Gayfers

Infobox Defunct company| fate = parent company acquired by Dillard's
company_name = Gayfers | company_| company_type = Department store | foundation = 1879 | defunct = 1998
location = Mobile, Alabama| industry = Retail| products = Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. | homepage = None | Gayfers was a regional department store chain in the Southern United States. Most stores were located in the Southeast. The chain became part of Dillard's in 1998.

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 in annual sales.cite web|url=http://www.flotte2.com/MobileCitizens#gayfer|section=History|accessdate=2007-11-26|title=Flotte's Notes on Mobile and Baldwin Citizens|publisher=Flotte's Outlines of History, Science, and Ecomonics]

During the 1950s, the Mercantile Stores chain acquired Gayfer's, which then worked aggressively on the expansion of the chain. The first branch store was opened at Town & Country Plaza in Pensacola, Florida, in 1956. This successful move was followed four years later with the opening of the Springdale Plaza store in Mobile, Alabama, becoming the company's flagship store. The Downtown Mobile store closed in 1985.cite web|url=http://www.flotte2.com/MobileEconomics#gayfers|section=History|accessdate=2007-11-26|title=Flotte's Notes on Mobile, Alabama|publisher=Flotte's Outlines of History, Science, and Ecomonics]

Gayfer's went west in 1963, opening a store at Edgewater Plaza Shopping City (later Edgewater Mall) in Biloxi, Mississippi. This store was expanded in 1974 and again in 1987; the store was finally rebuilt after being severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. In 1969 a store was opened in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

In 1970, the apostrophe in the company name was dropped.cite web|url=http://www.flotte2.com/MobileEconomics#gayfers|section=History|accessdate=2007-11-26|title=Flotte's Notes on Mobile, Alabama|publisher=Flotte's Outlines of History, Science, and Ecomonics] This was clearly a banner year for the company, as it opened stores in Montgomery, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi, and started construction of a second store in Pensacola, Florida, at Cordova Mall.

For the next twenty years, new stores would be opened or remodeled, and by 1981 there were 18 stores bearing the Gayfers name.

In 1998, Merchantile Stores was purchased by Dillard's, Inc., and the stores that were not closed or sold to other retailers were renamed Dillard's.cite web|url=http://www.flotte2.com/MobileEconomics#gayfers|section=History|accessdate=2007-11-26|title=Flotte's Notes on Mobile, Alabama|publisher=Flotte's Outlines of History, Science, and Ecomonics]

Former Stores

Alabama

*Auburn: Colonial University Village - became Dillard's in 1998, now Belk as of 2005
*Daphne: Jubilee Square - became Dillard's 1998, now Hobby Lobby and other stores
*Dothan: Wiregrass Commons - became Dillard's 1998
*Mobile: Springdale Mall (now Springdale) - became Dillard's 1998, closed 2003, demolished for Sam's Club
*Montgomery::*Eastdale Mall - became Dillard's 1998:*Montgomery Mall - former Montgomery Fair, became Dillard's 1998, now Steve & Barry's
*Oxford: Quintard Mall
*Tuscaloosa: McFarland Mall - became Dillard's 1998, now Closed June 25, 2008

Florida

*Altamonte Springs: Altamonte Mall - became Dillard's 1998
*Clearwater: Clearwater Mall - became Dillard's 1998, mall torn down
*Daytona Beach: Volusia Mall - former Maison Blanche, became a third Dillard's 1998
*Fort Walton Beach: Santa Rosa Mall - became Dillard's 1998
*Jacksonville::*The Avenues - former Maison Blanche, became Belk 1998, Belk Women's 2007:*Regency Square Mall - became Belk 1998:*Roosevelt Square - former May Co. Florida, torn down 1997
*Ocoee: West Oaks Mall - became Parisian, then McRae's, then Belk, closed fall 2007, currently vacant
*Orange Park: Orange Park Mall - now Belk
*Orlando::*The Florida Mall - became Parisian, then Lord & Taylor, closed 2006, vacant:*Orlando Fashion Square - became Dillard's 1998
*Oviedo: Oviedo Marketplace - became Dillard's 1998
*Panama City: Panama City Mall - became Dillard's 1998
*Pensacola::*Cordova Mall - became Dillard's Women's 1998:*Town and Country Plaza
*Tallahassee: Tallahassee Mall - became Dillard's 1998, to close 2008

Georgia

*Albany: Albany Mall - became Dillard's 1998
*Columbus: Peachtree Mall - became Dillard's 1998

Mississippi

*Biloxi: Edgewater Mall - became Dillard's 1998
*Hattiesburg: Turtle Creek Mall - later a second McRae's location, now a second Belk location
*Jackson::*Jackson Mall - closed early 1990s, mall converted to medical offices:*Metrocenter Mall - vacant, became Burlington Coat Factory in 2007.
*Ridgeland: Northpark Mall - became a second Dillard's location 1998.

All Mississippi stores had a prominent teen board during its years called "Gayfer Girls". Mrs. Dorothy Downing was the leader of this board for many of its years until her retirement.

References