Von Maur, Inc. is an American department store chain based in Davenport, Iowa. Founded in 1872, the chain operates over 36 locations across the United States, primarily in the Midwest.
History
Beginnings
In 1872, German immigrant J. H. C. Petersen and his three sons opened a store in a storefront in downtown Davenport, Iowa. The store eventually expanded and moved into their flagship store, the Redstone Building at 2nd and Main Streets in Davenport. In 1916, J.H.C. Petersen's son, William D. Petersen, sold the family store to a partnership of R.H. Harned, C.J. von Maur, and Cable von Maur.
C.J. von Maur, who came from Austria, established the Boston Store (later renamed Harned & Von Maur) in downtown Davenport in 1887. Despite the common ownership, Petersen's and Harned & Von Maur continued 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 what is now known as 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.
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 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.
In 1989, Von Maur purchased stores vacated by Carson Pirie Scott at Hickory Point Mall in Forsyth and College Hills Mall in Normal.
1990s–2000s
Von Maur successfully entered the Chicago market in 1994 with a flagship store at Yorktown Center in Lombard, Illinois. Von Maur currently has 7 stores in Illinois, more than any other state. 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's 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 December 5, 2007, the Von Maur location in Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, was the site of a terror attack when a mentally ill teenager entered the store with an assault rifle, killing 8 and injuring six more before killing himself.
On Saturday, September 13, 2008, Von Maur opened its 23rd store, a 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.
2010s–present
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. Von Maur offers free gift wrapping year-round as well as free shipping year-round. Von Maur caters to the typical middle-class consumer. In the past five years, the chain has expanded out of its Midwestern home territory to open stores in Georgia, Alabama, New York, and Oklahoma.
September 18, 2010 marked Von Maur's entrance into the St. Louis, Missouri market as the anchor of The Meadows shopping center in Lake St. Louis.