Robert Loeb Jr ., front row second from right , was a four-year member of the University of Memphis men ' s track team , picture here in this 1972 team photo . Photo courtesy of University Archives , Special Collections Department , University of Memphis Libraries .
After several years at Parisian , he moved to Chattanooga , Tennessee , where he became the menswear buyer for the popular 1980s department store , The Leader , for four years . Then in 1987 , feeling the time was right , he decided to move his family to his hometown to pursue the dream of bringing the LOEB ’ S clothing tradition back to Meridian .
“ To come back and open my own store , to get LOEB ’ S opened back up , it just was a dream I had ,” Loeb recalled , “ and I said you ’ ve just got to push the button and go do it or you ’ re just going to dream the rest of your life about doing it .”
In his mid-30s at the time , he began to put the wheels in motion , talking with national manufacturers to decide what brands he wanted to carry in the store , visualizing what he wanted the store interior to look like , deciding what services to offer and scouting a location . He said his wife , Lee , was very supportive of his dream .
“ It ’ s always risky ,” he said of launching a new store . “ I think you ’ ve got to go into it with a very positive attitude that I ’ m going to make this work . And I know there ’ s going to be lots of roadblocks along the way , and you just have to overcome those one by one and keep swimming . And there were roadblocks and there still are , it ’ s just what business is . But you just have to keep focused on what you ’ re trying to do and stay after it . It takes a lot of discipline , kind of like athletics , and you have to give up a lot of things and be willing to do that .”
By the late 1980s downtown Meridian had seen better days , so Loeb ’ s first dilemma on returning home was where to locate his store . After much thought , he found a storefront in a building off of 22nd Avenue near St . Paul ’ s Episcopal Church .
“ I actually looked at some other locations and thought about doing something else ,” he recalled . “ I don ’ t know what pulled me to downtown . Actually , I think it was the character the buildings offered as opposed to being in a mall and just kind of being , you know , a vanilla box . … Part of the dream was to have some character in the store .” Business was good during his first decade with an expansion into women ’ s and children ’ s clothing . He has since added footwear , travel gear and accessories . In 2000 , having outgrown the original location , he purchased an old two-story furniture store on Front Street , and moved into a new permanent home .
LOEB ’ s Inc . has become a fixture in downtown , and Loeb credits generation of families and repeat customers as being the true testament of the store ’ s success .
Still , he said , it is hard to believe 137 years have passed since the Loeb name first graced a storefront window in downtown Meridian .
“ You know , you take it for
The department store , Alex Loeb Inc ., opened in its new three-story , granted sometimes , I hate to say , yellow brick location on Fifth Street in 1926 . because you are so involved in what you ’ re doing , but then somebody will say , ‘ man , that ’ s a long time that y ’ all have been here ,’ and it will hit me that it really has been a long time . To think that my great-grandfather did this , that ’ s hard to believe , but it ’ s really amazing ,” Loeb said . M meridianstar . com
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