My Memoirs

J. B. Ivey (1864-1958) belonged to a distinguished list of storekeepers who came to Charlotte at the turn of the century to take advantage of the booming cotton mill economy. He opened a small store room in rented space near the Square on West Trade Street on February 18, 1900, and over the following decades, with Charlotte's ever-increasing population, J. B. Ivey & Company grew into a big store and rapidly growing business. Ivey's went on to dominate not only the retail business of uptown C