L.S. Ayres
L.S. Ayres & Company was a
Indianapolis, Indiana department store founded in 1872 by Lyman S. Ayres and taken over by his son Frederic in 1896. It is currently operated by St. Louis-based
May Co., a division of
Federated Department Stores. On February 1, 2006, the operational control of its stores were assumed by the new
Macy's Midwest division of Federated.
In 1972 it was acquired by
Associated Dry Goods of
New York City, which in the 1980s merged its
Cincinnati, Ohio based Pogue's and
Louisville, Kentucky based Stewart's into L.S. Ayres. In 1986 Associated was in its turn acquired by
May Department Stores.
May Company soon shuttered the former Pogue's and Stewart's locations, and in 1991 merged operations with its
St. Louis, Missouri headquartered
Famous-Barr division in 1991, at which point the 1905 L.S. Ayres flagship in downtown
Indianapolis was closed.
May Department Stores was acquired by
Federated Department Stores in 2005. The L.S. Ayres name will be phased out by the Fall
2006 in favor of the
Macy's name.
The L.S. Ayres Tea Room, which operated at the downtown department store from 1905 to 1990, served a clientele of fashionable shoppers in a formal setting. It has been recreated at the Indiana State Museum using the original tables and chairs.
Like many traditional department stores, Ayres developed a discount format called
Ayr-Way in 1961. At one time they had forty-seven stores in three states in the
Midwestern United States. The concept was sold by Associated in 1976 under anti-trust pressure from Federal Trade Commission. The Ayr-Way chain was purchased by
Target in the late '70s, and the stores were rebranded as Target in 1980.
*
Bloomington -
College Mall - 85,000 sq ft.
(opened 1982)*
Fort Wayne -
Glenbrook Square - 240,000 sq ft.
(opened 1966)*
Indianapolis -
Glendale Mall - 233,000 sq ft.
(opened 1958)*
Indianapolis -
Washington Square - 145,000 sq ft.
(opened 1974)*
Lafayette -
Tippecanoe Mall - 140,000 sq ft.
(opened 1994)*
Muncie -
Muncie Mall - 120,000 sq ft.
(opened 1996, replacement)*
Mishawaka -
University Park Mall - 153,000 sq ft.
(opened 1979)*
Terre Haute -
Honey Creek Mall - 175,000 sq ft.
(opened 1998)*
Merrillville -
Westfield Southlake (formerly Southlake Mall) - 165,000 sq ft.
(opened 1978)*
Evansville - Washington Square -
(closed 1992)*
Fort Wayne - Southtown Mall -
(opened as Wolf & Dessauer 1969, bought by L.S. Ayres, closed 1992)*
Indianapolis - Castleton Square -
(opened 1990, closed 2006)*
Indianapolis - Downtown Indianapolis
(opened 1905, closed 1992, store now occupied by Parisian)*
Indianapolis MSA/Greenwood - Greenwood Park Mall - 162,000 sq ft.
(opened 1965, closed 2006)*
Indianapolis - Lafayette Square - 154,000 sq ft.
(opened 1974, closed 2006)*
Lafayette - Market Square Shopping Center
(closed 1994, replaced by Tippecanoe Mall)*
Muncie - Muncie Mall - 120,000 sq ft.
(replaced 1996)*
South Bend - Scottsdale Mall
(closed 1992)*
Indiana State Museum *
L.S. Ayres Tea Room*
L.S. Ayres & Co. History
