Harris & Frank (1860s–1947) Harris's first store, then called The London Clothing Co., was on the
Los Angeles Plaza. Harris, alone and with partners, operated a succession of locations, each time further southwest from the Plaza, as the main shopping district moved in tandem. By 1870, Harris joined Isaac, Nathan, Charles, Abraham, and Lessor Jacoby to buy out
Herman W. Hellman's store, to form
Harris & Jacoby, which was not only a forerunner of Harris & Frank but of
Jacoby Bros., which would grow into a department store that would do business in Los Angeles through the 1930s. The Jacoby brothers also came from
Löbau, Prussia. (at the time, Commercial St. ran eastward from Main St. just north of Temple St.) In January 1883, Harris entered into partnership with Benno Jastrowitz (born 1852, like Harris in
Löbau,
West Prussia), brother of his wife Minna Jastrowitz, as
L. Harris & Co.. By February 1883, the Quincy House store had closed and the new
L. Harris & Co. store was doing business on the south side of Temple Street in a building that stretched the short distance between Spring and New High streets: 129–131 Spring and 5-7-9 New High streets, in the pre-1890 numbering. This is currently the north end of the
Los Angeles City Hall block. In July 1886, Harris and Jastrowitz re-added the moniker
London Clothing Co. On June 4, 1888, Jastrowitz sold his part of the business partnership to
Herman W. Frank (b. 1860,
Walla Walla, Washington), who started as a clerk in Harris' store and married Harris' daughter Sarah. Thus, the business came to have the name it would bear for over a century:
Harris & Frank. By 1903, the store was under the management of Harris' son, Harry L. Harris, and his two sons-in-law, Herman W. Frank and M.C. Adler. For a few months operated concurrently with the Spring and Franklin store. In 1907, the store moved just a block south to 447–443 S. Spring St., between Fourth and Fifth streets. In 1925, Harris & Frank moved further south and west to 635–639 S. Hill St., one block west of Broadway, which had become the main shopping thoroughfare. The building now houses the Wholesale Jewelry Mart.
Brooks Clothing Co. (1922–1947) The Brooks Clothing Company opened in 1922 in Los Angeles at 337–9 S. Spring St., Downtown Los Angeles, previously the main store of
The Hub Clothing Co.. The company sold suits and overcoats at one price only, $25. The company quickly established a network of stores in the downtown areas of the surrounding towns in Southern California, such as Long Beach, Pasadena, Santa Ana, as well as the
San Francisco Bay Area, Stockton, and Fresno. In 1935, Brooks Clothing moved its flagship store from 337–9 S. Spring to 644 S. Broadway, the former
W. & J. Sloane flagship store. The seven-story building was redesigned and modernized by architect Harbin F. Hunter at a cost of $75,000 "in complete conformity with the modern school".
Harris & Frank (1947–1990s) In 1947, Harris & Frank merged with Brooks Clothing Co., acquiring its flagship store at 644 S. Broadway and its 14 branches. "Harris & Frank" stores had operated in Downtown Los Angeles since 1888 but finally, 59 years later, there would be a network of "Harris & Frank" stores across Southern California and beyond. In 1959, H. Daroff and Sons, makers of the
Botany 500 line of men's clothing, bought Harris & Frank which at that time had 21 branches. In 1970, Northern California chain Pauson's was merged and Pauson's stores were renamed Harris & Frank, bringing the total number of H&F stores to 40. In 1970, Botany Industries, Inc. bought both Harris & Frank and '''Pauson's''', a men's clothier founded by Samuel Pauson in 1875 in San Francisco, and long a fixture at the corner of Sutter and Kearney streets in that city. The 16 Pauson's locations in
Northern California and
Reno, Nevada were rebranded Harris & Frank. In 1972, Harris & Frank closed the Sutter & Kearney location. In 1971, Botany sold Harris & Frank to
Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. of New York, now named
PVH Corp., owner of
Tommy Hilfiger,
Calvin Klein and other brands. In 1980, Harris & Frank closed its sole remaining location in
Downtown Los Angeles at 644 S. Broadway. As of 1981, the chain had 31 stores in California, Nevada, and Texas. the owner of the Alan Stuart men's sportswear company, and who later bought the Florida men's clothing chain Baron's. Glist attempted to "save" the stores by moving to a discount format, in a market where sales of suits had diminished greatly due to changing dress codes and preferences. ==Harris' other businesses==