BIGMallrat | Retail history of Northern California

For more than a century, Roos Brothers was one of the Bay Area's best-known clothing retailers. Founded in San Francisco in 1865 by brothers Adolphe, Hippolyte, and Achille Roos, the company built a reputation for quality menswear and became a fixture of downtown shopping districts throughout Northern California. But by the middle of the twentieth century, both fashion and retailing were changing. As suburban shopping centers replaced traditional downtown business districts, Roos Brothers faced a choice: remain a city-based clothier or follow its customers into the rapidly growing suburbs. The answer came in 1957 when Roos Brothers was acquired by Edward Gauer, president of the Robert S. Atkins Clothing Company. The two businesses merged to form Roos/Atkins, combining the prestige of the Roos name with Atkins' expanding retail operation. Over the next decade, the company would transform itself from a traditional San Francisco retailer into one of the largest specialty clothin...