Dan A. Sullivan founded a dry goods store with Paul Kees in 1877.

The store originally operated in the Town Clock Building.

Stampfer formed a partnership with F. W. Altman to raise stock for the construction of a new building in 1895.

The design, with its cream terra cotta exterior, was a departure from other Dubuque brick-and-stone architecture.

The original plan was the double the size of the building in 1898; however, for unknown reasons, this did not happen.