Difference between revisions of "M. M. Cohn"
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| − | [[Image:Cohn-main-street.jpg|thumb|M.M. Cohn store | + | [[Image:Cohn-main-street.jpg|thumb|Former M.M. Cohn store at 506 Main Street. Photo by Phil Frana.]] |
'''M. M. Cohn''' was a specialty department store and longtime mainstay of Main Street in downtown Little Rock. The store became a regional chain with Arkansas stores in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Searcy, and El Dorado, and stores outside the state in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Memphis, Tennessee (three locations). | '''M. M. Cohn''' was a specialty department store and longtime mainstay of Main Street in downtown Little Rock. The store became a regional chain with Arkansas stores in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Searcy, and El Dorado, and stores outside the state in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Memphis, Tennessee (three locations). | ||
Revision as of 14:08, 3 September 2008
M. M. Cohn was a specialty department store and longtime mainstay of Main Street in downtown Little Rock. The store became a regional chain with Arkansas stores in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Searcy, and El Dorado, and stores outside the state in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Memphis, Tennessee (three locations).
The company was founded by Polish immigrant Mark Matthias Cohn in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, in 1874. In 1912 his son Albert Daniel Cohn became the president of the store. His grandson Dan Phillips became president in 1969 and made the store a regional operation.
M. M. Cohn's first store in Little Rock opened at the corner of Main and Markham streets. The store moved down the street in 1898 to a location between Third and Fourth streets on Main Street. In 1940 the store moved again to a 75,000 square foot building at 506 Main between Capitol Avenue and Sixth Street. Other stores opened in the University Mall in 1967, and McCain Mall in 1973. It occupied a storefront in the failed Metrocentre Mall which closed in 1989.
In 1989 the company was purchased by The Dunlap Company of Fort Worth, Texas. The last M. M. Cohn's stores closed on September 16, 2007.
References
- Mike Trimble, "30 Years Create Downtown Differences," Arkansas Gazette, May 2, 1982.
