List of defunct retailers of the United States

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Across the United States an extremely large number of store chains became defunct between the 1950s, when the format was introduced, and the 1990s when most chains were either consolidated or liquidated. Some have been lost due to mergers. Below is a list of defunct retailers of the United States.

Contents

[edit] Catalog showrooms

[edit] Clothing, shoes, & specialty stores

[edit] Department stores

  • The Addis Company, merged with Dey Brothers (Syracuse, New York)
  • Alexander's (New York metropolitan area). Declared bankruptcy in 1992.
  • B. Altman and Company (New York City).
  • Arlan's Department Store
  • Armstrong - Collier Inc. (Oil City, PA)
  • Barkers (San Antonio, TX)
  • L.L. Berger (Buffalo). Catered to upper middle class customers. Its last store, in downtown Buffalo, closed in 1991.
  • Best & Company (New York). A department store exclusively for children of the well-to-do. Once one of the cluster of grand New York department stores on 5th Avenue, closed in the 1960s.
  • Blocks (Idaho Falls, ID and region)
  • William H. Block's (Indianapolis)
  • C.J. Breier Co. a department store chain of about 56 located in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.
  • Bressmer's (John Bressmer and Company) (Springfield, Ill.) Closed in the mid 1970s.
  • Britt's Department Stores
  • Bonwit Teller (New York City, Boston, and Upstate New York). High-end clothier that was primarily a women's clothing store; however, in later years it had a small men's department. All but two stores, located in Buffalo and Boston closed the early 1990s, soon after being purchased by the Australian company L.J. Hooker Company. Hooker then sold the chain to Syracuse-based Pyramid Companies, which then opened a store in their Carousel Center. Pyramid had originally planned to expand the chain, but never did so. The Syracuse store was the last to close, doing so in 2000.
  • Buehler-Bingham (Ogden, UT)
  • Buffum's
  • Buttrey's (Havre, MT)
  • Chappell's (Syracuse, New York)
  • H. Choate & Co. (Winona, Mn) Estd. 1861
  • City of Paris (department store) (San Francisco)
  • Coyle & Richardson (Charleston, WV)
  • Crowley's (Detroit)
  • DeJong's (Evansville, Ind.)
  • Dey Brothers, aka. Dey's (Syracuse, New York)
  • Doerflinger's (LaCrosse, WI) closed in the 1980's
  • Dryden's (Port Arthur, TX)
  • Elvins' (Puyallup, WA) 1908-1979
  • Emery, Bird, Thayer, and Company (Kansas City, Mo.)
  • The Enders Co. (St. Joseph, MI)
  • England Brothers (Pittsfield, MA) closed 1988
  • Fauchald's (Minot, nd)
  • The Fair (Galveston, TX)
  • Farrel & Eddy (Camas, WA) operated in several different forms between 1902 and going out of business in 1998.
  • Fowler's (Binghampton, NY)
  • Gantos (Grand Rapids)
  • Gardner's (Walla Walla, WA) estd. 1861, closed 1980's
  • Garfinckel's (Washington, D.C.)
  • Gilmore's Kalamazoo, Mich. Downtown store closed in 1999.
  • Gimbel's: (defunct) The rivalry of Macy's and Gimbel's is immortalized in Miracle on 34th Street; Benard Gimbel the owner of Gimbel's along with Horace Saks founded Saks Fifth Avenue.
  • Goudchaux's (Baton Rouge). Purchased Maison Blanche in 1980's, converted to that nameplate exclusively soon after.
  • Goldblatt's (Chicago) Some Goldblatt's stores were acquired by Ames.
  • Gold's of Nebraska (Lincoln, NE)
  • Goodman's (San Francisco)
  • Gutman's (Baltimore)
  • Hart-Albin Co. (Billings, MT)
  • Heer's (Springfield, MO) Established in 1869, closed in 1995.
  • Hens and Kelly (Buffalo). Department store chain catering to blue-collar and middle class families.
  • Henshey's
  • Herbst (Fargo, ND)
  • Herpolsheimer's (Grand Rapids, Muskegon). Became Lazarus 1987; permanently closed its doors in 1992. The original Herpolsheimer's store is immortalized in The Polar Express.
  • Hess's
  • Hills Department Store.
  • Hinshaw's (Arcadia and Whittier, CA)
  • Hochschild Kohn's (Baltimore).
  • D.H. Holmes (New Orleans)
  • Hutzler's (Baltimore).
  • Jacobson's (Jackson, Michigan). Independent regional luxury department store chain located primarily in Michigan and Florida, but also had stores in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Kansas. The last store sadly closed its doors in early 2002.
  • Jelleff's (Washington, D.C.)
  • Jenss (Buffalo) Independent high-end department store chain closed their last location on 15 September 2000.
  • Kahn's (Oakland, CA)
  • S. Kann & Sons (Washington, D.C.)
  • E.J. Korvette (New York City) closed 1980.
  • Krauss (New Orleans, downtown) Single location on Canal Street at Basin closed in 1997.
  • Lansburgh's (Washington, D.C.)
  • Lechmere
  • A.W. Lucas (Bismarck, nd)
  • McRae's (Belk in 2006)
  • Miller & Paine (Lincoln, Nebraska)
  • Minter's (Abilene, TX)
  • S. H. Kress & Co.. Puerto Rico subsidiary Tiendas Kress lives on, having survived parent company.
  • Lamson Brothers (Toledo) bankrupt, 1976. Landmark downtown store built in 1928 as Toledo's finest department store. After bankruptcy, newly-opened Franklin Park Mall store purchased by Jacobson's for expansion into Toledo market.
  • LaSalle & Koch (Toledo) Bought by R.H. Macy in 1923; operated under the LaSalle's name until 1982, when Macy consolidated LaSalle's with another division, Macy's Missouri-Kanssa, to form Macy's Midwest. Macy sold the Ohio stores to Elder-Beerman of Dayton, Ohio in 1985.
  • The Lion Dry Goods Co. (Toledo). Known locally as The Lion Store. Some locations survive with the Dillard's name, following their 1998 purchase of Lion's previous owner, Mercantile Stores Co.
  • Lit Brothers (Philadelphia) closed in 1977.
  • Lombaugh's (Easton, PA)
  • MacDougall-Southwick (Seattle) 1874-1964. Opened several stores in Puget Sound Region.
  • McCrory (national).
  • MainStreet Chicago - Acquired by Kohl's in 1988
  • Maison Blanche (New Orleans) Last operated under that name by Mercantile Stores Co. Remaining Maison Blanche stores converted to Dillards in 1998.
  • Montgomery Ward. First mail order store. Founded in 1872, Montgomery Ward pioneered mail-order catalog retailing and opened its first retail store in 1926. A bankruptcy reorganization in 1999 failed to turn the chain around. Closed 2001. Still exists as a catalog/internet/mail order retailer.
  • Myers Brothers (Springfield, Ill.) Relocated from downtown to White Oaks Mall in 1977, and acquired by Bergner's of Peoria the following year.
  • Newman's (Joplin, Mo.) Acquired by parent company of Heer's of Springfield, Mo. in early 1980s, closed in 1995.
  • New York Department Store (Minot, ND,Centralia, WA-Separate stores)
  • O'Connor, Moffat (San Francisco)
  • Ohrbach's. Liquidated in 1987 and acquired by Howland-Steinbach.
  • Ontario Store (Grand Forks, ND)
  • Peoples (Tacoma, WA) 7-store chain in the Puget Sound region, owned by Mercantile Stores Co. Chain was shuttered in 1983.
  • Pizitz (Birmingham, Al) 13-store Alabama chain, sold to McRae's 1987, renamed later that year.
  • Proffitt's (Centralia, Chehalis, Longview, WA) Opened in 1907 by Lee Proffitt, his son Dean built a branch in Chehalis in 1919 and later in Longview. The chain folded in 1977.
  • Rhodes Brothers (Tacoma, WA) Company established in 1892 as a coffee shop in downtown Tacoma. The store greatly expanded through the years including having a tea room, a branch library and a separate budget store. A mall location was planned for 1973 but the company went bankrupt in 1974.
  • Rink's (Ohio).
  • Rothschild's (Oklahoma City)
  • Sage-Allen (Hartford).
  • Sakowitz (Houston).
  • Sattler's (Buffalo).
  • Schlessinger Department Stores
  • Schulte-United
  • Scruggs Vandervoort & Barney (St. Louis) Closed in 1967.
  • Steiger's (Springfield, MA) closed 1994
  • Steinbach's (New Jersey locations)
  • Sterling & Welch (Cleveland, Ohio)
  • Stewart's (Baltimore).
  • Stix Baer & Fuller (St. Louis) Acquired by Dillard's in 1983.
  • The Store Without a Name (Fargo, ND)
  • Wahl's (Bellingham, Wa) Operated in downtown from 1913 to 1972.
  • Charles V. Weise, also known simply as Weise's - a Rockford, Illinois based department store. Independent through 1954, the marquee would disappear by 1982 when all Weise stores were renamed Bergner's.
  • Weinstein's (San Francisco)
  • The White House (San Francisco)
  • Wieboldt's (Chicago)
  • Young's (Pasco, WA)
  • ZCMI, Utah based chain
  • Zollinger-Harned Co. (Allentown, PA)

[edit] Department stores involved with Federated and May

[edit] Discount stores

[edit] Drug stores

[edit] Electronics stores

[edit] Five and dime / Variety stores

[edit] Furniture stores

  • Heilig Meyers
  • Rhodes Furniture
  • Sears Homelife

[edit] Grocery stores

[edit] Home improvement & home decor stores

[edit] Music and Video Stores (Records, Tapes, etc.)

[edit] Office supply stores

  • J. K. Gill
  • Ulrich's (Buffalo, NY)

[edit] Sports & athletic stores

[edit] Toy stores

[edit] Warehouse clubs

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