"Faith in the future of downtown St. Louis is a phrase which characterizes the ever-growing confidence that downtown not only is "here to stay," but that it is destined to attain great new dimensions as a center of business, commerce, and services."
- Sidney Maestre, Third Annual Report, Downtown St. Louis, Inc., 1960-1961

An organizing committee in hopes of promoting the development and use of the downtown area formed Downtown in St. Louis, Inc. Many of the downtown businesses were members of the Membership Committee, including Morton D. May, president of Famous Barr Co., who was on the board of directors. The organization's primary objectives included promotional and advertising campaigns aimed to draw more people to downtown. They also planned to advocate a long-range development program that would make the downtown area more accessible and attractive to potential consumers. The organization announced its support of projects such as the City Plan Commission's master plan for downtown and the endeavor to hurry along the completion of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The organization was funded through membership dues, which were determined based on the classification of the involved business. This effort to draw people downtown likely resulted from the decrease in the downtown area's retail sales during the middle 1950s.

Visit Stix, Baer and Fuller, another member of Downtown St. Louis, Inc