Texas Merchant: Marvin Leonard and Fort Worth

Few department stores symbolized the aspirations of a community or represented the identity of its citizens in a stronger or more enduring way than Leonards in Fort Worth, Texas. For over fifty years, Marvin Leonard, the store’s founder, and his brother Obie ran a store that was always a unique place to shop. Customers also found a stunning array of goods—fur coats and canned tuna, pianos and tractors—and an environment that combined the spectacular with the familiar.

But the story of Leona...