For more than 100 years, the Meier & Frank name was synonymous with style and class for Portland residents.
Aaron Meier opened his first Portland store in 1857. In the 1870s he was joined by the Frank brothers, and the store became Meier & Frank. For nearly 100 years, the Meier and Frank families ran the upscale department store in downtown Portland. Gerry Frank was born at the height of the Meier & Frank empire in 1923, nine years before the completion of the iconic 15-story Meier & Frank Building in downtown Portland.
The Meier & Frank brand was regarded for its level of customer service. As Gerry Frank recently told Oregon Experience, at Meier & Frank the customer was always right.
"We had our own fleet of over 100 green delivery trucks and Meier & Frank would deliver free anything that people bought, even if it was a spool of thread. The store was known for service and one of the things that it was known for was ‘never say no to a customer," Gerry Frank said.
Gerry Frank eventually helped open the chain's first branch store in Salem in 1955. By 1960, the company had opened a second location in Portland at Lloyd Center Mall. But in 1966 the family sold the Meier & Frank brand to May Department Stores, and Frank left the family business.
Over the next 40 years the Meier & Frank brand continued to expand, opening stores all around the Portland metro area. But in 2006 the Meier & Frank brand met its end as the stores were rebranded under the Macy's name.
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