There’s a gentle refrain often uttered by longtime Nashvillians: “I miss McClures.” What began as a Hillsboro Village fabric store (opened by Samuel Knox Harwell Sr. in 1936) blossomed into a multi-store brand with locations around Nashville and in surrounding towns. By the mid-1950s — after her marriage in 1947 to James David Andrews III — Samuel’s daughter Evalina began to work in the store and eventually took the reins, making her a trailblazer of her day. 

Throughout the following decades, Evalina, her husband and other family members — including the recently passed David Andrews IV and, for a few years after college, David Andrews V, owner of D’Andrews Bakery & Cafe — transformed McClures from a general store into one of the most respected independent department stores in the United States.

McClures was famous for so much — its bunny display during Easter, its piano player and Santa visits during Christmas and its haunted house during Halloween. The lingerie department was also renowned for its fine gowns — Fernando Sánchez, Hanro, La Perla and Donna Karan. As David Andrews IV would often say, “Have something for the kids to do, so the grown-ups can go shopping and spend money.”