Moore & Pickens Women's Department Store

One of Marion's past businesses was Moore & Pickens.  A favorite place to shop and buy fashionable women's clothing.  They were also know for their beautiful and unique millinery section.

   Here are Mildred Moore Croft and Elvah Pickens Bennett with some of their very fashionable hats.

Here are two interesting items from the Crittenden Press that helps preserve the history of the old store.

August 1951:  Moore & Pickens who have been in the ladies ready-to-wear business for thirty-six years and have been in the same location on Carlisle Street for the past twenty-eight years, have moved into the Grady Building on South Main Street.  (The pare of the Grady building was right next to the Farmers Bank Building before the bank purchased it and expanded their building.)

July 27, 1967:  Moore & Pickens closes after 51 years.  Fifty-one years ago, two young women in Marion formed a partnership, which through the years became one of Marion's best known business establishments. They were Mildred Moore, now Mrs. Weams Croft, and Elvah Pickens, not Mrs. Frank Bennett.  The firm has carried its original name Moore and Pickens, throughout the years.

This week Moore and Pickerns, the oldest business in Marion operated by the original owners, closed its doors.  The Farmers Bank and Trust Company sometime ago, acquired the building, which has housed Moore and Pickens for the past several years, and will use the extra space for an expansion program.

Unable to secure suitable space elsewhere, Miss Mildred and Miss Elvah, as they were known affectionately to most of their friends, decided to quit business and have been holding a liquidations sale for the past six weeks or so.

Mrs. Croft  and Mrs. Bennett have both been actively interested in every civic and religious movement undertaken for the advancement and betterment of Marion and Crittenden County during their fifty-one years on business here.

Mrs. Croft and Mrs. Pickens have both expressed deep regret at no longer being an active part of Marion's business life.

They are especially grateful to the people of Marion, and Crittenden County for their patronage over the years, and for the friendships they have made through their association with their customers.

Marion will miss Moore and Pickens.

The location of Moore & Pickens when they closed in 1967.  In this picture it shows the Farmers Bank getting ready to expand and the empty store on the left, where they used to be located. (1974)