photograph courtesy balton sign company
Day or night, with the eye-catching sign it was hard to miss the Flagg Bros. shoe store on South Main Street.
Dear Vance: My family used to drive downtown and shop at the Flagg Bros. shoe store, but I wasn’t able to find it on a recent trip. What happened to the store, and the brothers? — D.G., Memphis.
Dear D.G.: When you mentioned the Flaggs, I slumped back in my La-Z-Boy, closed my eyes, and imagined two elderly gentlemen — perhaps named Hans and Josef — struggling as cobblers in the Black Forest region of Germany. Seeking better opportunities in the New World, they somehow ventured to America, where they began cobbling in, say, Philadelphia. Customers praised their craftsmanship so highly that the brothers invested their life savings in their own shoe store, which became such a success that they opened branches in other cities, including Memphis. Oh, they were so proud of their new venture — and their new life as Americans — that they embellished each store entrance with the Stars and Stripes, as you can see here if you look closely, inset into the sidewalk just outside the front door.
What a shame that not a word of this charming tale is true. Instead, a conglomerate based in Nashville, with the rather impersonal name of General Shoe Corporation, selected “Flagg Bros.” because it gave a personal touch to the stores they opened across the U.S. in the 1940s and 1950s. General Shoe owned half a dozen other brands, including Jarman, Holiday, Hardy, Allen’s, and Berland.
And forget about the European origins. Most of the shoes sold in these stores weren’t made by two elderly cobblers, but were mass-manufactured in giant plants in Iuka, Mississippi, and Frankfort, Kentucky. In fact, the demand for General Shoe products was so great they later opened factories and retail stores in Mexico, Peru, and Tokyo. And shoes were just part of their empire. Over the years, the firm acquired interests in the upscale Bonwit-Teller clothing stores and even Tiffany & Co., where Mother Lauderdale purchased most of her best jewelry.
Flagg Bros. eventually raised their prices, as their shoes became fancier, “styled by Flagg, but inspired in Italy”). After all, for $9.95, it would be hard to resist the “Roman” for the “gentlemen who likes sports cars, blondes, and wants to be the top men in your set.” Even better was the “Chariot,” available in “Shades of the Emperors: golden calf, toga yellow, statue bronze, temple-fire red, and gladiator tan.” Why, I’m wearing the toga-yellow version right now!
But back to your question. The first Flagg Bros. store opened in Memphis in 1941 at 87 South Main. The company obviously didn’t fear competition. That location was right next door to Thom McAnn Shoes, which was next door to Clark’s Shoes.
Or maybe I’m wrong about that, and the competition eventually chased them down the block, to 22 South Main. In 1956, chatty newspaper ads invited readers, “Come along, Sir, and move with us and find a way to ‘look hot’ but keep cool.” Flagg, you see, only sold shoes to men, and what I found interesting was their pricing. For many years, no matter the style, all their shoes cost the same — $8.95. They also offered their “Old Shoe Roundup,” paying customers $1 to buy back their old shoes.
Based on their newspaper ads — and really, that’s all I have to go on here — they presented an astonishing variety. Every week, it seems, Flagg Bros. introduced new styles. One Christmas, they offered four different slippers: The Snuggler (“the genuine cowhide hand-stitched moccasin”), the Don Juan (“for the elegant man”), the Lumberjack (“practically a shoe but as soft as a sock”), and the Commander (“what he means when he says ‘pipe and slippers’”).
Flagg Bros. eventually raised their prices, as their shoes became fancier, “styled by Flagg, but inspired in Italy”). After all, for $9.95, it would be hard to resist the “Roman” for the “gentlemen who likes sports cars, blondes, and wants to be the top men in your set.” Even better was the “Chariot,” available in “Shades of the Emperors: golden calf, toga yellow, statue bronze, temple-fire red, and gladiator tan.” Why, I’m wearing the toga-yellow version right now!
Unfortunately, many stores along Main Street suffered during the 1970s. Flagg Bros. closed and moved east, opening branches in Poplar Plaza and Raleigh Springs Mall. You won’t find them there today. I can’t provide a specific date for the closing of the stores here, but after 1982, Flagg Bros. stopped their weekly newspaper advertising, so that’s a clue.
I also can’t tell you what happened to the nice storefront you see here, with its wonderful neon lettering provided by the Balton Sign Company. I actually strolled along Main Street Mall searching for either 22 or 87 South Main, but even after I located those addresses, the buildings have changed so much over the years (or been demolished) that I found nothing resembling this façade. What really disappointed me was the loss of the inlaid flag at the entrance. That was a nice touch that I hoped had survived. But time marches on — albeit not in Flagg Bros. shoes.
Got a question for Vance?
Email: askvance@memphismagazine.com
Mail: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis Magazine, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101
Online: memphismagazine.com
