That influence is likely to grow as the company makes it way east and south over the next two years. With roots in Davenport, Iowa, that go back to 1872, Von Maur didn’t open its second store until the year of its centennial. Now it’s grown to 27 locations averaging about 140,000 square feet in 11 states. Von Maur has been more aggressive about expansion in the years since the recession, snapping up spots surrendered by Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Bon-Ton and Jacobson’s, and doubling its store count since 2001.

Von Maur entered Georgia last November and will add a second unit in the state, at Perimeter Mall outside Atlanta, in November. The company next year will add New York and Alabama to its map with stores, respectively, at the Eastview Mall in Rochester and the Riverchase Galleria in Birmingham. Milwaukee is on tap for 2014 as the company continues to eye locations in the eastern half of the U.S.

“Everyone says these are tough times, but we are extremely profitable and still growing our comparable business,” said Jim Von Maur, president and great-grandson of founder Cable G. Von Maur. “The downturn has actually helped open up opportunities for us in terms of expanding into existing shopping centers.”

According to Melody Westendorf, chief operating officer, the highest volume stores are Chicago; Des Moines; Eden Prairie, Minn.; Louisville, Ky., and Levonia, a suburb of Detroit, and the fastest growing division is the e-commerce site whose 2005 start was admittedly late to the gate.

Online sales are mushrooming in states without Von Maur stores, including California and Texas, so the company is doubling the 50,000-square-foot robotic fulfillment center that opened in October 2010.
“Our board room is a rental car,” said Westendorf. She often scouts sites with fraternal cochairmen and owners Richard and Charles Von Maur, aged 79 and 81, respectively. Employees call them “Mr. Dick” and “Mr. Chuck.”

Annual sales volume is edging toward $1 billion, Jim Von Maur said. That includes volume from Dry Goods, a chain launched in October 2010 to capitalize on success in trendy junior fashions. Dry Goods has four Midwest stores that average 4,500 square feet and is expected to open four more this year.

Von Maur department stores trade in moderate- to bridge-priced fashion by the likes of Elizabeth and James and Eileen Fisher. While renowned for customer service on par with Nordstrom’s, its interest-free credit card and its refusal to engage in doorbuster sales and extended holiday hours, Von Maur has generally been thought of as having a slower, more traditional fashion rhythm. But Joy Place, vice president of merchandising, feels there’s been a tendency to underestimate the stylistic cadence of the retailer based on its Midwestern roots and 140-year history. The retailer has registered double-digit growth in the premium jeanswear housed in its women’s contemporary area for five years running, and is also preparing to unveil a new lingerie concept when it opens in Atlanta. While the company doesn’t disclose dollar amounts, its contemporary denim business has more than doubled in the past five years, even with tops still commanding 60 percent of sales to the 40 percent driven by bottoms, which are overwhelmingly denim.

“The skinny jean has been performing really well and has been breathing new life into the contemporary area,” Place told WWD. “I wish we had more. In colors, we’re seeing strength with yellow, red and green, and the vendors are continuing to focus on that for fall, even though it may not look all that fall-like.”

With a vendor structure led by Joe’s Jeans, True Religion and Seven For All Mankind but also including Miss Me, Hudson, AG Adriano Goldschmied, Big Star, Free People, DL1961 and MEK, Place points out that the very nature of the denim business has changed in the past five years.

“Price points have gone up significantly,” she said, “and the customer is willing to pay more for the hot brands on the floor. Some brands that didn’t exist a few years ago are now staples for us. And denim has always been a staple in the Midwest, but it’s moved far beyond the boot-cuts and flares we used to sell. Denim is really in the fashion vanguard right now.”

Overall, she estimates that denim prices have doubled in the past decade, helping overall volume and average unit retails. “But the customer is willing to pay because she knows that there’s a lot going on,” Place stated. “It’s about the types of denim, where it’s being produced, the various washes and treatments involved.”

Jeans in the section start at under $100 but top out above $200.

Many in the denim market feel that jeans did well during the recession because of their inherent quality and applicability to multiple uses. Von Maur’s experience parallels that assessment but, with some adjustments on the selling floor, has held up well in the postrecessionary environment.

“We were fortunate and didn’t suffer a big hit overall,” said Place. “The contemporary area is for a trendy customer who always wants newness. It says ‘value’ when you buy a pair of jeans, especially in denim because you can wear it so many places and for so many reasons.”

The changes in the market — the ones that led to higher price points — are now being called out to customers more easily. “We use to house our denim on four-ways, but with the higher prices you want to be able to show the customer things like pocket detail, the wear and destruction treatments,” said the Von Maur executive. “You have to make sure the customer can see the most important details on the jean itself.”

That’s led to more use of T-stands, pipe rack fixtures and displays on tables, which has helped as the jeans brands and others have added strong ranges of complementary tops as they’ve embarked on more of a wardrobe concept. If back-pocket detailing needs to be the focus, jeans can be hung with the back of the jean facing forward.

Place noted that, after an initially slow reaction, tops vendors have adapted well to the predominance of the skinny jean silhouette within women’s contemporary.

“A lot of customers were initially scared by the skinny jean,” she said. “The tops vendors have really caught on now, working with longer tops that have been uptrending for us. Wider, looser, bell-shaped tops have really helped because they hide the part of the body the customer is likely to be most self-conscious about.”

While color remains the main story in the premium part of the business, Place reported “good early reads” on more recent denim trends, including patterned and coated denim. “The customers are liking it so far,” she said.

Customer satisfaction is key to Von Maur — to the point where it even gift wraps for free 12 months a year. “We actually wrap it,” Westendorf noted. “It’s not, ‘Here’s a box and do it yourself.’”

“It’s very good for the bottom line and a great draw,” added Jim Von Maur. “People love to give a gift that’s been wrapped and is more fun to open.”

Staff levels remain consistent in stores despite fluctuations in traffic, and 80 percent are full-time, Westendorf pointed out.

“We want to make sure customers have access to employees with knowledge,” she said. “We maintain their salary at a level that they can actually earn a living. They are there because it’s their career, and it makes a huge difference than if you have a bunch of people working part-time and looking at their watches.”

Von Maur’s most unusual customer perk, the interest-free credit card, was initiated in the Eighties despite dire warnings from company accountants.

“Our grandfather didn’t charge interest so we thought, why should we?” Richard Von Maur recalled. “We felt that giving the customer that advantage, they might look favorably at us.”

Terms give customers 10 months to pay it off, and the number of deadbeats is manageable because “most of our customers would rather pay our bills first because they cherish having the card,” Richard Von Maur said.

Shoppers typically react with disbelief.

“We have to do a lot of convincing,” Westendorf said. “It creates a tremendous amount of loyalty. It’s proof positive that Von Maur is looking out for them.”

The company’s old-fashioned values permeate operations. In deference to employees, stores are closed Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day, Jim Von Maur pointed out.

“We lose significant business, but we do it for our people,” Jim Von Maur said. “We know they have lives and families.”