Joseph Ivey

Ivey's parents believed their young son's vision problems would prevent him from being able to learn in a classroom, so they arranged for him to study carpentry instead. As an industrious young man, Joseph Ivey (1864-1958), a Shelby native, went to work in general stores.

In 1885, Capt. L. J. Hoyle asked him to form a partnership. Their Cleveland County store was called Hoyle and Ivey. Arriving in Charlotte in 1900, Ivey founded J. B. Ivey and Sons on West Trade Street. Until that time, many shopkeepers would sell goods for whatever amount a customer would agree to pay. Ivey instituted a one price system that gave the same price to everyone. Ivey's competitor, Belk Brothers, did not at that time extend credit that would allow customers to pay a little each week for their purchases. But in J. B. Ivey's store, for a fee, customers could pay for goods over time.

Ivey was married to Emma Gantt, with whom he had four children. After his wife died, Ivey was married again - to Daisy Smith - in 1919. J. B. Ivey is buried in Charlotte's Elmwood Cemetery.