Gayfers

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Gayfer's was a regional department store chain in the southern United States. Based in Mobile, Alabama, the chain of stores operated from 1879 until 1998 when it was taken over by Dillard's.

History

C.J. Gayfer migrated to Mobile, Alabama, from Southwold, England, sometime after the Civil War. He opened a retail department store, Gayfer's, in downtown Mobile in 1879. At the time of his death in 1915, Gayfer's employed 150 people and averaged over $500,000 (~$10.9 million in 2023) in annual sales. Gayfer became well known for his philanthropy and was one of the earliest proponents of employee health care benefits.^[1]

During the 1950s, the

In 1970, the apostrophe in the company name was dropped.^[2] This was clearly a banner year for the company, as it opened stores in Montgomery, Alabama (through the purchase of Montgomery-based Montgomery Fair); Jackson Mall in Jackson, Mississippi, and started construction of a second store in Pensacola, Florida, at Cordova Mall.

For the next twenty years, new stores were opened or remodeled, and by 1981 there were 18 stores bearing the Gayfers name. In 1989, the Gayfers flagship store anchoring Springdale Plaza and Mall in Mobile expanded to 285,000 square feet (26,500 m²). In February 1992, parent Mercantile acquired Maison Blanche by converting their Orlando (Altamonte, Florida, Fashion Square), Daytona Beach (Volusia), and Jacksonville (Roosevelt, Regency, Orange Park, Avenues) stores under the Gayfers banner. This led to their becoming one the largest department store chains in the Southern United States as well as the largest stretching from Miami to Atlanta to Houston.

In 1998, Mercantile Stores was purchased by Dillard's, Inc., and the stores that were not closed or sold to other retailers were converted to Dillard's, which ceased expanding through acquisitions after this happened.^[2]

References