Scruggs, Vandervoort and Barney


Scruggs, Vandervoort & Barney was a department store founded in St. Louis, Missouri in 1850 by M.V.L McClelland and Richard Scruggs. The Company started out as a Dry goods store, the first store was opened on North 4th street in downtown St. Louis, and later expanded. In 1860, W.C Vandervoort joined the company. Then in 1870 McClelland retired, and Charles E. Barney replaced him in the company.
In 1907 the store moved to the Syndicate Trust Building at Tenth and Olive streets, ten years later they acquired the Mermod Jaccard King Jewelry Company, incorporating themselves into its location in downtown St. Louis. They were known for holding several varieties of fashion shows, in the 1950s it opened a branch store in Clayton, Missouri, and Crestwood Plaza, in Crestwood, Missouri. The company was accused of having unfair hiring practices, and was picketed by the NAACP.
Scruggs, Vandervoort & Barney suffered financial pressures and shuttered operations in 1969.