Fowler Brothers Furniture Co., formerly at the corner of Seventh and Broad streets in Chattanooga, was a downtown landmark for decades.
According to newspaper archives, the owners closed the Broad Street store in 1985. The four-story building, adjacent to the Tivoli Theatre, was later converted to office space and is now branded as the Tivoli Center and used primarily as event space.
This uncaptioned photo from 1960 is taken from a collection of Chattanooga Free Press photographs archived at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The collection is part of a website called ChattanoogaHistory.com, curated by local history buff Sam Hall.
According to old newspaper clippings, the Fowler Bros. furniture company traces its roots to 1885 when one of the founders, James G. Sterchi, began selling glassware. The next year, the clips note, his brothers John Calvin Sterchi and William Sterchi opened a furniture store in Knoxville.
"That business has continued with Sterchi Bros. and Fowler being the name adopted for the business in 1911 and then the Fowler Bros. Co. name being used after 1930," according to an old report in the Chattanooga Times.
The Tivoli Center is the site of the former Fowler Bros. Furniture building. / Photo from Chattanooga Times Free Press archivesMore Info
Launched by history enthusiast Sam Hall in 2014, ChattanoogaHistory.com is designed to preserve historical images in the highest resolution available. If you have photo old negatives, glass plate negatives, or original nondigital prints taken in the Chattanooga area, contact Sam Hall at samhall@chattanoogatn.biz for information on how they may qualify to be digitized and preserved at no charge.
Members of the Fowler family continue to operate The Furniture Shoppe and The Patio Shop off Fourth Avenue beside Interstate 24. The family recently marked 135 years of company history.
Richard Calvin "Dick" Fowler Jr., the president of Fowler Brothers Furniture in Chattanooga for more than three decades, died late last year, according to Times Free Press archives.
"The 79-year-old businessman, who lived on Lookout Mountain, worked in his family's furniture business for more than four decades. The business is now headed by Fowler's son, Walter Carter Fowler," his obituary said.
Meanwhile, the Tivoli Center in the old Fowler Bros. Furniture building is set for another rebirth.
According to a Times Free Press report from late last year:
"The plans include updating the [Tivoli] theater itself and expanding into the Tivoli Center. Plans for that building include adding office spaces for other arts organizations, more bathrooms, an elevator, better access for people with disabilities, more concession areas and a rooftop area for events.
'We see this as a mecca for all the performing arts in the city,'" said Tivoli Foundation executive director Nick Wilkinson.
He said exactly how the space will be used will depend on the tenants who use the space not occupied by the Tivoli Foundation. The foundation is charged with overseeing the Tivoli, as well as Memorial Auditorium and the Walker Theatre located on its second floor.
To see this photo, along with others in this series, in greater detail visit https://chattanoogahistory.com/rememberwhen. Follow the "Remember when, Chattanooga?" Facebook page.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645.