One of the oldest upscale retail men's and women's clothing operations in Utah, the 89-year-old Arthur Frank stores will disappear Dec. 31.
The Arthur Frank stores in the Crossroads Plaza and the Cottonwood Mall, owned by HSSA Group Limited, Chicago, are holding going-out-of-business sales and will close on that day, according to James T. Round, vice president of advertising for Hartmarx Specialty Stores Inc., the company that sold the Arthur Frank and other retail clothing outlets in other parts of the country in September to HSSA.Round blamed the closures on the recession and a decline in interest in tailored clothing. Purchasing tailored clothing is easy to postpone during hard times, he said. HSSA apparently intends to keep some of its profitable stores open, according to published reports.
He declined to say now many employees would be affected by the closings.
Hart Schaffner & Marx purchased the Arthur Frank stores in 1960. At that time, Arthur Frank was the exclusive outlet for Hart Schaffner & Marx clothing in the area.
It was in 1903 that Arthur Frank and his wife, Bertha, came to the United States and settled in Murray. They opened a clothing store called The Leader and carried the Hart Schaffner & Marx clothing label. In 1905 they established the A. Frank Union store on First South and Main.
Between 1905 and 1910, the Franks opened stores in Tooele, Vernal, Richfield, Monroe, Brigham City and Midvale. In the next 10 years he closed most of the stores because of health problems and concentrated his efforts on three stores on Main Street in Salt Lake City.
On Sept. 3, 1921, the Franks consolidated the stores into one outlet at 210 S. Main and remained there for 37 years. Arthur died in 1953. On Oct. 2, 1958, the firm opened a new store at 140 S. Main which doubled the size of the previous location.
Bertha died in 1962, and Arthur Frank, operated by several family members, opened a store in the then-new Cottonwood Mall and in 1973 opened a store in the Fashion Place Mall. In 1980, an Arthur Frank store opened in the Crossroads Plaza and the outlet at 140 S. Main was closed.