John A. Brown (department store)

John A. Brown

Company type	Private
Industry	Retail
Founded	1932
Founder	John Albert Brown
Defunct	1984
Fate	Acquired by Dillard's and rebranded
Headquarters	Oklahoma City , United States
Products	Department store goods

John A. Brown was a department store chain based in Oklahoma. The brand originated in 1932 when its founder acquired a predecessor business and rebranded it with his own name. Following John A. Brown's death in 1940, his widow assumed leadership until her passing in 1967, which led to a transition in ownership. Subsequently, the Dayton-Hudson Corporation, a retail enterprise, maintained operations under the Brown brand until 1984. At that point, Dayton-Hudson sold the chain to Dillard's, a national retailer, which absorbed all Brown locations into its own network. The main store situated on West Main Street was shuttered in 1974 and later demolished as part of an urban renewal initiative intended to create the Galleria shopping center. However, since this development was never finalized, the Brown stores did not return to the downtown area.

History

The origins of the department store trace back to 1915 when the Rorabaugh Company purchased Brock's Dry Goods in Oklahoma City and rebranded it as Rorabaugh-Brown Dry Goods Co. The business changed hands in 1932 when John Albert Brown purchased it from his cousin and partner A. O. Rorabaugh and renamed it after himself. After John A. Brown passed away in 1940, his widow Della Dunkin Brown assumed control as CEO until her death in 1967, after which a trust took ownership. At this time, retail trends were shifting dramatically from large downtown stores to smaller outlets located within suburban shopping malls. In 1971, the company was acquired by the Dayton Hudson Corporation (now known as Target Corporation) but continued operating under the John A. Brown banner. The downtown flagship store ceased operations and was demolished in 1977. Eventually, Dillard's purchased the chain in 1984 and promptly rebranded all six Brown locations under its own name.

The original John A. Brown store opened during the 1930s in downtown Oklahoma City, occupying a block bordered by Harvey Avenue and Robinson Avenue to the west and east, respectively, and Park Avenue and Main Street to the north and south. In 2016, local historians Ajax Delvecki and Larry Johnson published a book titled John A. Brown's, Kerr's, and Halliburton's: Where Oklahoma City Loved to Shop, chronicling this store alongside other prominent downtown department stores such as Kerr's and Halliburton's.

Beyond its flagship location, John A. Brown operated numerous other outlets throughout Oklahoma. These included standalone stores or those situated within open-air shopping centers like Campus Corner in Norman and Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City. During its later years, the chain expanded into enclosed malls with stores opening at Quail Springs Mall (1980–1985; demolished in 2017), Penn Square Mall (1960–1984; currently operating as Dillard's), Crossroads Mall (1974–1985) in Oklahoma City, as well as locations at Woodland Hills Mall, Utica Square Mall, and Promenade Mall in Tulsa.

Brown-Dunkin store

File:Brown-Dunkin Department Store Final Logo.png

Brown-Dunkin Logo

In 1924, John A. Brown and John Dunkin acquired Hunts, a prominent mercantile establishment in Tulsa, subsequently rebranding it as Brown-Dunkin. John Dunkin relocated from Oklahoma City to Tulsa to oversee operations at the store. Despite the involvement of John Dunkin, Brown-Dunkin functioned independently and maintained no official affiliation with the Oklahoma City-based company.

In February 1960, Willard Dillard, proprietor of the Dillard's department store chain, was approached by a director from the First National Bank of St. Louis with a proposal to acquire Brown-Dunkin. Dillard secured $350,000 (~$Template:Format price in Template:Inflation/year) in funding and completed the purchase that same month.

External links

• Doug Dawgz Blog: John A. Brown's