Top 75 Stores That Don't Exist Anymore
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Top 75 Stores That Don’t Exist Anymore
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for once-popular stores that no longer exist in the U.S., ranked by scale, history, and brand recognition.
With book, movie, music, and video games sections, Media Play was a well-rounded entertainment chain—with a selection that once seemed super wide. Founded by Musicland, Media Play stores first started popping up in 1992. Expansion throughout the ‘90s brought the peak total location count to 72 in 19 different states. But competition only stiffened as the end of the millennium approached, namely from Amazon. Being able to keep up with inventory proved too steep a hill to climb. Places like Best Buy and Walmart didn’t help either. Increased advertising and promos weren’t enough to save Media Play—and by the mid-2000s, it was toast.
Founded in 1932 as JOY Hosiery, this company went on to experience many years of success, with notable changes along the way. In the 1970s, following a previous decade of expansion and an increased selection available in their stores, the name was changed to Deb Shops. There, you could buy women’s and girl’s clothing and accessories. A lot of people did just that. At its highest point, there were 337 stores in 47 states—many of which could be found at shopping malls. But after the parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2011—and then again in 2014—all Deb Shops were shut down.
1918 was not only the birth year of renowned lyricist Alan Jay Lerner; it was also the year Lerner Shops was born—founded by Harold Lane and three Lerner brothers, including Alan’s father. The first store opened in New York City, and by 1920, there were over 20 locations. The business only grew from there, reaching nearly 200 stores nationwide by 1950. In the 1960s, Lerner was the largest chain of women’s and children’s apparel shops in the United States. In the ’80s, business kept booming, with over 700 stores across the country. But after ownership changes and rebranding in the ’90s and 2000s, the stores faded away. It became New York & Company—now an online-only retailer, no longer carrying the Lerner name.
Once the largest independently owned, publicly traded department store chain in the U.S., Gottschalks got its start in California in 1904. The company limited competition and cut real estate costs by setting up shop in smaller cities across six western states. That strategy fueled its sustained success for decades. In 1986, Gottschalks went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOT, marking a new chapter in its history. The 2000s were when things really got tough. As sales declined and locations closed, the writing was on the wall. Gottschalks was delisted from the NYSE in 2008. Once the company filed for bankruptcy the following year, that was all she wrote.
A toy store that looks like a castle—what’s not to love? After Child World bought Children's Palace from Kobacker Stores in 1975, the castle design became a major part of the company’s identity. Technically, Child World was selling toys well before then. It was founded in 1962. After Cole National Corporation’s purchase of the chain in 1981, things started to go downhill. Cash shortages, empty shelves, a lawsuit, and fierce competition from Toys "R" Us were all signs of a downfall. And by 1992, the chain that once had over 180 locations was down to 0.
This women’s clothing store may have opened on April Fools’ Day in 1950, but it certainly turned out to be no joke. In the decades that followed, Casual Corner stores began popping up well beyond its original Connecticut home. The shop initially focused on women’s sportswear, but as the company expanded, the merchandise shifted too. Still, the focus always stayed on women’s apparel in one way or another. By 2000, there were over 500 Casual Corner stores in operation. But just five years later—55 years after its start—the company closed its doors after being sold to a liquidator.
In 1919, Sidney L. Hechinger opened a hardware store in Southwest Washington, D.C. During the 1920s, he focused exclusively on retail customers, rather than selling to contractors and builders. He was doing this before it was even known as the home improvement industry. After being passed down through generations, Hechinger was a 69-store chain in 1987. And before the turn of the century, that number was well over 100, with the company operating in 21 states. But Home Depot and Lowe's proved to be insurmountable challengers. By the end of 1999, if you needed to buy a tool or lumber, for example, Hechinger was no longer a place you could go.
Operating under both the Camelot Music and The Wall names, these mall-based stores carried vinyl records, cassette tapes, CDs, and more. By the late ’90s, you could find them in 37 states. Camelot Music stores mainly operated in the Midwest and Southeast, while The Wall was more common in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. In 1998, there were 305 Camelot Music locations and 150 The Wall stores. Since both were run by the same company—Camelot Music—and it had the wider reach, that’s the name that earns the spot on our list. Later that year, Trans World Entertainment bought it out, and that was that.
Knowing how to take advantage of fashion fads can result in meaningful financial gain for a clothing company. And that was the case for Merry-Go-Round, a company founded in Maryland that existed from 1968 to 1996. What started off as a boutique selling blue jeans became a major apparel chain with a whole lot more clothing options to offer. Some might remember their catchy ‘80s commercial remixing the hit rock anthem “Cum On Feel the Noize.” During the ‘90s, Merry-Go-Round had over 500 locations, mainly in malls. But after declaring bankruptcy in 1994, it was unable to turn things around.
In 1951, Carl and Dorothy Bennett had a business idea: open a discount department store that was different from what people were used to. They would call it Caldor—a blend of their names. They focused on offering high-quality items for much less than the manufacturers’ suggested list prices. They also emphasized well-informed salespeople and a customer-friendly refund policy. Clearly, the model worked. Caldor became a hit, growing to 100 stores by the time of Carl Bennett’s retirement announcement in 1984. In the decade that followed, Caldor became the fifth-largest discount chain in the U.S. But what some called “the Bloomingdale's of discounting” didn’t make it to the year 2000.
While this shoe brand remained purchasable at multiple retailers in the 2000s, Thom McAn also had its own stores for decades beforehand. The brand’s history dates back to 1922, making it one of the most historic, successful shoe retailers in U.S. history. Before 1940 came, there were already 650-plus Thom McAn stores. From the end of the ‘60s into the ‘80s, parent company Melville was the largest footwear retailer in the U.S. But the ‘80s was also when it started to phase out its Thom McAn outlets. That continued into the ‘90s, and by 1996, they were all gone.
With over 100 stores in seven Northeastern states during the ‘90s, Bradlees was once a thriving discount department store with a wide selection. Furniture, clothing, jewelry, electronics, bedding, a Costco-like snack stand, you name it—it had it all. For most of its history, Bradlees was owned by supermarket chain Stop & Shop. So you’d often see both in the same shopping plazas. Some of them even operated under the same roof prior to 1982. Talk about convenient! Unfortunately, Bradlees couldn’t recover from two down years in the ‘90s. Some locations survived a little longer, but in 2001, it was all over.
While its legacy has been carried on through the TJX Companies, Zayre is a thing of the past. The former discount store chain was around from 1956 to 1990. Ames Department Stores actually bought it in 1988, but kept the Zayre name alive in some locations—not for long though. Zayre once had a strong presence across the Eastern United States. Back in 1966, there were 92 stores. By the time of its sale in 1988, that number had ballooned to 392. Had Zayre’s attempt to purchase Marshall’s in the ‘70s been successful, maybe things would've played out differently.
Dating all the way back to 1910, Levitz Furniture came oh-so close to reaching the century mark of being in business. Its expansion didn’t actually come until the 1960s, when founder Richard Levitz’s sons were at the helm. The company spread across the U.S., eventually becoming the nation’s top independent furniture retailer. As recently as the ‘90s, the company held 67 warehouse-showrooms and 51 satellite stores in 25 states. That decade is when the downfall began. Poor management, changing consumer habits, and the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis proved too much to overcome. By 2008, Levitz Furniture was no more.
Getting its start as a five-and-dime store in 1934, Service Merchandise experienced a major shift in 1960. That’s when it became a catalog showroom retailer. During the ‘70s and ‘80s, it was one of the leaders in that category, as it expanded across the nation. At Service Merchandise, you could find jewelry, toys, sporting goods, and electronics. But rising competition from growing chains in the ‘80s and ‘90s ended up being too much. A refocus on jewelry, gifts, and home decor products didn’t turn the tide; nor did the company’s experimentation of drive-thru windows. In 1999, Service Merchandise filed for bankruptcy—and in 2002, it was officially out of service.
The days of 25-cent stores are way behind us. That’s the kind of store W.T. Grant was all the way back in 1906. It then grew into a massive mass-merchandise chain with many of its stores setting up shop in downtowns around the country. Fast forward to the 1970s, and the number of Grants locations grew to nearly 1,200. But the company’s faulty store credit policy and inability to secure desirable locations over competitors ended up being major issues. In 1976, W.T. Grant declared bankruptcy—and that was that. The 70-year run was over.
Born in Germany in 1830, Sam Hecht Jr. moved with his family to the United States in 1847. In 1857, he opened a used furniture store in Baltimore. It was a family business with humble beginnings that later grew into a department store chain in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States. Its Washington, D.C. store was the first in the area to offer national brands. The Hecht’s business stayed in the family after Sam’s passing in 1907, with his sons and then grandsons carrying on the legacy. Expansion took place in the 1950s through 1970s, and the chain stuck around until 2006, when it was absorbed by Macy's.
Once the second-largest pharmacy chain in the United States, Eckerd used to be the go-to drugstore for countless people. It used to have over 2,800 stores across 23 states. Its history dates back to 1898, when the company was founded in Erie, Pennsylvania. After founders Joseph Milton Eckerd and Z. Tatom moved to Wilmington, Delaware in the 1910s, they started to expand their business to other states—and things took off. Fast forward all the way to the 1970s and ‘80s, and that’s when Eckerd was thriving most in terms of its national presence. In 1996, JC Penny took over. CVS and Jean Coutu Group then bought Eckerd in 2004—and three years later, all remaining Eckerd stores became Rite Aid.
Nearly 100 years before Macy’s acquired Marshall Field’s in 2005, Marshall Field’s flagship store in Chicago was the largest department store in the world. Nowadays, it’s listed as a National Historic Landmark. But Marshall Field’s also made its presence felt elsewhere. Over the years, it expanded across the Midwest and even into the Pacific Northwest. All its stores may have been shut down by 2006, but Marshall Field’s history of firsts can never be taken away. Whether it was creating the first bridal registry, introducing the concept of the personal shopper, or becoming the first department store in the U.S. to use escalators, Marshall Field’s was a true pioneer.
This arts and crafts retail chain was founded in New Jersey in 1985. In the years that followed, A.C. Moore expanded to eight other Northeastern states as well, becoming a favorite for many arts and crafts connoisseurs in the region. Along with having a wide selection, its discounts and comparatively low prices were a major pull for many. In late 2019, Michaels bought A.C. Moore’s leases and distribution center, strengthening its already-firm hold on the arts and crafts industry. At the time of the chain’s closure announcement, it had 145 locations.
While it still survives as an online retailer, H.H. Gregg used to exist in physical form, as an electronics and home appliances destination in 21 different states. Founded by Henry Harold and Fansy Gregg in 1955, H.H. Gregg got its start as a small local Indiana store. It wasn’t until the late 2000s and early 2010s when the company experienced significant expansion, becoming a proper multi-regional chain. But soon after, things fell apart. In March 2017, H.H. Gregg declared bankruptcy. The following month, the company announced the closures of all remaining 220 stores.
Before its store closures began, The Bon-Ton had 260 stores in 24 states. The department store chain was most prevalent in the Northeast. The history of the company goes back to 1898, when a father and son opened up a millinery and dry goods store in York, Pennsylvania. After adding a few locations elsewhere in the state and in New Jersey in the early 1900s, the company roared through the Roaring Twenties and onward. Fast forward to the 21st century, and The Bon-Ton stores were popping up in the Midwest. Today, it still exists as an e-commerce retailer, but the physical stores are no more.
Over 50 years after starting off as a catalog mail-order business, Montgomery Ward opened its first retail outlet store in Indiana. That happened in 1926. Just three years later, the company had expanded to 531 stores. How quickly things can change! “Monkey Wards,” as some people called it, continued to thrive as a department store chain for decades, despite a few bumps along the way. But, as the 20th century came to an end, it was time for the curtain call. A company restructuring, which included rebranding to the name “Wards,” was not enough. And on December 28, 2000, we got word that the remaining 250 retail outlets would close.
This place was arts and crafts galore. Particularly when it came to everything fabrics, sewing, and knitting, JOANN was the place to go in the U.S. At the time of its second bankruptcy declaration in less than a year, coming in January 2025, JOANN was operating about 800 stores in all but one state. It was clear it was hanging on by a thread. And by the end of May 2025, all remaining locations were shut down. Michaels acquired the company’s intellectual property and private labels—and while it added JOANN products to its inventory, many fabric fanatics and designers miss how things used to be.
Nothing lasts forever—not even Forever 21. The fashion retailer mainly targeted teenage girls and young women. At its peak, Forever 21 had 800 stores globally. But in 2018 it began downsizing due to things like tough competition, the growth of e-commerce, expensive retail locations, and labor practice controversies. Still, after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2019, it stuck around to a degree, despite shutting down locations across Europe and Asia. It remained a popular fashion store in many U.S. malls. But after filing for bankruptcy again in 2025, it was announced that the remaining 354 U.S. stores would be closed for good. While Forever 21 survives in a few other countries, its days in the nation it was founded are numbered.
These stores began with a revolutionary concept for 1903: independent pharmacists could use their collective market strength to purchase supplies and resell them under a single store name. The modernization of the 20th century made it easier to deliver health and wellness products to more North Americans than ever before. A half-century later, Rexall was a household name with thousands of locations. The model was great, but ultimately proved to be no match for huge chain pharmacy companies. Rexall stores either closed up shop or rebranded almost overnight. Today, Rexall is a moderately sized Canadian pharmacy chain.
Susie and Doug Tompkins were just two young San Francisco hippies, hawking simple, stylish clothes out of the back of their VW van. Their environmentally conscious brand struck a chord in 1968. Twenty years later, Esprit had become a global fashion powerhouse, known for its flashy ads and its social responsibility. Esprit grew into a worldwide brand thanks to the explosion of mall culture. Just as video killed the radio star, the 90s and 2000s killed the mall. Sales fell through the floor, and stores went dark. Today, Esprit is a small chain, operating thanks to international markets and online sales.
Tomlinson, Gosselin, and Young were three Oklahoma boys with bright dreams when they founded TG&Y in 1935. The brand sold itself to small-town America by marketing their budget-friendly merchandise. It spent years as a rural American staple, soon growing through bigger towns and suburbs. There were once more than 900 TG&Ys across the United States. That all came to an end in the 1980s. Big box retailers Walmart and Kmart were knocking at the company's door, ready to eat their lunch. Their 1986 acquisition didn't help matters. TG&Y ultimately shuttered its stores one by one, until the brand faded into retail history.
Adam Gimbel was a mild-mannered resident of Vincennes, Indiana, who decided to open a modest dry goods store in 1842. The store grew, converting into a Milwaukee department store in 1887. They opened a Philadelphia location seven years later. The store became a Philly staple, founding the Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade. Gimbels only grew from there, and by 1930 it was the biggest department store chain on earth. It was even the setting for the movie "Miracle on 34th Street.” In 1973, a mega-corporation gobbled Gimbels up and closed all of its stores by 1986. Their iconic locations became prime real estate for other department stores.
The small upstate town of Waverly, New York was the site of the first Kinney Shoes back in 1894. Named after its founders, Kinney Shoes was a go-to spot for relatively inexpensive, quality shoes. The concept was a hit, expanding across America to become a well-known supplier of footwear. Known for its wide selection and competitive prices, Kinney Shoes thrived throughout the 20th century. Its sub-brand, Foot Locker, was born in 1974. Though popular, the company that acquired Kinney decided to shutter all the stores by 1998, moving forward with the Foot Locker as a new, spinoff company.
Mervin G. Morris was the entrepreneur who, in 1949, founded Mervyn's in San Lorenzo, California. He hopped on the post-War department store gravy train, offering affordable, quality merchandise. By targeting middle-class families, Mervyn's expanded like wildfire across the American West. Unfortunately, big-box retailers proved to be Mervyn's big bad wolf. Coupled with ownership changes and strategic missteps, the brand started to falter. Their lack of diversity meant it was ultimately impossible to compete with their competitors. In 2008, Mervyn's filed for bankruptcy and closed all its stores, marking the end of a once-prominent retail chain.
The year 1990 represented the apex of mall culture in America. A few years later, Stephen Kahn and Christopher Edgar saw a way around the mall: direct-to-consumer marketing. Delia's marketed to teenage girls with its quirky mail order catalogs. The catalogs themselves grew into a cultural touchstone for a subset of American teens. Their eyes on the future, Delia's was also an early adopter of e-commerce, acquiring Gurl.com in 1997. In this case, they were too early, and got swallowed up in the dot com burst of 2000. They limped on until 2014 as an acquired brand, at which time the company filed for bankruptcy. Four years later, online fashion store Dolls Kill licensed Delia's as a new sub-brand.
In 1987, Disney realized it was late to the mall culture game. Aimed at capitalizing on the beloved Disney brand, the Disney Store became a destination for exclusive products. The concept thrived, leading to rapid expansion across the U.S. and internationally, with over 700 stores worldwide. The rising popularity of Disney animated films provided a constant churn of new properties to exploit. Unfortunately, like many mall-based stores, online shopping killed their brick and mortar business. Despite efforts to innovate and revamp the in-store experience, Disney announced the closure of most physical locations in 2021. Disney now sells its branded products online and through bigger retailers like Target.
Roslyn Jaffe was a trailblazer for women in business. In just a few years, she went from living in a one-bedroom Manhattan apartment with three roommates to owning a company. Jaffe went to Stamford, Connecticut in 1962 to start Dressbarn, a women's discount fashion retailer. Dressbarn expanded rapidly, nearly reaching 800 stores nationwide. It focused on customer service and understanding the needs of middle-class women. With the rise of e-commerce and changing consumer preferences, the business struggled to adapt to the shifting landscape. Online retailers and fast fashion brands eventually eroded its market share. Despite efforts to modernize, Dressbarn's parent company announced its closure in 2019. A year later it found new life as an online-only retailer.
This ultra low-cost retailer was founded in 1982 by Dave Gold in Los Angeles, California. Gold believed in a somewhat unique vision of a store: he would offer high-quality items at a low, fixed price. The concept was a hit, and 99 Cents Only Stores spread rapidly. However, competition was the store's Achilles’ heel. Other discount outlets cannibalized the market. Due to rising costs, the store also had to raise prices, undercutting its core brand. The year Dave Gold died, 2013, the chain was sold to a private equity firm. After a decade of getting gutted by venture capitalists, inflation was the nail in the brand's coffin in 2024.
Tweeter, a.k.a Tweeter Etc. a.k.a Tweeter Home Entertainment was a New England consumer electronics chain. Founded in Boston by Sandy and Michael Bloomberg in 1972, the chain grew and grew throughout New England. In the 1990s, Tweeter started a campaign of national expansion by buying out chains in other markets. They expanded to Chicago, Florida, and Atlanta through acquisitions of other electronic franchises. By the end of its time, Tweeter specialized in flat-screen televisions. In the spring of 2007, Tweeter had around 100 stores nationwide. Even before the Great Recession hit, half of those stores had closed. By the time the waves of the Recession receded, Tweeter went bankrupt.
Steven Shore and Barry Prevor were college students at the University of Pennsylvania in 1985. They recognized that university bookstores and gift stores sold goods with an absurd markup. They saw an opportunity, founding a chain targeting college students with bargain basement prices. Steve & Barry's was a retail clothing store that focused on casual clothes, accessorizing, and footwear. They expanded to college campuses and malls across America, eventually reaching 276 stores in 39 states. Steve & Barry’s seemed destined to conquer, earning such praise as “Hot Retailer of the Year” in 2005 and “Marketer of the Year” in 2007. Before the decade was out, the chain went belly up. Like so many others, Steve & Barry's was taken out by the Great Recession.
Some stores make the decision early on that they aren’t selling goods, but an experience. That was the logic behind the short-lived Club Libby Lu franchise. Named after the childhood imaginary friend of founder Mary Drolet, Club Libby Lu served girls from ages 4 to 12. It provided girls and young tweens with makeovers, dress-up parties, stuffed animals, and custom cosmetics. At its peak, Club Libby Lu was a subsidiary of Saks and had almost one hundred locations nationwide. By November 2008, the miserable state of the economy forced Saks to shutter Club Libby Lu’s doors.
Crazy Eddie Antar was a Brooklyn-based businessman who opened up an electronics retail chain with his brother, Sam. The store and their Crazy Eddie commercials were a New York City staple in the 1980s. The chain was wildly successful, with just one wrinkle: from the very beginning, Eddie and Sam were crooks. They committed an absolutely gobsmacking amount of fraud and their books were a complete sham. By 1983, it became difficult for Eddie to hide his criminality, so he took the company public. Eddie pumped and dumped a ton of stock, lost the business, and then went to prison. The chain closed in 1989, though in the late ‘90s and 2000s the Antars attempted an online comeback. It died for good in 2012.
Loehmann’s is a sad example of how even the American Dream doesn’t necessarily last forever. Frieda Loehmann was a young woman when her husband’s haberdashery failed. She took a job as a clothes buyer in New York. Frieda started to buy overstocked items from top designers and sold them at a bargain out of her home. Eventually, they opened the first Loehmann’s in 1921. The store was incredibly successful and went public after her death. Thirty-seven years later, by 1999, Loehmann’s had around one hundred locations in seventeen states. Over the next fifteen years, the chain underwent a series of bankruptcies and acquisitions. By 2014, all brick-and-mortar locations were closed and by 2018, its online store shut down.
After leaving Simon & Schuster in 1933, sales manager Lawrence Hoyt opened a small rental library in Connecticut with his partner Melvin T. Kafka. They named their business the Walden Book Company after Henry David Thoreau’s famous book. Their goal was to help an immiserated populace psychologically deal with The Great Depression. They had hundreds of locations by 1948. The post-WWII era killed the rental library business so the company successfully pivoted to book sales. Waldenbooks entered the great wheel of capitalism, acquiring smaller companies and getting bought and sold by larger ones. It was eventually spun off by Kmart and became a part of Borders. All Waldenbooks closed when Borders was killed by Amazon in 2011.
In this golden age of online retail, it can be hard to remember that the shopping mall was once the center of American commerce. In the 1980s and 1990s, malls were both shopping and cultural centers. There were retail brands that did not exist outside of a mall. If you were a teen at a mall in Texas during that time, there's a good chance you shopped at Gadzooks. The store initially focused on t-shirts before expanding into a full-blown “mini-department store” for teens. By 1995, Gadzooks went public and by 2000 there were over 300 stores in malls across America. To fight off competitors, Gadzooks dropped its menswear and catered exclusively to teen women. That pivot killed the brand completely five years later.
Margrit Schurman opened the first Papyrus store as a retail branch of her fine paper company. With barely $1,000 and a dream, Schurman created a business that would grow into an empire of over 450 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. Papyrus sold greeting cards and luxury stationery throughout the country, expanding with a 2009 purchase of American Greetings stores. Unfortunately, they misread the market and slowly but surely contracted to only 260 stores by 2020. In January, two months before the COVID lockdowns would send shockwaves throughout the economy, Papyrus stores were all shuttered and liquidated.
Mega billionaire Richard Branson started his mogul career at the age of 16 with a self-published magazine, “Student.” In 1970, he pivoted to a mail-order record business and opened his first Virgin Records in 1972. The brand boomed quickly, and Branson opened his first Megastore in London by 1979. Virgin Megastores’ expanded product selection included consumer electronics, books, and sometimes fashion. Branson ruled the British Market and Virgin Megastores opened around the world. Perhaps predicting a shift in retail, Branson sold or licensed the brand to a number of companies in the early 2000s. Today, Virgin Megastores only exist in the Middle East and North Africa. All other locations have closed down.
Thanks to the invention of VHS tapes and, to a lesser extent, Betamax, Hollywood discovered a profitable secondary market for movies. Tens of thousands of video rental stores and national chains popped up all over the U.S. and became a booming business. One of those retailers was the Suncoast Motion Picture Company. A spin-off of Suncoast Records, Suncoast Motion Picture Company sold VHS tapes, collectibles, records, cassette tapes, and CDs. The retailer fell victim to chains of acquisitions and sales, eventually getting liquidated. Today, only three Suncoast Motion Picture Company stores are left in the United States.
William Filene was an American businessman who founded an incredibly successful department store in Boston in 1881. Filene’s is so important to the city’s identity, the original store was designated a city landmark. Its sister store, Filene’s Basement, saw similar success. In 1929, Filene’s joined with other competitors to create the holding company Federated Department Stores. In the back half of the 20th century, Filene’s gained a foothold in New England and New York shopping malls. Federated was bought out by May Company and, by 2006, May decided to fold Filene’s into another May-owned brand: Macy’s. A few years later, Filene’s Basement met a similar fate.
Large companies love to find ways to leverage their brand power and enter new markets. In the 1990s, a number of media corporations tried to synergize their media brand with a retail store business to sell branded content. Both Disney and Warner Brothers made the attempt but failed thanks to large market forces. If those brands – each with a massive library of intellectual property – couldn’t make it happen, it’s no surprise that The Discovery Channel Store was an abysmal failure. The company tried to create a retail market to sell Discovery Channel merchandise. Unfortunately, the small retail chain of less than twenty locations lasted less than a dozen years before going under.
David Schlessinger was an entrepreneur frustrated by a lack of brick-and-mortar stores for educational toys. He started the retail chain Zany Brainy in 1991 to bridge that gap. Zany Brainy’s products specialized in developmental education through play. They sold puzzles, books, audiotapes and CDs, toy trains, and learning software. The individual stores also offered in-store workshops, concerts, and book signings. Though the retailer was eventually purchased by FAO Schwarz, it never really found a long-term market. Zany Brainy filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001. Less than two years later, all its locations shut down.
After 140 years in business, Modell’s Sporting Goods learned the hard way that not everyone has “got to go to Mo’s.” Morris A. Modell, a Jewish immigrant from Hungary, founded the sporting goods store in Manhattan in 1889. Over the next century, his descendants grew the business into a profitable chain, operating over 150 stores in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. By 2014, however, rival Dick’s Sporting Goods had sued the company. They accused CEO Mitchell Modell of wearing a disguise to learn Dick’s’ retail secrets. By mid-2020, every Modell’s store had closed, attempting to rebrand as an online-only business.
Movie Gallery was founded in 1985 in the middle of the ascension of home video. By the mid-1990s, the company launched an aggressive campaign of expansion. They added new franchisees, bought out the competition, and built new stores. In 2005, they merged with competitor Hollywood Video to become the second-largest video chain in North America. They had reached 4,700 stores in the U.S. and Canada with more than $2.5 billion in revenue. But it all went downhill from there. The rise of video-on-demand and streaming services destroyed Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video just as it had with Blockbuster. By 2010, even the contents of the corporate headquarters were auctioned off.
The ripple effects of major global catastrophes can spread into every aspect of life. The Great Depression, Great Recession, and the pandemic all caused global shifts in consumer habits. In an adapt-or-die world, even large and powerful retailers fall victim to global trends. Pier 1 had risen to national prominence in the furniture and home decoration space. By January 2020, the business was struggling and they announced the closure of almost half of their locations. The pandemic was the final nail in Pier 1’s bespoke coffin. After all the stores shut for good, Retail Ecommerce Ventures, REV, acquired the company. REV has a penchant for buying dying brands and pivoting to e-commerce. Unfortunately, in Spring 2023, REV announced that it, too, may go bankrupt.
Inspired by a meeting with the founder of Woolworths, businessman S.S. Kresge founded his first big box department store in 1899. The first Kmart-branded store opened in 1962 in Michigan. The next thirty years saw almost exponential growth. By 1990, it was the second largest retailer in America, behind only Sears. It unfortunately struggled throughout the 90s and early 2000s, collapsing and merging with Sears. Both brands suffered further decline over the next decade until Kmart underwent its second bankruptcy and sold off its stores. By 2019, virtually all Kmart locations were shuttered. As of April 2022, there were only nine Kmarts left in the world.
Lord & Taylor was the oldest retailer in America, having been founded in 1824 when John Quincy Adams was president. For almost two centuries, Lord & Taylor rose to become synonymous with luxury branded clothing. Six different parent companies saw Lord & Taylor through two world wars, The Great Depression, and The Great Recession. Unfortunately, the company could not survive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Retail locations were closed in March of 2020 and reopened by July. But the damage had already been done and Lord & Taylor filed for bankruptcy in August. In 2022, the brand relaunched under new management as an e-commerce luxury retailer.
This retailer went through a long, slow, painful demise. The company shifted from a small retail chain of local stores to a megastore chain in 1985. It reached over a billion dollars in sales in 1999 and there were over 1,100 locations by 2011. Declining profits led to a big shakeup in 2019. Investment firms purged the CEO from his perch and restructured the board of directors. They accused the company of nepotism and poor management. The pandemic proved to be a fatal blow for Bed Bath & Beyond, pulling the trigger on the starter gun for store closures. After limping along for several years, the company announced the full closure of all stores by July 2023.
The Limited was an Ohio-based clothing brand that became a mall staple in the 1980s and 1990s. At the height of its economic might, The Limited acquired popular brands like Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Abercrombie & Fitch. A sub-brand, The Limited Too, was spun off in 1987, catering to young and tween girls. Both store chains did well with hundreds of stores around the country. The Limited Too brand didn’t even make it a decade, merging with Justice in 1996 and going defunct in 2009. Its parent company didn’t fare much better; the bulk of the company was sold to a private equity firm in 2007. By 2017, all physical locations went out of business.
Like many retail outlets, Sports Authority was a casualty of the mid 21st century. Founded in 1928 by Nathan Gart, a series of mergers and acquisitions allowed Gart Sports to become “the” place for sporting goods in the United States. But by 2010, the tired retailer found it difficult to compete with the likes of Walmart and Amazon, and began falling behind in its financials. By 2016, the company chose to close down and liquify its assets. Its brand name and intellectual property ultimately ended up in the hands of its competitor: Dick's Sporting Goods.
If the 2010s taught businesses anything, it’s that the shape of retail shopping is changing. Founded as Lorne’s in 1962, this fashion retailer was incorporated as Wet Seal in 1990. They also sold their clothing and accessories under the Arden B and Blink brands. By 2015 they were faced with heavy competition, forcing them to close several locations. Store windows could be seen with protest signs from employees over communication from managers and compensation. Wet Seal closed all stores in January 2017 – another victim of the so-called “retail apocalypse.”
Long before the days of Spotify and Apple Music, people had to go into a store and purchase their music. Enter Tower Records. In their heyday, they were one of the largest retailers of music around the world. Based in the U.S., they spread to over a dozen countries worldwide. The movie “Empire Records” was even inspired by writer Carol Heikkinen’s time as an employee there. Yet with all that success, bad business decisions and the launch of the digital music era killed off this giant in 2006. The brand did resurface as a website in 2020 and continues to sell music and merchandise online.
When you hear the term “big-box store,” you may think of IKEA, Walmart, and even Costco. One such player in this space was the now defunct computer store CompUSA. A purveyor of technology products, they were very similar to competitors like, say, Best Buy. And therein lies part of the problem. Their corporate strategies were out of touch and they were destroyed by the competition. They were eventually sold to Systemax in 2008, and their last CompUSA stores were rebranded as TigerDirect, which also phased out of retail in 2015.
It was 1946 when brothers Harry and Joseph Kaufman opened their own candy store, aptly named Kaufman Brothers. That quickly turned into a wholesale toy company in 1948, and a shopping mall staple in 1973. In the 1990s, a series of additional acquisitions brought the company hundreds of new store locations, totalling 1,324 by 1999. But a combination of both a poorly timed dividend deal in 2002, and a drop in sales the following year, sealed the company’s fate. Neither a bankruptcy filing, or a restructuring of the company was enough to keep it afloat. They were eventually sold to their biggest competitor, Toys “R” Us in 2009.
In 1991, Warner Brothers entered the retail space, selling the likes of Looney Tunes and DC Comic Books merchandise. Eventually opening 130 stores across the country, the chain thrived for a short time. However, the AOL-TimeWarner merger was completed in 2001 and the newly formed company had new plans. With sales in decline, and retail shops floundering in general, the newly formed conglomerate saw the writing on the wall. It took them less than a year to put the nail in the coffin on this chain when their last store closed on New Years Eve, 2001.
Much like many of the other stores on this list, Payless started with humble beginnings, only to fall victim to our ever changing times. Formed in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez, Payless became known for its own unique line of shoes called Pro Wings, as well as a plethora of other footwear related products. Their expansion went far beyond the U.S., bringing their shoes as far away as Australia and Indonesia. But in the midst of the retail shift in the 2010s, Payless filed for bankruptcy twice, eventually shutting down all operations in North America. They do continue to operate stores in other parts of the world, and online.
Department stores have always been common in big cities. But when Ames opened up in 1958, they went after the retail market in much smaller populated areas. This led to a boom in business and expansion, which reached up to 327 stores. It did not, however, come without a cost. Poor decisions around consumer credit resulted in a bankruptcy filing in 1990. The company survived, and by 1993 was turning a profit again. But the success didn’t last. By the turn of the century, Ames had begun closing many of its stores, and filed a second bankruptcy in late 2001 which saw the end of this store. Or did it? Rumors of a re-opening have surfaced. Time will tell.
No matter how large a corporation gets, you have to remember that they all started out small. Such was the case for Andrew T. Mack and his wife, who formed Teavana in 1997 with a little teahouse in a mall. The brand became so successful that it only took 15 years for Starbucks to take notice and acquire them to the tune of $620 million dollars. The name persisted for five more years before Starbucks pulled the plug on all 379 Teavana shops. Their entry into the tea market has since dropped considerably, as Starbucks now only sells a very limited number of Teavana products.
Similar to SkyMall and Hammacher Schlemmer, Sharper Image was a catalog business that thrived on high tech gadgets and niche products. Distinguishing itself from other catalog companies, they expanded into retail, opening 187 stores throughout malls and airports across the United States. Oddly enough, it was an air purifier product that ultimately helped kill the company. After Consumer Reports gave fail ratings to their Ionic Breeze products, Sharper Image sued. However, they were themselves sued by customers for misrepresentation of their product. As the blame went back and forth, upper management changed and consumer interest tapered off. The company went bankrupt in 2008.
Founded in 1949 under the name Wards Company, Circuit City was one of the most popular consumer electronics stores in the United States. During their peak, the chain boasted more than 550 stores across the country, offering plenty of electronic goods and services. They even had a chance to buy out the fledgling Best Buy operation in 1988, but declined when Circuit City’s CEO thought they could just put them out of business. Well, that didn’t work out in the long run. When 2007 rolled around, wages were being cut, locations were being closed, and management turnover was at a high. By 2009, the company pulled the plug, and the days of Circuit City were over.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company existed from 1859 to 2015. Known to most customers simply as A&P, there was a time when they were a huge player in the grocery business. From a few retail shops selling tea and coffee in New York, the company blossomed after being acquired by George Huntington Hartford. From there, over much time, it became a full-on grocery store, which would eventually have roughly 16,000 locations. However, by the 1970s, the stores had become conceptually stale and plagued by bad customer service. The chain did manage to have a bit of a comeback in the early aughts but was short lived, and it finally went under in 2015.
Did you know that Woolworth’s may have been the original inspiration for the dollar store? Founded by Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879, it opened as “Woolworth’s Great Five Cent Store”, which sold everything for a nickel or two. Although that operation didn’t last, the subsequent store became successful. Frank brought in his brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth, and the two began a journey that would see their ideas about retail continue to be used today. Woolworth’s was highly successful until the 1980s, when stiff competition forced them to shift their priorities to their sporting goods division. In 2001, they became known as Foot Locker and are still selling sporting goods today. A few dozen Woolworth stores do still continue to exist in Mexico, under different ownership.
Much like many other music retailers, Sam Goody became the victim of the digital revolution in music. Founded in 1951 as a small music shop in New York City, it eventually merged with Musicland which helped expand the brand. At its peak, the Sam Goody-branded stores expanded to 800 locations and brought in several billion dollars worth of revenue. It had become almost synonymous with music retail, which held it above water for a long time. But after struggling through a handful of acquisitions, and changes to its business model, the stores began to close. By 2012, most of the stores were gone, or simply rebranded as FYE.
Ever since Gutenberg revolutionized printing so long ago, books have been in demand. This human desire to learn or enjoy stories is what eventually spawned the likes of giant bookstore chains like Borders. Operating for nearly 40 years, this bookstore saw its peak with over 500 U.S.-based stores, and even more via other brands and franchising. By the time 2007 rolled along, however, the company had begun to struggle to remain in business. Several attempts were made to keep it going, but by September of 2011, the chain had come to an end, with its stores closing and rival chain Barnes and Noble buying its trademark.
The sale of the Fry’s Supermarkets chain eventually spawned a completely new type of electronics store back in 1985. The intent was to make shopping for electronics a similar experience to going for groceries. Whether it was circuit boards, software, or any other kind of electronic device, Fry’s was the place to get it. It was actually one of the few places you could buy raw computer parts off the shelf to assemble your PC on your own. The stores ballooned in popularity, and even the aforementioned Circuit City didn’t offer the same kinds of fare. But after decades of sometimes controversial business practices, and squeezed by the COVID pandemic in 2020 and longstanding market pressures, all their stores ceased operations in February 2021.
If there is one common thread connecting many of these now-defunct businesses, it’s that for many of them, a combination of acquisitions and management changes seemed to be their undoing. Formed in 1975, this home textile and housewares big box retailer grew considerably by the time it opened its 55th store in 1983. It was acquired and then eventually spun off as its own entity again in 1996, but then re-acquired by Apollo Global Management in 2006. The company then truly began to find itself in financial difficulty. A series of losses combined with the decline of sales, eventually forced the company to pull the plug on their stores by 2008, going online exclusively.
The humble beginnings for Radio Shack began back in 1921. The company focused its sales strategy on radio and electronics hobbyists. For decades, this gave them a lucrative market to fill, and interest in electronics eventually grew even further with the new computer and videogame age. It was also Radio Shack that produced the famous TRS-80, one of the first widely available home computers. But much like many other retailers, their popularity declined with the rise of online shopping, and fewer hobbyists to buy their wares. By 2017, the company had gone bankrupt and was no longer the giant retailer it once was, with a smattering of stores remaining under different ownership, and eventually the brand being scooped up to attempt viability online.
Who doesn’t remember wanting to be a “Toys R Us Kid”? From toys to video games to books to bikes, this was a chain that had almost everything a child could possibly want. But like many retailers over the last few decades, they struggled to keep up with the times, and competition with the likes of mass-market stores and online shopping. In 2017, the chain filed for bankruptcy and began liquidating their assets. By the middle of 2018, they had closed most of their U.S. stores, with the last two closing in 2021. However, you can still find Toys "R" Us stores across Canada and Asia.
One of the biggest industries to emerge from the creation of the VCR was the home movie rental business. At the inception of the movie business decades earlier, no one had ever expected people to want to watch their movies at home, instead of at theaters. With more than 30,000 stores open globally at its commercial peak, if you wanted to rent a new release, odds are you went to a Blockbuster Video. Video rentals became ingrained in our culture, and Blockbuster profited mightily. But as streaming services and mail-in DVD options became available over the years, the days of “be kind, please rewind” were over, and Blockbuster famously ceased to be.
Which of these stores do you miss the most? Let us know in the comments below!
Bradlees
Black Friday Commercial 1996: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNMuzCN2Jrs
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for once-popular stores that no longer exist in the U.S., ranked by scale, history, and brand recognition.
#75: Media Play
With book, movie, music, and video games sections, Media Play was a well-rounded entertainment chain—with a selection that once seemed super wide. Founded by Musicland, Media Play stores first started popping up in 1992. Expansion throughout the ‘90s brought the peak total location count to 72 in 19 different states. But competition only stiffened as the end of the millennium approached, namely from Amazon. Being able to keep up with inventory proved too steep a hill to climb. Places like Best Buy and Walmart didn’t help either. Increased advertising and promos weren’t enough to save Media Play—and by the mid-2000s, it was toast.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_Play#74: Deb Shops
Founded in 1932 as JOY Hosiery, this company went on to experience many years of success, with notable changes along the way. In the 1970s, following a previous decade of expansion and an increased selection available in their stores, the name was changed to Deb Shops. There, you could buy women’s and girl’s clothing and accessories. A lot of people did just that. At its highest point, there were 337 stores in 47 states—many of which could be found at shopping malls. But after the parent company filed for bankruptcy in 2011—and then again in 2014—all Deb Shops were shut down.
#73: Lerner Shops
1918 was not only the birth year of renowned lyricist Alan Jay Lerner; it was also the year Lerner Shops was born—founded by Harold Lane and three Lerner brothers, including Alan’s father. The first store opened in New York City, and by 1920, there were over 20 locations. The business only grew from there, reaching nearly 200 stores nationwide by 1950. In the 1960s, Lerner was the largest chain of women’s and children’s apparel shops in the United States. In the ’80s, business kept booming, with over 700 stores across the country. But after ownership changes and rebranding in the ’90s and 2000s, the stores faded away. It became New York & Company—now an online-only retailer, no longer carrying the Lerner name.
#72: Gottschalks
Once the largest independently owned, publicly traded department store chain in the U.S., Gottschalks got its start in California in 1904. The company limited competition and cut real estate costs by setting up shop in smaller cities across six western states. That strategy fueled its sustained success for decades. In 1986, Gottschalks went public on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GOT, marking a new chapter in its history. The 2000s were when things really got tough. As sales declined and locations closed, the writing was on the wall. Gottschalks was delisted from the NYSE in 2008. Once the company filed for bankruptcy the following year, that was all she wrote.
#71: Child World/Children's Palace
A toy store that looks like a castle—what’s not to love? After Child World bought Children's Palace from Kobacker Stores in 1975, the castle design became a major part of the company’s identity. Technically, Child World was selling toys well before then. It was founded in 1962. After Cole National Corporation’s purchase of the chain in 1981, things started to go downhill. Cash shortages, empty shelves, a lawsuit, and fierce competition from Toys "R" Us were all signs of a downfall. And by 1992, the chain that once had over 180 locations was down to 0.
#70: Casual Corner
This women’s clothing store may have opened on April Fools’ Day in 1950, but it certainly turned out to be no joke. In the decades that followed, Casual Corner stores began popping up well beyond its original Connecticut home. The shop initially focused on women’s sportswear, but as the company expanded, the merchandise shifted too. Still, the focus always stayed on women’s apparel in one way or another. By 2000, there were over 500 Casual Corner stores in operation. But just five years later—55 years after its start—the company closed its doors after being sold to a liquidator.
#69: Hechinger
In 1919, Sidney L. Hechinger opened a hardware store in Southwest Washington, D.C. During the 1920s, he focused exclusively on retail customers, rather than selling to contractors and builders. He was doing this before it was even known as the home improvement industry. After being passed down through generations, Hechinger was a 69-store chain in 1987. And before the turn of the century, that number was well over 100, with the company operating in 21 states. But Home Depot and Lowe's proved to be insurmountable challengers. By the end of 1999, if you needed to buy a tool or lumber, for example, Hechinger was no longer a place you could go.
#68: Camelot Music
Operating under both the Camelot Music and The Wall names, these mall-based stores carried vinyl records, cassette tapes, CDs, and more. By the late ’90s, you could find them in 37 states. Camelot Music stores mainly operated in the Midwest and Southeast, while The Wall was more common in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. In 1998, there were 305 Camelot Music locations and 150 The Wall stores. Since both were run by the same company—Camelot Music—and it had the wider reach, that’s the name that earns the spot on our list. Later that year, Trans World Entertainment bought it out, and that was that.
#67: Merry-Go-Round
Knowing how to take advantage of fashion fads can result in meaningful financial gain for a clothing company. And that was the case for Merry-Go-Round, a company founded in Maryland that existed from 1968 to 1996. What started off as a boutique selling blue jeans became a major apparel chain with a whole lot more clothing options to offer. Some might remember their catchy ‘80s commercial remixing the hit rock anthem “Cum On Feel the Noize.” During the ‘90s, Merry-Go-Round had over 500 locations, mainly in malls. But after declaring bankruptcy in 1994, it was unable to turn things around.
#66: Caldor
In 1951, Carl and Dorothy Bennett had a business idea: open a discount department store that was different from what people were used to. They would call it Caldor—a blend of their names. They focused on offering high-quality items for much less than the manufacturers’ suggested list prices. They also emphasized well-informed salespeople and a customer-friendly refund policy. Clearly, the model worked. Caldor became a hit, growing to 100 stores by the time of Carl Bennett’s retirement announcement in 1984. In the decade that followed, Caldor became the fifth-largest discount chain in the U.S. But what some called “the Bloomingdale's of discounting” didn’t make it to the year 2000.
#65: Thom McAn
While this shoe brand remained purchasable at multiple retailers in the 2000s, Thom McAn also had its own stores for decades beforehand. The brand’s history dates back to 1922, making it one of the most historic, successful shoe retailers in U.S. history. Before 1940 came, there were already 650-plus Thom McAn stores. From the end of the ‘60s into the ‘80s, parent company Melville was the largest footwear retailer in the U.S. But the ‘80s was also when it started to phase out its Thom McAn outlets. That continued into the ‘90s, and by 1996, they were all gone.
#64: Bradlees
With over 100 stores in seven Northeastern states during the ‘90s, Bradlees was once a thriving discount department store with a wide selection. Furniture, clothing, jewelry, electronics, bedding, a Costco-like snack stand, you name it—it had it all. For most of its history, Bradlees was owned by supermarket chain Stop & Shop. So you’d often see both in the same shopping plazas. Some of them even operated under the same roof prior to 1982. Talk about convenient! Unfortunately, Bradlees couldn’t recover from two down years in the ‘90s. Some locations survived a little longer, but in 2001, it was all over.
#63: Zayre
While its legacy has been carried on through the TJX Companies, Zayre is a thing of the past. The former discount store chain was around from 1956 to 1990. Ames Department Stores actually bought it in 1988, but kept the Zayre name alive in some locations—not for long though. Zayre once had a strong presence across the Eastern United States. Back in 1966, there were 92 stores. By the time of its sale in 1988, that number had ballooned to 392. Had Zayre’s attempt to purchase Marshall’s in the ‘70s been successful, maybe things would've played out differently.
#62: Levitz Furniture
Dating all the way back to 1910, Levitz Furniture came oh-so close to reaching the century mark of being in business. Its expansion didn’t actually come until the 1960s, when founder Richard Levitz’s sons were at the helm. The company spread across the U.S., eventually becoming the nation’s top independent furniture retailer. As recently as the ‘90s, the company held 67 warehouse-showrooms and 51 satellite stores in 25 states. That decade is when the downfall began. Poor management, changing consumer habits, and the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis proved too much to overcome. By 2008, Levitz Furniture was no more.
#61: Service Merchandise
Getting its start as a five-and-dime store in 1934, Service Merchandise experienced a major shift in 1960. That’s when it became a catalog showroom retailer. During the ‘70s and ‘80s, it was one of the leaders in that category, as it expanded across the nation. At Service Merchandise, you could find jewelry, toys, sporting goods, and electronics. But rising competition from growing chains in the ‘80s and ‘90s ended up being too much. A refocus on jewelry, gifts, and home decor products didn’t turn the tide; nor did the company’s experimentation of drive-thru windows. In 1999, Service Merchandise filed for bankruptcy—and in 2002, it was officially out of service.
#60: W. T. Grant
The days of 25-cent stores are way behind us. That’s the kind of store W.T. Grant was all the way back in 1906. It then grew into a massive mass-merchandise chain with many of its stores setting up shop in downtowns around the country. Fast forward to the 1970s, and the number of Grants locations grew to nearly 1,200. But the company’s faulty store credit policy and inability to secure desirable locations over competitors ended up being major issues. In 1976, W.T. Grant declared bankruptcy—and that was that. The 70-year run was over.
#59: Hecht's
Born in Germany in 1830, Sam Hecht Jr. moved with his family to the United States in 1847. In 1857, he opened a used furniture store in Baltimore. It was a family business with humble beginnings that later grew into a department store chain in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States. Its Washington, D.C. store was the first in the area to offer national brands. The Hecht’s business stayed in the family after Sam’s passing in 1907, with his sons and then grandsons carrying on the legacy. Expansion took place in the 1950s through 1970s, and the chain stuck around until 2006, when it was absorbed by Macy's.
#58: Eckerd
Once the second-largest pharmacy chain in the United States, Eckerd used to be the go-to drugstore for countless people. It used to have over 2,800 stores across 23 states. Its history dates back to 1898, when the company was founded in Erie, Pennsylvania. After founders Joseph Milton Eckerd and Z. Tatom moved to Wilmington, Delaware in the 1910s, they started to expand their business to other states—and things took off. Fast forward all the way to the 1970s and ‘80s, and that’s when Eckerd was thriving most in terms of its national presence. In 1996, JC Penny took over. CVS and Jean Coutu Group then bought Eckerd in 2004—and three years later, all remaining Eckerd stores became Rite Aid.
#57: Marshall Field's
Nearly 100 years before Macy’s acquired Marshall Field’s in 2005, Marshall Field’s flagship store in Chicago was the largest department store in the world. Nowadays, it’s listed as a National Historic Landmark. But Marshall Field’s also made its presence felt elsewhere. Over the years, it expanded across the Midwest and even into the Pacific Northwest. All its stores may have been shut down by 2006, but Marshall Field’s history of firsts can never be taken away. Whether it was creating the first bridal registry, introducing the concept of the personal shopper, or becoming the first department store in the U.S. to use escalators, Marshall Field’s was a true pioneer.
#56: A.C. Moore
This arts and crafts retail chain was founded in New Jersey in 1985. In the years that followed, A.C. Moore expanded to eight other Northeastern states as well, becoming a favorite for many arts and crafts connoisseurs in the region. Along with having a wide selection, its discounts and comparatively low prices were a major pull for many. In late 2019, Michaels bought A.C. Moore’s leases and distribution center, strengthening its already-firm hold on the arts and crafts industry. At the time of the chain’s closure announcement, it had 145 locations.
#55: H. H. Gregg
While it still survives as an online retailer, H.H. Gregg used to exist in physical form, as an electronics and home appliances destination in 21 different states. Founded by Henry Harold and Fansy Gregg in 1955, H.H. Gregg got its start as a small local Indiana store. It wasn’t until the late 2000s and early 2010s when the company experienced significant expansion, becoming a proper multi-regional chain. But soon after, things fell apart. In March 2017, H.H. Gregg declared bankruptcy. The following month, the company announced the closures of all remaining 220 stores.
#54: The Bon-Ton
Before its store closures began, The Bon-Ton had 260 stores in 24 states. The department store chain was most prevalent in the Northeast. The history of the company goes back to 1898, when a father and son opened up a millinery and dry goods store in York, Pennsylvania. After adding a few locations elsewhere in the state and in New Jersey in the early 1900s, the company roared through the Roaring Twenties and onward. Fast forward to the 21st century, and The Bon-Ton stores were popping up in the Midwest. Today, it still exists as an e-commerce retailer, but the physical stores are no more.
#53: Montgomery Ward
Over 50 years after starting off as a catalog mail-order business, Montgomery Ward opened its first retail outlet store in Indiana. That happened in 1926. Just three years later, the company had expanded to 531 stores. How quickly things can change! “Monkey Wards,” as some people called it, continued to thrive as a department store chain for decades, despite a few bumps along the way. But, as the 20th century came to an end, it was time for the curtain call. A company restructuring, which included rebranding to the name “Wards,” was not enough. And on December 28, 2000, we got word that the remaining 250 retail outlets would close.
#52: JOANN
This place was arts and crafts galore. Particularly when it came to everything fabrics, sewing, and knitting, JOANN was the place to go in the U.S. At the time of its second bankruptcy declaration in less than a year, coming in January 2025, JOANN was operating about 800 stores in all but one state. It was clear it was hanging on by a thread. And by the end of May 2025, all remaining locations were shut down. Michaels acquired the company’s intellectual property and private labels—and while it added JOANN products to its inventory, many fabric fanatics and designers miss how things used to be.
#51: Forever 21
Nothing lasts forever—not even Forever 21. The fashion retailer mainly targeted teenage girls and young women. At its peak, Forever 21 had 800 stores globally. But in 2018 it began downsizing due to things like tough competition, the growth of e-commerce, expensive retail locations, and labor practice controversies. Still, after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2019, it stuck around to a degree, despite shutting down locations across Europe and Asia. It remained a popular fashion store in many U.S. malls. But after filing for bankruptcy again in 2025, it was announced that the remaining 354 U.S. stores would be closed for good. While Forever 21 survives in a few other countries, its days in the nation it was founded are numbered.
#50: Rexall
These stores began with a revolutionary concept for 1903: independent pharmacists could use their collective market strength to purchase supplies and resell them under a single store name. The modernization of the 20th century made it easier to deliver health and wellness products to more North Americans than ever before. A half-century later, Rexall was a household name with thousands of locations. The model was great, but ultimately proved to be no match for huge chain pharmacy companies. Rexall stores either closed up shop or rebranded almost overnight. Today, Rexall is a moderately sized Canadian pharmacy chain.
#49: Esprit
Susie and Doug Tompkins were just two young San Francisco hippies, hawking simple, stylish clothes out of the back of their VW van. Their environmentally conscious brand struck a chord in 1968. Twenty years later, Esprit had become a global fashion powerhouse, known for its flashy ads and its social responsibility. Esprit grew into a worldwide brand thanks to the explosion of mall culture. Just as video killed the radio star, the 90s and 2000s killed the mall. Sales fell through the floor, and stores went dark. Today, Esprit is a small chain, operating thanks to international markets and online sales.
#48: TG&Y
Tomlinson, Gosselin, and Young were three Oklahoma boys with bright dreams when they founded TG&Y in 1935. The brand sold itself to small-town America by marketing their budget-friendly merchandise. It spent years as a rural American staple, soon growing through bigger towns and suburbs. There were once more than 900 TG&Ys across the United States. That all came to an end in the 1980s. Big box retailers Walmart and Kmart were knocking at the company's door, ready to eat their lunch. Their 1986 acquisition didn't help matters. TG&Y ultimately shuttered its stores one by one, until the brand faded into retail history.
#47: Gimbels
Adam Gimbel was a mild-mannered resident of Vincennes, Indiana, who decided to open a modest dry goods store in 1842. The store grew, converting into a Milwaukee department store in 1887. They opened a Philadelphia location seven years later. The store became a Philly staple, founding the Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade. Gimbels only grew from there, and by 1930 it was the biggest department store chain on earth. It was even the setting for the movie "Miracle on 34th Street.” In 1973, a mega-corporation gobbled Gimbels up and closed all of its stores by 1986. Their iconic locations became prime real estate for other department stores.
#46: Kinney Shoes
The small upstate town of Waverly, New York was the site of the first Kinney Shoes back in 1894. Named after its founders, Kinney Shoes was a go-to spot for relatively inexpensive, quality shoes. The concept was a hit, expanding across America to become a well-known supplier of footwear. Known for its wide selection and competitive prices, Kinney Shoes thrived throughout the 20th century. Its sub-brand, Foot Locker, was born in 1974. Though popular, the company that acquired Kinney decided to shutter all the stores by 1998, moving forward with the Foot Locker as a new, spinoff company.
#45: Mervyn's
Mervin G. Morris was the entrepreneur who, in 1949, founded Mervyn's in San Lorenzo, California. He hopped on the post-War department store gravy train, offering affordable, quality merchandise. By targeting middle-class families, Mervyn's expanded like wildfire across the American West. Unfortunately, big-box retailers proved to be Mervyn's big bad wolf. Coupled with ownership changes and strategic missteps, the brand started to falter. Their lack of diversity meant it was ultimately impossible to compete with their competitors. In 2008, Mervyn's filed for bankruptcy and closed all its stores, marking the end of a once-prominent retail chain.
#44: deLiA*s
The year 1990 represented the apex of mall culture in America. A few years later, Stephen Kahn and Christopher Edgar saw a way around the mall: direct-to-consumer marketing. Delia's marketed to teenage girls with its quirky mail order catalogs. The catalogs themselves grew into a cultural touchstone for a subset of American teens. Their eyes on the future, Delia's was also an early adopter of e-commerce, acquiring Gurl.com in 1997. In this case, they were too early, and got swallowed up in the dot com burst of 2000. They limped on until 2014 as an acquired brand, at which time the company filed for bankruptcy. Four years later, online fashion store Dolls Kill licensed Delia's as a new sub-brand.
#43: The Disney Store
In 1987, Disney realized it was late to the mall culture game. Aimed at capitalizing on the beloved Disney brand, the Disney Store became a destination for exclusive products. The concept thrived, leading to rapid expansion across the U.S. and internationally, with over 700 stores worldwide. The rising popularity of Disney animated films provided a constant churn of new properties to exploit. Unfortunately, like many mall-based stores, online shopping killed their brick and mortar business. Despite efforts to innovate and revamp the in-store experience, Disney announced the closure of most physical locations in 2021. Disney now sells its branded products online and through bigger retailers like Target.
#42: Dressbarn
Roslyn Jaffe was a trailblazer for women in business. In just a few years, she went from living in a one-bedroom Manhattan apartment with three roommates to owning a company. Jaffe went to Stamford, Connecticut in 1962 to start Dressbarn, a women's discount fashion retailer. Dressbarn expanded rapidly, nearly reaching 800 stores nationwide. It focused on customer service and understanding the needs of middle-class women. With the rise of e-commerce and changing consumer preferences, the business struggled to adapt to the shifting landscape. Online retailers and fast fashion brands eventually eroded its market share. Despite efforts to modernize, Dressbarn's parent company announced its closure in 2019. A year later it found new life as an online-only retailer.
#41: 99 Cents Only Stores
This ultra low-cost retailer was founded in 1982 by Dave Gold in Los Angeles, California. Gold believed in a somewhat unique vision of a store: he would offer high-quality items at a low, fixed price. The concept was a hit, and 99 Cents Only Stores spread rapidly. However, competition was the store's Achilles’ heel. Other discount outlets cannibalized the market. Due to rising costs, the store also had to raise prices, undercutting its core brand. The year Dave Gold died, 2013, the chain was sold to a private equity firm. After a decade of getting gutted by venture capitalists, inflation was the nail in the brand's coffin in 2024.
#40: Tweeter
Tweeter, a.k.a Tweeter Etc. a.k.a Tweeter Home Entertainment was a New England consumer electronics chain. Founded in Boston by Sandy and Michael Bloomberg in 1972, the chain grew and grew throughout New England. In the 1990s, Tweeter started a campaign of national expansion by buying out chains in other markets. They expanded to Chicago, Florida, and Atlanta through acquisitions of other electronic franchises. By the end of its time, Tweeter specialized in flat-screen televisions. In the spring of 2007, Tweeter had around 100 stores nationwide. Even before the Great Recession hit, half of those stores had closed. By the time the waves of the Recession receded, Tweeter went bankrupt.
#39: Steve & Barry's
Steven Shore and Barry Prevor were college students at the University of Pennsylvania in 1985. They recognized that university bookstores and gift stores sold goods with an absurd markup. They saw an opportunity, founding a chain targeting college students with bargain basement prices. Steve & Barry's was a retail clothing store that focused on casual clothes, accessorizing, and footwear. They expanded to college campuses and malls across America, eventually reaching 276 stores in 39 states. Steve & Barry’s seemed destined to conquer, earning such praise as “Hot Retailer of the Year” in 2005 and “Marketer of the Year” in 2007. Before the decade was out, the chain went belly up. Like so many others, Steve & Barry's was taken out by the Great Recession.
#38: Club Libby Lu
Some stores make the decision early on that they aren’t selling goods, but an experience. That was the logic behind the short-lived Club Libby Lu franchise. Named after the childhood imaginary friend of founder Mary Drolet, Club Libby Lu served girls from ages 4 to 12. It provided girls and young tweens with makeovers, dress-up parties, stuffed animals, and custom cosmetics. At its peak, Club Libby Lu was a subsidiary of Saks and had almost one hundred locations nationwide. By November 2008, the miserable state of the economy forced Saks to shutter Club Libby Lu’s doors.
#37: Crazy Eddie
Crazy Eddie Antar was a Brooklyn-based businessman who opened up an electronics retail chain with his brother, Sam. The store and their Crazy Eddie commercials were a New York City staple in the 1980s. The chain was wildly successful, with just one wrinkle: from the very beginning, Eddie and Sam were crooks. They committed an absolutely gobsmacking amount of fraud and their books were a complete sham. By 1983, it became difficult for Eddie to hide his criminality, so he took the company public. Eddie pumped and dumped a ton of stock, lost the business, and then went to prison. The chain closed in 1989, though in the late ‘90s and 2000s the Antars attempted an online comeback. It died for good in 2012.
#36: Loehmann's
Loehmann’s is a sad example of how even the American Dream doesn’t necessarily last forever. Frieda Loehmann was a young woman when her husband’s haberdashery failed. She took a job as a clothes buyer in New York. Frieda started to buy overstocked items from top designers and sold them at a bargain out of her home. Eventually, they opened the first Loehmann’s in 1921. The store was incredibly successful and went public after her death. Thirty-seven years later, by 1999, Loehmann’s had around one hundred locations in seventeen states. Over the next fifteen years, the chain underwent a series of bankruptcies and acquisitions. By 2014, all brick-and-mortar locations were closed and by 2018, its online store shut down.
#35: Waldenbooks
After leaving Simon & Schuster in 1933, sales manager Lawrence Hoyt opened a small rental library in Connecticut with his partner Melvin T. Kafka. They named their business the Walden Book Company after Henry David Thoreau’s famous book. Their goal was to help an immiserated populace psychologically deal with The Great Depression. They had hundreds of locations by 1948. The post-WWII era killed the rental library business so the company successfully pivoted to book sales. Waldenbooks entered the great wheel of capitalism, acquiring smaller companies and getting bought and sold by larger ones. It was eventually spun off by Kmart and became a part of Borders. All Waldenbooks closed when Borders was killed by Amazon in 2011.
#34: Gadzooks
In this golden age of online retail, it can be hard to remember that the shopping mall was once the center of American commerce. In the 1980s and 1990s, malls were both shopping and cultural centers. There were retail brands that did not exist outside of a mall. If you were a teen at a mall in Texas during that time, there's a good chance you shopped at Gadzooks. The store initially focused on t-shirts before expanding into a full-blown “mini-department store” for teens. By 1995, Gadzooks went public and by 2000 there were over 300 stores in malls across America. To fight off competitors, Gadzooks dropped its menswear and catered exclusively to teen women. That pivot killed the brand completely five years later.
#33: Papyrus
Margrit Schurman opened the first Papyrus store as a retail branch of her fine paper company. With barely $1,000 and a dream, Schurman created a business that would grow into an empire of over 450 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. Papyrus sold greeting cards and luxury stationery throughout the country, expanding with a 2009 purchase of American Greetings stores. Unfortunately, they misread the market and slowly but surely contracted to only 260 stores by 2020. In January, two months before the COVID lockdowns would send shockwaves throughout the economy, Papyrus stores were all shuttered and liquidated.
#32: Virgin Megastore
Mega billionaire Richard Branson started his mogul career at the age of 16 with a self-published magazine, “Student.” In 1970, he pivoted to a mail-order record business and opened his first Virgin Records in 1972. The brand boomed quickly, and Branson opened his first Megastore in London by 1979. Virgin Megastores’ expanded product selection included consumer electronics, books, and sometimes fashion. Branson ruled the British Market and Virgin Megastores opened around the world. Perhaps predicting a shift in retail, Branson sold or licensed the brand to a number of companies in the early 2000s. Today, Virgin Megastores only exist in the Middle East and North Africa. All other locations have closed down.
#31: Suncoast Motion Picture Company
Thanks to the invention of VHS tapes and, to a lesser extent, Betamax, Hollywood discovered a profitable secondary market for movies. Tens of thousands of video rental stores and national chains popped up all over the U.S. and became a booming business. One of those retailers was the Suncoast Motion Picture Company. A spin-off of Suncoast Records, Suncoast Motion Picture Company sold VHS tapes, collectibles, records, cassette tapes, and CDs. The retailer fell victim to chains of acquisitions and sales, eventually getting liquidated. Today, only three Suncoast Motion Picture Company stores are left in the United States.
#30: Filene's
William Filene was an American businessman who founded an incredibly successful department store in Boston in 1881. Filene’s is so important to the city’s identity, the original store was designated a city landmark. Its sister store, Filene’s Basement, saw similar success. In 1929, Filene’s joined with other competitors to create the holding company Federated Department Stores. In the back half of the 20th century, Filene’s gained a foothold in New England and New York shopping malls. Federated was bought out by May Company and, by 2006, May decided to fold Filene’s into another May-owned brand: Macy’s. A few years later, Filene’s Basement met a similar fate.
#29: Discovery Channel Store
Large companies love to find ways to leverage their brand power and enter new markets. In the 1990s, a number of media corporations tried to synergize their media brand with a retail store business to sell branded content. Both Disney and Warner Brothers made the attempt but failed thanks to large market forces. If those brands – each with a massive library of intellectual property – couldn’t make it happen, it’s no surprise that The Discovery Channel Store was an abysmal failure. The company tried to create a retail market to sell Discovery Channel merchandise. Unfortunately, the small retail chain of less than twenty locations lasted less than a dozen years before going under.
#28: Zany Brainy
David Schlessinger was an entrepreneur frustrated by a lack of brick-and-mortar stores for educational toys. He started the retail chain Zany Brainy in 1991 to bridge that gap. Zany Brainy’s products specialized in developmental education through play. They sold puzzles, books, audiotapes and CDs, toy trains, and learning software. The individual stores also offered in-store workshops, concerts, and book signings. Though the retailer was eventually purchased by FAO Schwarz, it never really found a long-term market. Zany Brainy filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001. Less than two years later, all its locations shut down.
#27: Modell's
After 140 years in business, Modell’s Sporting Goods learned the hard way that not everyone has “got to go to Mo’s.” Morris A. Modell, a Jewish immigrant from Hungary, founded the sporting goods store in Manhattan in 1889. Over the next century, his descendants grew the business into a profitable chain, operating over 150 stores in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. By 2014, however, rival Dick’s Sporting Goods had sued the company. They accused CEO Mitchell Modell of wearing a disguise to learn Dick’s’ retail secrets. By mid-2020, every Modell’s store had closed, attempting to rebrand as an online-only business.
#26: Movie Gallery
Movie Gallery was founded in 1985 in the middle of the ascension of home video. By the mid-1990s, the company launched an aggressive campaign of expansion. They added new franchisees, bought out the competition, and built new stores. In 2005, they merged with competitor Hollywood Video to become the second-largest video chain in North America. They had reached 4,700 stores in the U.S. and Canada with more than $2.5 billion in revenue. But it all went downhill from there. The rise of video-on-demand and streaming services destroyed Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video just as it had with Blockbuster. By 2010, even the contents of the corporate headquarters were auctioned off.
#25: Pier 1
The ripple effects of major global catastrophes can spread into every aspect of life. The Great Depression, Great Recession, and the pandemic all caused global shifts in consumer habits. In an adapt-or-die world, even large and powerful retailers fall victim to global trends. Pier 1 had risen to national prominence in the furniture and home decoration space. By January 2020, the business was struggling and they announced the closure of almost half of their locations. The pandemic was the final nail in Pier 1’s bespoke coffin. After all the stores shut for good, Retail Ecommerce Ventures, REV, acquired the company. REV has a penchant for buying dying brands and pivoting to e-commerce. Unfortunately, in Spring 2023, REV announced that it, too, may go bankrupt.
#24: Kmart
Inspired by a meeting with the founder of Woolworths, businessman S.S. Kresge founded his first big box department store in 1899. The first Kmart-branded store opened in 1962 in Michigan. The next thirty years saw almost exponential growth. By 1990, it was the second largest retailer in America, behind only Sears. It unfortunately struggled throughout the 90s and early 2000s, collapsing and merging with Sears. Both brands suffered further decline over the next decade until Kmart underwent its second bankruptcy and sold off its stores. By 2019, virtually all Kmart locations were shuttered. As of April 2022, there were only nine Kmarts left in the world.
#23: Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor was the oldest retailer in America, having been founded in 1824 when John Quincy Adams was president. For almost two centuries, Lord & Taylor rose to become synonymous with luxury branded clothing. Six different parent companies saw Lord & Taylor through two world wars, The Great Depression, and The Great Recession. Unfortunately, the company could not survive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Retail locations were closed in March of 2020 and reopened by July. But the damage had already been done and Lord & Taylor filed for bankruptcy in August. In 2022, the brand relaunched under new management as an e-commerce luxury retailer.
#22: Bed Bath & Beyond
This retailer went through a long, slow, painful demise. The company shifted from a small retail chain of local stores to a megastore chain in 1985. It reached over a billion dollars in sales in 1999 and there were over 1,100 locations by 2011. Declining profits led to a big shakeup in 2019. Investment firms purged the CEO from his perch and restructured the board of directors. They accused the company of nepotism and poor management. The pandemic proved to be a fatal blow for Bed Bath & Beyond, pulling the trigger on the starter gun for store closures. After limping along for several years, the company announced the full closure of all stores by July 2023.
#21: The Limited
The Limited was an Ohio-based clothing brand that became a mall staple in the 1980s and 1990s. At the height of its economic might, The Limited acquired popular brands like Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Abercrombie & Fitch. A sub-brand, The Limited Too, was spun off in 1987, catering to young and tween girls. Both store chains did well with hundreds of stores around the country. The Limited Too brand didn’t even make it a decade, merging with Justice in 1996 and going defunct in 2009. Its parent company didn’t fare much better; the bulk of the company was sold to a private equity firm in 2007. By 2017, all physical locations went out of business.
#20: Sports Authority
Like many retail outlets, Sports Authority was a casualty of the mid 21st century. Founded in 1928 by Nathan Gart, a series of mergers and acquisitions allowed Gart Sports to become “the” place for sporting goods in the United States. But by 2010, the tired retailer found it difficult to compete with the likes of Walmart and Amazon, and began falling behind in its financials. By 2016, the company chose to close down and liquify its assets. Its brand name and intellectual property ultimately ended up in the hands of its competitor: Dick's Sporting Goods.
#19: Wet Seal
If the 2010s taught businesses anything, it’s that the shape of retail shopping is changing. Founded as Lorne’s in 1962, this fashion retailer was incorporated as Wet Seal in 1990. They also sold their clothing and accessories under the Arden B and Blink brands. By 2015 they were faced with heavy competition, forcing them to close several locations. Store windows could be seen with protest signs from employees over communication from managers and compensation. Wet Seal closed all stores in January 2017 – another victim of the so-called “retail apocalypse.”
#18: Tower Records
Long before the days of Spotify and Apple Music, people had to go into a store and purchase their music. Enter Tower Records. In their heyday, they were one of the largest retailers of music around the world. Based in the U.S., they spread to over a dozen countries worldwide. The movie “Empire Records” was even inspired by writer Carol Heikkinen’s time as an employee there. Yet with all that success, bad business decisions and the launch of the digital music era killed off this giant in 2006. The brand did resurface as a website in 2020 and continues to sell music and merchandise online.
#17: CompUSA
When you hear the term “big-box store,” you may think of IKEA, Walmart, and even Costco. One such player in this space was the now defunct computer store CompUSA. A purveyor of technology products, they were very similar to competitors like, say, Best Buy. And therein lies part of the problem. Their corporate strategies were out of touch and they were destroyed by the competition. They were eventually sold to Systemax in 2008, and their last CompUSA stores were rebranded as TigerDirect, which also phased out of retail in 2015.
#16: KB Toys
It was 1946 when brothers Harry and Joseph Kaufman opened their own candy store, aptly named Kaufman Brothers. That quickly turned into a wholesale toy company in 1948, and a shopping mall staple in 1973. In the 1990s, a series of additional acquisitions brought the company hundreds of new store locations, totalling 1,324 by 1999. But a combination of both a poorly timed dividend deal in 2002, and a drop in sales the following year, sealed the company’s fate. Neither a bankruptcy filing, or a restructuring of the company was enough to keep it afloat. They were eventually sold to their biggest competitor, Toys “R” Us in 2009.
#15: Warner Bros. Studio Store
In 1991, Warner Brothers entered the retail space, selling the likes of Looney Tunes and DC Comic Books merchandise. Eventually opening 130 stores across the country, the chain thrived for a short time. However, the AOL-TimeWarner merger was completed in 2001 and the newly formed company had new plans. With sales in decline, and retail shops floundering in general, the newly formed conglomerate saw the writing on the wall. It took them less than a year to put the nail in the coffin on this chain when their last store closed on New Years Eve, 2001.
#14: Payless Shoes
Much like many of the other stores on this list, Payless started with humble beginnings, only to fall victim to our ever changing times. Formed in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez, Payless became known for its own unique line of shoes called Pro Wings, as well as a plethora of other footwear related products. Their expansion went far beyond the U.S., bringing their shoes as far away as Australia and Indonesia. But in the midst of the retail shift in the 2010s, Payless filed for bankruptcy twice, eventually shutting down all operations in North America. They do continue to operate stores in other parts of the world, and online.
#13: Ames
Department stores have always been common in big cities. But when Ames opened up in 1958, they went after the retail market in much smaller populated areas. This led to a boom in business and expansion, which reached up to 327 stores. It did not, however, come without a cost. Poor decisions around consumer credit resulted in a bankruptcy filing in 1990. The company survived, and by 1993 was turning a profit again. But the success didn’t last. By the turn of the century, Ames had begun closing many of its stores, and filed a second bankruptcy in late 2001 which saw the end of this store. Or did it? Rumors of a re-opening have surfaced. Time will tell.
#12: Teavana
No matter how large a corporation gets, you have to remember that they all started out small. Such was the case for Andrew T. Mack and his wife, who formed Teavana in 1997 with a little teahouse in a mall. The brand became so successful that it only took 15 years for Starbucks to take notice and acquire them to the tune of $620 million dollars. The name persisted for five more years before Starbucks pulled the plug on all 379 Teavana shops. Their entry into the tea market has since dropped considerably, as Starbucks now only sells a very limited number of Teavana products.
#11: Sharper Image
Similar to SkyMall and Hammacher Schlemmer, Sharper Image was a catalog business that thrived on high tech gadgets and niche products. Distinguishing itself from other catalog companies, they expanded into retail, opening 187 stores throughout malls and airports across the United States. Oddly enough, it was an air purifier product that ultimately helped kill the company. After Consumer Reports gave fail ratings to their Ionic Breeze products, Sharper Image sued. However, they were themselves sued by customers for misrepresentation of their product. As the blame went back and forth, upper management changed and consumer interest tapered off. The company went bankrupt in 2008.
#10: Circuit City
Founded in 1949 under the name Wards Company, Circuit City was one of the most popular consumer electronics stores in the United States. During their peak, the chain boasted more than 550 stores across the country, offering plenty of electronic goods and services. They even had a chance to buy out the fledgling Best Buy operation in 1988, but declined when Circuit City’s CEO thought they could just put them out of business. Well, that didn’t work out in the long run. When 2007 rolled around, wages were being cut, locations were being closed, and management turnover was at a high. By 2009, the company pulled the plug, and the days of Circuit City were over.
#9: A&P
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company existed from 1859 to 2015. Known to most customers simply as A&P, there was a time when they were a huge player in the grocery business. From a few retail shops selling tea and coffee in New York, the company blossomed after being acquired by George Huntington Hartford. From there, over much time, it became a full-on grocery store, which would eventually have roughly 16,000 locations. However, by the 1970s, the stores had become conceptually stale and plagued by bad customer service. The chain did manage to have a bit of a comeback in the early aughts but was short lived, and it finally went under in 2015.
#8: F. W. Woolworth Company
Did you know that Woolworth’s may have been the original inspiration for the dollar store? Founded by Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879, it opened as “Woolworth’s Great Five Cent Store”, which sold everything for a nickel or two. Although that operation didn’t last, the subsequent store became successful. Frank brought in his brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth, and the two began a journey that would see their ideas about retail continue to be used today. Woolworth’s was highly successful until the 1980s, when stiff competition forced them to shift their priorities to their sporting goods division. In 2001, they became known as Foot Locker and are still selling sporting goods today. A few dozen Woolworth stores do still continue to exist in Mexico, under different ownership.
#7: Sam Goody
Much like many other music retailers, Sam Goody became the victim of the digital revolution in music. Founded in 1951 as a small music shop in New York City, it eventually merged with Musicland which helped expand the brand. At its peak, the Sam Goody-branded stores expanded to 800 locations and brought in several billion dollars worth of revenue. It had become almost synonymous with music retail, which held it above water for a long time. But after struggling through a handful of acquisitions, and changes to its business model, the stores began to close. By 2012, most of the stores were gone, or simply rebranded as FYE.
#6: Borders
Ever since Gutenberg revolutionized printing so long ago, books have been in demand. This human desire to learn or enjoy stories is what eventually spawned the likes of giant bookstore chains like Borders. Operating for nearly 40 years, this bookstore saw its peak with over 500 U.S.-based stores, and even more via other brands and franchising. By the time 2007 rolled along, however, the company had begun to struggle to remain in business. Several attempts were made to keep it going, but by September of 2011, the chain had come to an end, with its stores closing and rival chain Barnes and Noble buying its trademark.
#5: Fry’s Electronics
The sale of the Fry’s Supermarkets chain eventually spawned a completely new type of electronics store back in 1985. The intent was to make shopping for electronics a similar experience to going for groceries. Whether it was circuit boards, software, or any other kind of electronic device, Fry’s was the place to get it. It was actually one of the few places you could buy raw computer parts off the shelf to assemble your PC on your own. The stores ballooned in popularity, and even the aforementioned Circuit City didn’t offer the same kinds of fare. But after decades of sometimes controversial business practices, and squeezed by the COVID pandemic in 2020 and longstanding market pressures, all their stores ceased operations in February 2021.
#4: Linens ‘n Things
If there is one common thread connecting many of these now-defunct businesses, it’s that for many of them, a combination of acquisitions and management changes seemed to be their undoing. Formed in 1975, this home textile and housewares big box retailer grew considerably by the time it opened its 55th store in 1983. It was acquired and then eventually spun off as its own entity again in 1996, but then re-acquired by Apollo Global Management in 2006. The company then truly began to find itself in financial difficulty. A series of losses combined with the decline of sales, eventually forced the company to pull the plug on their stores by 2008, going online exclusively.
#3: Radio Shack
The humble beginnings for Radio Shack began back in 1921. The company focused its sales strategy on radio and electronics hobbyists. For decades, this gave them a lucrative market to fill, and interest in electronics eventually grew even further with the new computer and videogame age. It was also Radio Shack that produced the famous TRS-80, one of the first widely available home computers. But much like many other retailers, their popularity declined with the rise of online shopping, and fewer hobbyists to buy their wares. By 2017, the company had gone bankrupt and was no longer the giant retailer it once was, with a smattering of stores remaining under different ownership, and eventually the brand being scooped up to attempt viability online.
#2: Toys "R" Us
Who doesn’t remember wanting to be a “Toys R Us Kid”? From toys to video games to books to bikes, this was a chain that had almost everything a child could possibly want. But like many retailers over the last few decades, they struggled to keep up with the times, and competition with the likes of mass-market stores and online shopping. In 2017, the chain filed for bankruptcy and began liquidating their assets. By the middle of 2018, they had closed most of their U.S. stores, with the last two closing in 2021. However, you can still find Toys "R" Us stores across Canada and Asia.
#1: Blockbuster
One of the biggest industries to emerge from the creation of the VCR was the home movie rental business. At the inception of the movie business decades earlier, no one had ever expected people to want to watch their movies at home, instead of at theaters. With more than 30,000 stores open globally at its commercial peak, if you wanted to rent a new release, odds are you went to a Blockbuster Video. Video rentals became ingrained in our culture, and Blockbuster profited mightily. But as streaming services and mail-in DVD options became available over the years, the days of “be kind, please rewind” were over, and Blockbuster famously ceased to be.
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