Ivey's (J.B. Ivey & Company), a former department store chain, was acquired by

Dillard's Dillard's, Inc. is an upscale American department store chain with approximately 282 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The ...

, Inc. in 1990. Ivey's was based in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, and was founded in 1900 by Joseph Benjamin (J. B.) Ivey.

History

J. B. Ivey opened the first Ivey's store on February 19, 1900, on North Tryon Street in Charlotte, North Carolina. The initial location, "one and half blocks from the town square," resulted in poor sales. Later in 1900, Ivey moved the store location to the first block of West Trade Street. The business grew and relocated to 13 North Tryon Street in fall 1914. George M. Ivey, J. B. Ivey's only son, joined the company in 1920 and moved to convert the firm from a partnership to a corporation, which was completed in 1922. The company built a new store in Charlotte in 1924, which remained the only Ivey's store until 1935. Ivey's opened a store in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1935, and in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1937. Ivey's became a publicly-traded corporation in the 1940s. Ivey's was purchased by

Marshall Field's Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...

in 1980. Marshall Field's itself would be purchased by

BATUS Retail Group British American Tobacco US, mostly known for its acronym BATUS, was the US subsidiary of multinational company British American Tobacco (BAT), the world's second largest cigarette manufacturer. BATUS served as the U.S. holding company for BAT. ...

in 1982. Field's and its The Crescent,

Frederick & Nelson Frederick & Nelson was a department store chain in the northwestern United States, based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891 as a furniture store, it later expanded to sell other types of merchandise. The company was acquired by Marshall Fiel ...

, and Ivey's divisions joined other BATUS divisions,

Gimbel's Gimbel Brothers (known simply as Gimbels) was an American department store corporation that operated for over a century, from 1842 until 1987. Gimbel patriarch Adam Gimbel opened his first store in Vincennes, Indiana, in 1842. In 1887, the comp ...

Kohl's Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Haw ...

, and

Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street and ...

. BATUS sold Ivey's to Dillard's in 1990, prior to the sale of Marshall Field's to

Dayton Hudson Corporation Target Corporation (doing business as Target and stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American big box department store chain headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the seventh largest retailer in the United States, and a compo ...

. Ivey's typically offered more upscale merchandise than another Charlotte-based chain,

Belk Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, a ...

, which was a competitor to Ivey's in many Southern cities. The two chains were frequent neighbors at many malls and in many downtowns.

Locations

In 1975, Ivey's had 20 stores in the following locations: ''Florida'' * Clearwater * Daytona Beach * Jacksonville * Merritt Island * Orange Park * Orlando * Winter Park ''North Carolina'' * Asheville * Chapel Hill * Charlotte * Gastonia * Greensboro * Raleigh ''South Carolina'' * Greenville

References

External links

The Ivey's Archive
I Retail companies established in 1900 Retail companies disestablished in 1990 Companies based in Charlotte, North Carolina Defunct department stores based in North Carolina Defunct companies based in North Carolina 1900 establishments in North Carolina 1990 disestablishments in North Carolina {{US-retail-company-stub