Fact Friday 364 - David Ovens: A Charlotte Leader

These were the Ivey's employees in 1906. David Ovens is standing fourth from the left on the on the first row. He is holding a straw hat in his right hand.

Sam Lawrence greeted shoppers when they entered Ivey's. Neal Alexander was Mr. Oven's driver.

J. B. Ivey

Osmond Barringer sitting in his Baker Electric Automobile

Charlotte had no skyscrapers and several saloons. Charlotte had three hospitals with a combined capacity of about 100 beds. There was only one decent restaurant in town, "The Gem" on South Tryon St. On steamy, summer afternoons folks would sit in the Mecklenburg County Courthouse and fan themselves while they listened to lawyer E. T. Cansler argue his cases. "His scathing denunciation and keen satire of his opposition was a perfect delight," said Ovens. It was Ovens who was the driving force behind the transformation of Ivey's from a small shop into a major department store chain. "I would probably have been satisfied with a moderate business that would make something over a living," admitted J. B. Ivey, "but Mr. Ovens was ambitious to make J. B. Ivey & Company a big store." Among Ovens's innovative marketing schemes was tossing unsold hats out the second story window of Ivey's at the end of each sales season. " . . . we kept this up until the police stopped us for creating a riot," Ovens proclaimed. On a more substantive level, Ovens and Ivey abandoned the practice of selling goods only for cash. ". . . we found that we could not sell to the better customers unless we sold on credit," Ivey explained. Ovens traveled to New York City to purchase goods for the store. He drove hard bargains and was always attentive to changing fashions.

Ladies covered from head to toe. This is what fashionable women were wearing when David Ovens arrived in Charlotte in 1903.

The most tangible reminder of Ovens's contributions to the growth of J. B. Ivey & Company is the large building, recently converted into condominiums, that stands at the corner of North Tryon and Fifth Sts. It was designed by architect William H. Peeps and opened as the new home of J. B. Ivey & Company in 1924. The store was renovated and enlarged in 1939.

Ivey's Department Store

David Ovens is best remembered as a lover of the arts. A man of conservative tastes, he detested modern architecture and modern art. "Everyone should be allowed to have one pet peeve," he proclaimed. "Mine is modern architecture." He spoke with special disdain about "those straight up-and-down, steel-ribbed, glass-enclosed structures, that are more in keeping with the design of a small-town factory, or parking garage." Ironically, the Charlotte landmark that bears his name, Ovens Auditorium on East Indepedence Boulevard, is just such a building. It was fashioned by A. G. Odell, Jr., whom Ovens called a "good friend."

Ovens Auditorium

Charlotte Coliseum, now Independence Arena

Ovens played a pivotal role in securing public backing for Ovens Auditorium, originally called the Civic Center, and the Charlotte Coliseum, now Independence Arena. On October 27, 1949, Mayor Victor Shaw selected Ovens to head a planning committee to select a site for the new facility and to recommend an architect. Shaw described Ovens as "the most public-spirited citizen that Charlotte had ever known." As early as 1912, when he had headed a fundraising campaign to build a new YWCA, Ovens had begun to establish himself as a prominent local philanthropist. He was president of the Good Fellows Club, a charitable organization that had its origins in Second Presbyterian Church. "The chief value of this club lies not in its charitable work alone, but in acquainting five hundred men with the other side of life apart from our palatial clubs, luxurious homes, trips to Florida in winter and to Europe, or expensive resorts in Newport or Bar Harbor in the summer," Ovens declared. He headed Charlotte's first Community Chest Drive, forerunner of today's United Way. Ovens was the local chairman of the American Red Cross during World War II and served on the boards of several other prestigious Charlotte-Mecklenburg institutions, including Queens College, Davidson College, and Presbyterian Hospital. The list goes on and on.

This is the Board of Directors of the Good Fellows Club. David Ovens is sitting in the middle of the first row.

One of Ovens's favorite civic responsibilities was serving for eighteen years, from 1934 until 1952, as president of the Community Concert Association. His job was to bring excellent professional actors and musicians to perform in Charlotte. The problem was that Charlotte had no building that could meet even the minimum performance requirements of artists during the 1930's and 1940's. The first concerts were held in the auditorium at Piedmont High School and then in the Armory Auditorium on Cecil St., later Kings Drive. There was a time," remembered Ovens, "when the old Armory was becoming so shabby that people didn't want to go to artistic events there, and the attendance fell off."

Determined that Charlotte would have a cultural and entertainment facility worthy of its status, Ovens and his fellow members on the planning committee pushed ahead with their agenda. In May, 1950, City Council approved the committee's recommendation that A. G. Odell, Jr. be the architect. The voters of Charlotte went to the polls on October 14, 1950, and gave their backing for bonds to acquire the land and build a new auditorium and a new coliseum. The Charlotte Coliseum and Ovens Auditorium were completed in 1955. David Ovens attended the official dedication ceremonies on September 11th. Not surprisingly, the featured speaker was evangelist and native son Dr. Billy Graham. David Ovens died almost exactly two years later, on September 9, 1957.