Origins: Carson and Pirie The chain began in 1854 when Samuel Carson and John Thomas Pirie first clerked in the Murray's dry goods store in
Peru, Illinois, then opened their own store in
LaSalle, followed by one in
Amboy. In 1871, the
Great Chicago Fire destroyed 60% of the store's stock.
Origins: Scott John Edwin Scott operated a dry goods store in
Ottawa, Illinois. He later moved up to Chicago and became the first partner of Carson and Pirie in the ownership of a dry goods store which became known as Carson Pirie Scott & Co. Two of Scott's sons, Robert L. and Frederick H., were members of the department store firm.
Chicago flagship store The flagship store on
State Street in the Downtown
Chicago Loop is still known as the
Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building.
Louis Sullivan designed it for department store
Schlesinger & Mayer, who added to it over the years. When that company went bankrupt in 1904, they sold the building to Carson Pirie Scott in 1904, and it would remain Carson's flagship store until it was announced in August 2006 that after the 2006 Christmas season, the department store in the building would close. After holding clearance sales, Carson's closed in February 2007.
1960s–1980s expansion In 1961, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. greatly expanded in
Illinois by purchasing the 20 unit
Block & Kuhl chain headquartered in
Peoria. In 1980, to diversify its business, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. borrowed $108 million to buy Dobbs Houses, Inc., an airline caterer and owner of the
Toddle House and Steak 'n Egg Kitchen restaurant chains. These were sold in 1988, as was the
County Seat clothing chain. In 1989, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. was acquired by P.A. Bergner & Co. (founded in Peoria), who operated the
Bergner's, Charles V. Weise,
Myers Brothers and
Boston Store chains.
Bergner's bankruptcy In 1991,
P.A. Bergner & Co. filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy; upon emerging from bankruptcy in 1993, it became a
NASDAQ publicly traded company, changing its operating name to Carson Pirie Scott & Co. One year later, the company commenced trading on the
NYSE under the CRP symbol.
Acquisition by Proffitt's/Saks By 1998, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. ownership was held by
Proffitt's, Inc., (later renamed
Saks Incorporated to reflect the acquisition of
Saks Fifth Avenue). The Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, and Boston Store chains, along with
Younkers and
Herberger's nameplates, eventually operated as Saks' Northern Department Store Group (NDSG), based in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In late 2005, however, the group was put up for sale as Saks Incorporated tried to refocus itself primarily on its core
Saks Fifth Avenue stores.
Sale to The Bon-Ton and store closings in
Anderson, Indiana during closing sales in 2018. Carson's and its associated stores became part of
The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. in a $1.1 billion deal completed on March 6, 2006. The group's merchandising and marketing base remained in Milwaukee. Bon-Ton converted
Elder-Beerman stores in Indiana and Michigan to the newly shortened Carson's name in 2011 and 2012. The chain expanded into
Metro Detroit in 2013 with the conversion of three
Parisian stores. Bon-Ton announced on April 17, 2018 that they would cease operations and began liquidating all 267 stores after two liquidators, Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group, won an auction for the company. The bid was estimated to be worth $775.5 million. This included all remaining Carson's stores after 164 years of operation. According to national retail reporter Mitch Nolen, stores closed within 10 to 12 weeks.
Reopening The
intellectual property of
Bon-Ton, including Carson's, was quickly sold in bankruptcy to
CSC Generation, and online retail was reopened. The new owners, based in
Merrillville, Indiana, were also exploring opening new store locations. The sole location to return to operation was in Evergreen Park; the company never followed through in Orland Park and Lombard. The Evergreen Park location closed in October 2020 as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Carson's currently has no brick and mortar stores and exists only as on online retailer. As of November 2021, Carson's website was preparing for another relaunch by BrandX who has also acquired the Stage Store trademarks; however, as of February 2026, the site remained in limbo, showing only a message of "coming soon." ==Logos==