Here's a Colorado Cinderella story: what began in 1933 as a Denver hosiery store became Colorado's largest, privately held clothing retailer in 1992.
Siblings Hannah and Jack Levy, German émigrés, opened Hosiery Bar at 707 16th Street in 1933. In 1936, the store became Fashion Bar after the purchase of a nearby dress shop, and the Fashion Bar chain was born.
In 1958, Fashion Bar opened a new distribution center on Denver's South Broadway. The following year, they expanded and remodeled their University Hills location (shown below).
Fashion Bar continued to expand during the 1960s. In 1963, Fashion Bar stores opened in Boulder and Lakewood's Westland Shopping Center. In February 1964, the company announced plans for the construction of a new downtown Denver shopping destination at 16th and Tremont Place, designed by architect Richard L. Crowther.
The 16th Street store opened in early December 1965—just in time for the holiday shopping season.
By September 1966, the company's 15th store had opened at the Bear Valley Shopping Center. During the 1970s, Fashion Bar diversified its brand, opening specialty shops for men ("FB Men" and "L'Uomo"), young women ("Stage"), women 35 and older ("Hannah"), and children ("Young Set"). FB Design carried furniture and household designs.
When Fashion Bar turned 50 in 1983, the company boasted a fleet of 83 stores.
Fashion Bar's co-founder, Hannah Levy, passed away in 1984, and Jack H. Levy, died in April 1985.
After the deaths of its co-founders, Fashion Bar made plans to expand further west. Two stores opened in the Los Angeles area in 1988.
On June 2, 1992, the Levy family was bought out by Houston-based Specialty Retailers for $14.7 million. Specialty Retailers began shutting down the 71 Fashion Bar stores in 1995.
The last Denver-area Fashion Bar stored closed on January 31, 1997.
Photos and architectural records of Fashion Bar can be found in the Richard L. Crowther Architectural Records (WH1504)
Comments
In response to Dan I was a
In response to Dan I was a Corporate VP at Fasion Bar for aalmost 8 years and reported Jack Levy when he was the CEO and Bill Weil was the COO and can say the Levy family was the most generous and honest pfamily I have ever worked with and for...The real decline of FB came when there was a transition of the original Executive management including Bill Weil the President Ray Lippmann who retired to early giving the reins to Bob Levy as President who had no operations experience and John Levy who was a great Merchant but the brother's always fought on how to continue the Fashion Bar way..then Hannah Levy passed followed by Jack Levy ...these events including the building of 401 on the property owned by the Levy Brothers was the final nail in the coffin.
For clarification. .Lippmann
For clarification. .Lippmann was the CFO of Fashion Bar for several decades reporting to Bill Weil and was slated to be the next President. This planned transition path never occured and he decided to retire to Scottsdale AZ. After a short period of training under Bill Weil Bob Levy elected to become President much to early, followed by the economic downturn. 401 was the name of the new Corporate Offices and Distribution Center build in 1982, on Levy Brother land located in Aurora, sorry I did not Check my spelling
Thank you for reading and
Thank you for reading and commenting, Richard.
The Levy brothers were not…
The Levy brothers were not capable pr ready to replace Mr Weil John was a Merchant in training and had no real vision as his aunt Hannah, brother Bob was an actor Wanna be, while Mr. Nelson and his man Scarth were little Hitler and ran everyone good off. Non of these clowns could come close to being capable of running a gas station much less.
The ego of Bob Levy wanting
The ego of Bob Levy wanting to be President without proper training which Bill Weil wanted to do for a couple of years and rejected by Bob Levy and continued infiding between Bob Levy and John Levy sank FASHION BAR QUICKLY
This is a disappointing…
This is a disappointing comment to read as a former employee of Fashion Bar who worked with both Bob and John. Richard was an employee at Fashion Bar that was let go for reasons that we certainly do not need to bring up some 40 years later. Sour grapes Richard... not a good look.
I found this site because i
I found this site because i found an fashion bar leather jacket in the attic.
My shopping trips to Fashion
My shopping trips to Fashion Bar were always a success from the time I was a teenager until its very last year. I always found something that fit correctly without requiring alterations. I especially loved the shoe department. Always excellent quality, fashionable styles and great value. I still miss it!
Something to be said for
Something to be said for finding clothes that fit perfectly! Sounds like it was quite a store. Thanks for sharing, Sandra!
I loved shopping at The Stage
I loved shopping at The Stage store in The Crossroads Mall while attending CU Boulder. How I wish I still had some of those dresses now; they are back in style with a dash of vintage!
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