Herbert M. Woolf - Woolf Brothers

Woolf Brothers

Samuel and Alfred Woolf came to Leavenworth, Kansas in 1865, after the Civil War, from their native New York. There, they established a store where fine men's shirts were made and sold. By June 1879, Kansas City had become the region's urban commercial center and the business was accordingly relocated there, where it prospered. Herbert Woolf began working for the business in 1912 and was president three years later. He worked his way up from collector to window decorator to buyer, and junior partner in his twenties. For over thirty years, Woolf Brothers expanded and thrived under Herbert to become one of the largest and most revered luxury goods department stores in the Midwest, with branches in five other major cities. Alfred Lighton assumed control of the business in 1962 and remained there until 1992 when major changes in the retail clothing industry and other economic factors caused Woolf Brothers to permanently close its doors.