Gross, Kelly & Company, with its predecessor firms of Otero, Sellar & Company, and Gross, Blackwell and Company, was one of the pioneer wholesale and retail mercantile companies in the Southwest. Otero, Sellar & Co. began operations in New Mexico before the railroads reached the area, making freight hauls by wagon from the end of the Kansas Pacific and Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe, as they were built west through Kansas. When the Santa Fe Railroad reached Las Vegas, N.M. in 1879, Otero, Sellar & Co. established Las Vegas as its permanent headquarters. Otero, Sellar and its successor companies, established a number of branches in other N.M. towns and cities and even one in Trinidad, Colo. Besides wholesale and retail groceries, Gross, Kelly & Co. was heavily involved in hides and pelts, wool, sheep and lambs, and cattle. Gross, Kelly & Co. provided credit for local ranchers and merchants. It also bought and sold railroad ties and finished lumber. In 1954 the Gross, Kelly & Co. stockholders decided to sell out to Kimbell Products Company of Fort Worth, Tex.
From the description of Records, 1863-1996. (University of New Mexico-Main Campus). WorldCat record id: 38912105
