiner's closes its doors for good
Defunct department stores based in Texas American companies established in 1869 Retail companies established in 1869 Companies based in Kerrville, Texas Defunct companies based in Texas 1869 establishments in Texas {{US-retail-company-stub

History

See also

References

Sources