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RETAILOR
- Roll, Crawford
and Brendamour
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The name Brendamour had been
associated with the sporting goods
business since 1902 when the firm of
Roll, Crawford and Brendamour was
founded. Businessman Edward Brendamour
and partners opened a sports and
motorcycle store on Fifth Street in
downtown Cincinnati. That store,
Roll-Crawford and Brendamour, later
moved to Sixth Street and operated into
the 1920s.
During that time, Edward Brendamour Jr. succeeded his father, formed a new
partnership and changed the merchant's
name to Bolles, Brendamour and Co. In
1937, after what can delicately be
called a conflict of interest among the
partners, Edward Jr. broke off with
Bolles and started his own company, Ed
Brendamour Inc. The company held elite
rank among the retailers. The bolles
interest was acquired in 1956, and the
Ed Brendamour Sporting Goods was
formed.
It becoming one of the largest sporting goods firms in the Midwest. Its
Sixth Street store, at 17,000 square
feet, was one of the largest in the
country. By the 1990s, under new
ownership, Brendamour's operates 28
stores in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
The firm became one of America's leading
independent sporting goods companies
until changes in the industry, with
companies such as Footlocker, Finish
Line and Champ's Sports, drove
independently owned stores out of
business. In 1996, Brendamour's filed
for bankruptcy, and was liquidated in
1997.
Only a few Roll-Crawford and Brendamour
baseball bats survived to this day. The
bats have a mushroom knob, which was
patented by A.G. Spalding & Bros. in
1903. The knob was designed to provide
a bat that was properly balanced, and
therefore easier for a player to
manipulate. This style knob was popular
until about 1911. The branding reads:
"The Roll-Crawford-Brendamour
Cincinnati., No 1, Nox-All" - The
Roll-Crawford and Brendamour branded
baseball bats were also given away as a
prize in 1905, to aid the Newsboys’
Protective Association in its efforts
to secure a fund for caring for the
sick' and for the establishment of a
newsboys' home and clubroom.
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