Stix, Baer and Fuller (sometimes called "Stix" or SBF or the Grand Leader) was a department store chain in St. Louis, Missouri that operated from 1892 to 1984. The central downtown store was located on the north side of Washington Avenue between Sixth and Seventh street.
The store was a public company with its stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The Company was a longtime member of the American Merchandising Companies ("AMC"), a trade association of important, locally owned department stores across the United States. For many years the company was known as the leading high-end fashion store in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area, although a smaller competitor, Scruggs, Vandervort and Barney, also vied for that position.
Stix's largest shareholders were Arthur B. Baer, Sidney Baer and Leo J. Fuller. These men were also the senior officers of the company. However, they hired a series of more experienced retailers to run the business as general managers. Those with the longest tenure were first, Morris Jelenko and later, Frank P. Wolff. The last general manager and president was J. Arthur Baer, son of Arthur B. Baer.
In 1966 the company was purchased by Associated Dry Goods (ADG) and eventually expanded into the Kansas City market.
Unable to compete against Famous-Barr, ADG sold the 13-store division in 1984 to Dillard's, which also rebranded the stores to the Dillard's name. The flagship store in downtown St. Louis was briefly closed and reopened in 1985 as part of the St. Louis Centre Mall, but would be shuttered in September 2001, admist the mall's failure. ~~ Courtesy Wikipedia ~~
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