Norton Ditto first opened its doors on Main Street in downtown Houston in 1908. The store was original apparel. Houston's elite gentlemen patronized the store by arriving in either a horse drawn carriage or an early vintage automobile.

After Mr. Barringer's death in the early 1930's the store was called Norton's until 1940 when it became Norton-Carraci.

Mr. Lanson B. Ditto, Sr, a clothing manufacture's representative, while conducting business with the store, learned of Mr. Carraci's desire to leave the retail business. In 1944 Mr. Ditto bought out Mr. Carraci's interest and the store became Norton Ditto. That same year after completing their military duty, Lanson and Ben Ditto, Lanson Ditto Sr.'s sons, join the store's staff. At that time, the store was located in the Esperson building on Travis in downtown Houston.

In 1952 the Ditto family bought out the Norton family. Also that year, the store moved a couple of blocks south to a new larger facility, located on the ground floor in the new Bank of the Southwest Building, at Travis and McKinney. It was at this location that Norton Ditto's reputation as the premier men's store in Houston, and one of the finest haberdashers in the USA, was amplified. Reluctantly, in 1992 the family decided to close the downtown store. The changing business demographics of downtown forced most of Houston's leading retailers to exit from their roots.

In 1965 a second store located on Post Oak Blvd. was opened and remained a vital operation for over 40 years. In 2002 Norton Ditto moved operations to its current location on West Alabama at Kirby Drive. The new 6,200 square foot store is located between two premiere residential areas of River Oaks and West University. The commute from downtown or Houston's medical center is less then 10 minutes. New office, housing, and retail developments have made the area one of the hottest retail centers in the city.

The families of Lanson B. Ditto, Jr. and Ben Ditto were owners and operators of the business for almost 60 years. Today the store's principle owner and CEO is Dick Hite, a nephew of Ben and Sarah Ditto. (See "Our Staff" on the web site's menu for information about our current employees.)