Businessman. Founder of the Anthony's chain of department stores. An orphan of a Tennessee farming family, Anthony started his career in retail with the J. C. Penney Company. In 1918 he partnered with the J. P. Martin Company in Cleveland, OK. Four years later he liquidated his shares in Martin and opened his own company in Cushing on Sept. 1, 1922 with $10,000 in inventory of family clothing. Unable to use his own name in certain areas due to contractual obligations to his former partner, Anthony came up with the Dixie Store as a name for his establishment. By 1923 there were four Dixie Stores, at Cushing, Pawhuska, Hominy and Barnsdall, as well as two C. R. Anthony Stores, at Anadarko and Chickasha. 1924 brought expansion in Kansas and in 1925 Anthony moved into Texas. New stores were financed by using profits from one outlet to finance another, with the manager of the new store being trained by the manager of the parent store, the training manager holding a one-third partnership in the new outlet. Anthony's business acumen is evident in the fact that the company continued to grow throughout the Great Depression. In 1950, Anthony's opened its first store on the West Coast, in Van Nuys, CA. When C. R. Anthony retired in 1972, fifty years after founding his company, there were 325 stores in twenty-one states. At its peak, Anthony's had annual sales of $411 million and was the largest privately held company in Oklahoma. Anthony was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1959. C. R. Anthony's son Guy and grandson Bob continued to successfully operate the company until 1987, when shareholders voted to sell to investors sponsored by Citicorp for $112 million in one of the largest venture capital transactions in state history. Anthony's was merged with Stage Stores Inc. in 1997.
Businessman. Founder of the Anthony's chain of department stores. An orphan of a Tennessee farming family, Anthony started his career in retail with the J. C. Penney Company. In 1918 he partnered with the J. P. Martin Company in Cleveland, OK. Four years later he liquidated his shares in Martin and opened his own company in Cushing on Sept. 1, 1922 with $10,000 in inventory of family clothing. Unable to use his own name in certain areas due to contractual obligations to his former partner, Anthony came up with the Dixie Store as a name for his establishment. By 1923 there were four Dixie Stores, at Cushing, Pawhuska, Hominy and Barnsdall, as well as two C. R. Anthony Stores, at Anadarko and Chickasha. 1924 brought expansion in Kansas and in 1925 Anthony moved into Texas. New stores were financed by using profits from one outlet to finance another, with the manager of the new store being trained by the manager of the parent store, the training manager holding a one-third partnership in the new outlet. Anthony's business acumen is evident in the fact that the company continued to grow throughout the Great Depression. In 1950, Anthony's opened its first store on the West Coast, in Van Nuys, CA. When C. R. Anthony retired in 1972, fifty years after founding his company, there were 325 stores in twenty-one states. At its peak, Anthony's had annual sales of $411 million and was the largest privately held company in Oklahoma. Anthony was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1959. C. R. Anthony's son Guy and grandson Bob continued to successfully operate the company until 1987, when shareholders voted to sell to investors sponsored by Citicorp for $112 million in one of the largest venture capital transactions in state history. Anthony's was merged with Stage Stores Inc. in 1997.
Bio by: Cemetery Guy
Inscription
CHARLES ROSS ANTHONY
AUG. 10, 1884
JUNE 16, 1976
Family Members
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