D. H. Holmes was a New Orleans department store and later a New Orleans based chain of department stores. The company was founded in 1842 by Daniel Henry Holmes, after whom it is named. In 1849 he moved his headquarters to Canal Street.

D.H. Holmes's main building on Canal Street was long considered a landmark, partly because of a clock on the front of the building. When Canal Street was a major shopping area, "under the clock at D.H. Holmes" was a proverbial place to meet someone. At the beginning of the novel A Confederacy of Dunces, Ignatius Reilly agrees to meet his mother there.


The statue of Ignatius J. Reilly stands under the clock at the former location of D.H. Holmes Department Store in New Orleans.In 1989 D.H. Holmes was purchased by Dillard's.[2][4] The former main store of D.H. Holmes is now a hotel. It was formerly the Chateau Sonesta hotel, which was renamed in 2008 the Chateau Bourbon a Wyndham Historic Hotel.

My grandmother worked for D.H. Holmes for over 30 years. I have since talked to many generations of New Orleanians who have shared similar stories with me. It was a real treat to go see her at work and then get some candy at the delicious D.H. Holmes candy counter!