In many older homes in the mid-west and south, you still might be able to find at least one piece of furniture from Lammert's Furniture in St. Louis. For many years, Lammert's was a sign of quality and craftsmanship.
Martin Lammert Sr. came to the Washington, Missouri from Germany with his parents, but was orphaned by the age of 16 and moved to down the river to St. Louis.
Lammert opened his first store in 1861 on Franklin Avenue, and grew quickly enough that it had to move eight times until finding it's iconic home on 911-919 Washington Avenue.
The building itself was built in 1898 and was first home to Hargadine and McKettrick Drygoods Company until 1923, when Lammert's moved in. The Washington Ave. building was designated a city landmark in 1979 and was renovated in 1984.
By the time of the move, Martin Lammert Jr. was at the helm and began to be known as THE place to buy quality furniture and throughout the mid-west and south. In fact, through catalog sales, Lammert's had a reach of over 30 states. By it's peak in the late 50's and early 60's with Lammert III in charge the company grew to five stores as they followed many city dwellers out to the county.
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| Martin Lammert V with his namesakes. |
By 1970 however, with continuing population loss in the city and the popularity of wholesale merchants, Martin Lammert IV made the decision to close the downtown location in 1973 and began a change over to a fine furniture store.
The business itself enjoyed a renaissance with this changeover in focus and eventually scaled down to one building in Clayton and later moved to a 10,000 square foot building on South Lindbergh in Frontenac.
Lammert V sold the property in 2007 and to my knowledge still sells real estate in the area. For over 135 years, Lammert's provided quality furniture for many.
