About 1890, two brothers, John Price and Isaac Starks opened a fine men's clothing store named Crutcher & Starks at the corner of Fourth & Jefferson Streets in downtown Louisville. Nearly twenty years later, John Price and Isaac Starks sold Crutcher & Starks, which had become the top men's fine clothing store in the city of Louisville. Some four years after the sale of Crutcher & Starks, John Price Starks hired William H. Rapier and John Starks Rodes and opened another men's fine clothing store named The Starks Company. The owners of Crutcher & Starks made intense legal objections over the use of the "Starks" name in a competing men's clothing store. Consequently, The Starks Company was reincorporated as the Rodes-Rapier Company in early 1914.

From its inception on March 17, 1914 (St. Patrick's Day), the Company focused on providing quality merchandise, exceptional service and value. In 1954, Rodes was expanded to accommodate the increased demand for tailored men's and boy's clothing in the prosperous post-World War II era. Based on the continuing success of the Rodes’ Starks Building location through the first half of the century, additional Rodes locations were added inTennessee and Indiana in the second half of the century.

In 1989, the Company’s revenues were solely from Rodes. During the early '90s, Rodes utilized its core strengths of service and tailoring to enter the tailored uniform business. In fiscal 1996, more than half the Company's revenues came from the Uniforms Division. In January 2000, Rodes sold Rodes Professional Apparel (Uniforms Division) to Uniforms To You, a Chicago based company and division of Cintas.

In 2002, as the company saw opportunities for growth, we asked our customers what was important to enhance their shopping experience. The resounding answer was "a convenient store - not in a mall - where you could pull up to the door."