You won't find these stores around anymore. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for 50 retail outlets from your childhood that we lost along the way.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for 50 Retail Outlets from
00:08your childhood that we lost along the way.
00:16Number 50.
00:17Rexall
00:18These stores began with a revolutionary concept for 1903.
00:22Independent pharmacists could use their collective market strength to purchase supplies and resell
00:26them under a single store name.
00:28The modernization of the 20th century made it easier to deliver health and wellness products
00:32to more North Americans than ever before.
00:34A half-century later, Rexall was a household name with thousands of locations.
00:39The model was great, but ultimately proved to be no match for huge chain pharmacy companies.
00:44Rexall's stores either closed up shop or rebranded almost overnight.
00:48Today, Rexall is a moderately-sized Canadian pharmacy chain.
00:52Number 49.
00:53Esprit
00:54Susie and Doug Tompkins were just two young San Francisco hippies, hawking simple, stylish
00:59clothes out of the back of their WV van.
01:01Their environmentally-conscious brand struck a chord in 1968.
01:04Twenty years later, Esprit had become a global fashion powerhouse known for its flashy ads
01:10and its social responsibility.
01:19Esprit grew into a worldwide brand thanks to the explosion of mall culture.
01:23Just as video killed the radio star, the 90s and 2000s killed the mall.
01:27Sales fell through the floor and stores went dark.
01:30Today, Esprit is a small chain, operating thanks to international markets and online
01:34sales.
01:47Number 48.
01:48TG&Y
01:50Tomlinson, Goslin, and Young were three Oklahoma boys with bright dreams when they founded
01:54TG&Y in 1935.
01:56The brand sold itself to small-town America by marketing their budget-friendly merchandise.
02:04It spent years as a rural American staple, soon growing through bigger towns and suburbs.
02:09There were once more than 900 TG&Ys across the United States.
02:13That all came to an end in the 1980s.
02:16Their 1986 acquisition didn't help matters.
02:18TG&Y ultimately shuttered its doors one by one until their brand faded into retail history.
02:28Number 47.
02:29Gimbel's
02:30Adam Gimbel was a mild-mannered resident of Vincennes, Indiana, who decided to open a
02:34modest dry goods store in 1842.
02:36The store grew, converting into a Milwaukee department store in 1887.
02:49They opened a Philadelphia location seven years later.
02:52The store became a Philly staple, founding the Gimbel's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
02:55Gimbel's only grew from there, and by 1930, it was the biggest department store chain
03:00on earth.
03:01It was even the setting for the movie Miracle on 34th Street.
03:06In 1973, a megacorporation gobbled Gimbel's up and closed all of its stores by 1986.
03:12Their iconic locations became prime real estate for other department stores.
03:17Number 46.
03:18Kinney's Shoes
03:19The small upstate town of Waverly, New York, was the site of the first Kinney's Shoes
03:23back in 1894.
03:25Named after its founders, Kinney's Shoes was a go-to spot for relatively inexpensive
03:29quality shoes.
03:34The concept was a hit, expanding across America to become a well-known supplier of footwear.
03:39Known for its wide selection and competitive prices, Kinney's Shoes thrived throughout
03:42the 20th century.
03:44Its sub-brand, Foot Locker, was born in 1974.
03:47Though popular, the company that acquired Kinney decided to shutter all the stores by
03:511998, moving forward with the Foot Locker as a new, spin-off company.
04:00Number 45.
04:01Mervyn's
04:02Mervyn G. Morris was the entrepreneur who, in 1949, founded Mervyn's in San Lorenzo,
04:08California.
04:09He hopped on the post-war department store gravy train, offering affordable, quality
04:13merchandise.
04:27By targeting middle-class families, Mervyn's expanded like wildfire across the American
04:32West.
04:33Unfortunately, big-box retailers proved to be Mervyn's big bad wolf.
04:36Coupled with ownership changes and strategic missteps, the brand started to falter.
04:41Their lack of diversity meant it was ultimately impossible to compete with their competitors.
04:45In 2008, Mervyn's filed for bankruptcy and closed all its stores, marking the end of
04:50a once-prominent retail chain.
04:59Number 44.
05:00Delia's
05:02The year 1990 represented the apex of mall culture in America.
05:05A few years later, Stephen Kahn and Christopher Edgar saw a way around the mall, direct-to-consumer
05:10marketing.
05:11Delia's marketed to teenage girls with its quirky mail-order catalogs.
05:15The catalogs themselves grew into a cultural touchstone for a subset of American teens.
05:20Their eyes on the future, Delia's was also an early adopter of e-commerce, acquiring
05:24Girl.com in 1997.
05:26In this case, they were too early and got swallowed up in the dot-com burst of 2000.
05:31They limped on until 2014, as an acquired brand, at which time the company filed for
05:35bankruptcy.
05:36Four years later, online fashion store Doll's Kill licensed Delia's as a new sub-brand.
05:41Number 43.
05:42The Disney Store
05:43In 1987, Disney realized it was late to the mall culture game.
05:47Aimed at capitalizing on the beloved Disney brand, the Disney Store became a destination
05:51for exclusive products.
05:53The concept thrived, leading to a rapid expansion across the U.S. and internationally, with
05:58over 700 stores worldwide.
06:00The rising popularity of Disney animated films provided a constant churn of new properties
06:04to exploit.
06:05Unfortunately, like many mall-based stores, online shopping killed their brick-and-mortar
06:09business.
06:10Despite efforts to innovate and revamp the in-store experience, Disney announced the
06:14closure of most physical locations in 2021.
06:17Disney now sells its branded products online and through bigger retailers like Target.
06:22Number 42.
06:23Dressbarn
06:24Rosalind Jaffe was a trailblazer for women in business.
06:27In just a few years, she went from living in a one-bedroom Manhattan apartment with
06:31three roommates to owning a company.
06:35Jaffe went to Stamford, Connecticut in 1962 to start Dressbarn, a women's discount fashion
06:40retailer.
06:41Dressbarn expanded rapidly, nearly reaching 800 stores nationwide.
06:45It focused on customer service and understanding the needs of middle-class women.
06:49With the rise of e-commerce and changing consumer preferences, the business struggled to adapt
06:53to the shifting landscape.
06:55Online retailers and fast fashion brands eventually eroded its market share.
06:59Despite efforts to modernize, Dressbarn's parent company announced its closure in 2019.
07:03Dressbarn is closing its 650 stores nationwide.
07:07The women's fashion store, which has a location in Pismo Beach, says it will eventually close
07:12all of its stores but did not give an exact timeline.
07:16A year later, it found new life as an online-only retailer.
07:20Number 41.
07:2199 Cents Only Stores
07:23This ultra-low-cost retailer was founded in 1982 by Dave Gold in Los Angeles, California.
07:29Gold believed in a somewhat unique vision of a store.
07:32He would offer high-quality items at a low, fixed price.
07:35People are amazed at the deals the 99 Cents Only Stores is delivering this Easter.
07:39But really, it's just another day at the 99th.
07:42The concept was a hit, and 99 Cents Only Stores spread rapidly.
07:46However, competition was the store's Achilles' heel.
07:49Other discount outlets cannibalized the market.
07:51Due to rising costs, the store also had to raise prices, undercutting its core brand.
07:56The year Dave Gold died, 2013, the chain was sold to a private equity firm.
08:01After a decade of getting gutted by venture capitalists, inflation was the nail in the
08:05brand's coffin in 2024.
08:06Well, you can call it the end of an era.
08:09All 99 Cents Only Stores are closing.
08:12Number 40.
08:13Tweeter
08:15Tweeter, aka Tweeter Etcetera, aka Tweeter Home Entertainment, was a New England consumer
08:23electronics chain.
08:25Founded in Boston by Sandy and Michael Bloomberg in 1972, the chain grew and grew throughout
08:30New England.
08:31In the 1990s, Tweeter started a campaign of national expansion by buying out chains in
08:36other markets.
08:37They expanded to Chicago, Florida, and Atlanta through acquisitions of other electronic franchises.
08:43By the end of its time, Tweeter specialized in flat-screen televisions.
08:51In the spring of 2007, Tweeter had around 100 stores nationwide.
08:56Even before the Great Recession hit, half of those stores had closed.
09:00By the time the waves of the recession receded, Tweeter went bankrupt.
09:04Number 39.
09:05Stephen Berrys
09:07Stephen Shore and Barry Prever were college students at the University of Pennsylvania
09:11in 1985.
09:12They recognized that university bookstores and gift stores sold goods with an absurd
09:16markup.
09:17They saw an opportunity, founding a chain targeting college students with bargain basement
09:21prices.
09:22Stephen Berrys was a retail clothing store that focused on casual clothes, accessorizing,
09:27and footwear.
09:28They expanded to college campuses and malls across America, eventually reaching 276 stores
09:33in 39 states.
09:35Stephen Berrys seemed destined to conquer, earning such praise as Hot Retailer of the
09:39Year in 2005 and Marketer of the Year in 2007.
09:43Before the decade was out, the chain went belly up.
09:45Like so many others, Stephen Berrys was taken out by the Great Recession.
09:49Number 38.
09:53Club Libby Lou
09:55Some stores make the decision early on that they aren't selling goods, but an experience.
09:59That was the logic behind the short-lived Club Libby Lou franchise.
10:03Named after the childhood imaginary friend of founder Mary Droley, Club Libby Lou served
10:07girls from ages 4 to 12.
10:09It provided girls and young tweens with makeovers, dress-up parties, stuffed animals, and custom
10:15cosmetics.
10:24At its peak, Club Libby Lou was a subsidiary of Saks and had almost 100 locations nationwide.
10:30By November 2008, the miserable state of the economy forced Saks to shutter Club Libby
10:35Lou's doors.
10:37Number 37.
10:38Crazy Eddie
10:39Crazy Eddie Antar was a Brooklyn-based businessman who opened up an electronics retail chain
10:44with his brother, Sam.
10:45The store and their Crazy Eddie commercials were a New York City staple in the 1980s.
11:01The chain was widely successful, with just one wrinkle from the very beginning.
11:05Eddie and Sam were crooks.
11:07They committed an absolutely gobsmacking amount of fraud and their books were a complete sham.
11:23By 1983, it became difficult for Eddie to hide his criminality, so he took the company
11:27public.
11:28Eddie pumped and dumped a ton of stock, lost the business, and then went to prison.
11:41The chain closed in 1989, though in the late 90s and 2000s, the Antars attempted an online
11:46comeback.
11:47It died for good in 2012.
11:50Number 36.
11:51Lowmans
11:52Lowmans is a sad example of how even the American dream doesn't necessarily last forever.
12:04Frida Lohman was a young woman when her husband's haberdashery failed.
12:08She took a job as a clothes buyer in New York.
12:10Frida started to buy overstocked items from top designers and sold them at a bargain out
12:14of her home.
12:15Eventually, they opened the first Lowmans in 1921.
12:19The store was incredibly successful and went public after her death.
12:2237 years later, by 1999, Lowmans had around 100 locations in 17 states.
12:28Over the next 15 years, the chain underwent a series of bankruptcies and acquisitions.
12:33By 2014, all brick-and-mortar locations were closed and by 2018, its online store shut
12:39down.
12:43Number 35.
12:44Walden Books
12:45After leaving Simon & Schuster in 1933, sales manager Lawrence Hoyt opened a small rental
13:00library in Connecticut with his partner, Melvin T. Kafka.
13:04They named their business the Walden Book Company after Henry David Thoreau's famous
13:08book.
13:14Their goal was to help an immiserated populace psychologically deal with the Great Depression.
13:18They had hundreds of locations by 1948.
13:21The post-World War II era killed the rental library business, so the company successfully
13:25pivoted to book sales.
13:32Walden Books entered the great wheel of capitalism, acquiring smaller companies and getting bought
13:37and sold by larger ones.
13:39It was eventually spun off by Kmart and became a part of Borders.
13:42All Walden Books closed when Borders was killed by Amazon in 2011.
13:47Number 34.
13:48Gadzooks
13:49In this golden age of online retail, it can be hard to remember that the shopping mall
13:53was once the center of American commerce.
13:55In the 1980s and 90s, malls were both shopping and cultural centers.
14:05There were retail brands that did not exist outside of a mall.
14:08If you were a teen at a mall in Texas during that time, there's a good chance you shopped
14:13at Gadzooks.
14:14The store initially focused on t-shirts before expanding into a full-blown mini department
14:17store for teens.
14:18By 1995, Gadzooks went public, and by 2000, there were over 300 stores and malls across
14:24America.
14:25To fight off competitors, Gadzooks dropped its menwear and catered exclusively to teen
14:30women.
14:31That pivot killed the brand completely five years later.
14:35Number 33.
14:36Papyrus
14:37Papyrus?
14:38Are you kidding me?
14:39There's no place for that in a professional office setting.
14:41Margaret Sherman opened the first Papyrus store as a retail branch of her fine paper
14:45company.
14:46With barely $1,000 in a dream, Sherman created a business that would grow into an empire
14:50of over 450 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada.
14:54Papyrus sold greeting cards and luxury stationery throughout the country, expanding with a 2009
14:59purchase of American greeting stores.
15:01Unfortunately, they misread the market and slowly but surely contracted to only 260 stores
15:07by 2020.
15:08In January, two months before the COVID lockdowns would send shockwaves throughout the economy,
15:13Papyrus stores were all shuttered and liquidated.
15:16Number 32.
15:17Virgin Megastore
15:19Mega-billionaire Richard Branson started his mogul career at the age of 16 with a self-published
15:23magazine, Student.
15:25In 1970, he pivoted to a mail-order record business and opened his first Virgin Records
15:30in 1972.
15:31The brand boomed quickly, and Branson opened his first megastore in London by 1979.
15:44Virgin Megastore's expanded product selection included consumer electronics, books, and
15:48sometimes fashion.
15:50Branson ruled the British market, and Virgin Megastores opened around the world.
15:54Perhaps predicting a shift in retail, Branson sold or licensed the brand to a number of
15:58companies in the early 2000s.
16:00Today, Virgin Megastores only exist in the Middle East and North Africa.
16:04All other locations have closed down.
16:07Number 31.
16:08Suncoast Motion Picture Company
16:09Thanks to the invention of VHS tapes and, to a lesser extent, Betamax, Hollywood discovered
16:25a profitable secondary market for movies.
16:28Tens of thousands of video rental stores and nationwide chains popped up all over the US
16:32and became a booming business.
16:34One of those retailers was the Suncoast Motion Picture Company.
16:45A spinoff of Suncoast Records, Suncoast Motion Picture Company sold VHS tapes, collectibles,
16:51records, cassette tapes, and CDs.
16:54The retailer fell victim to chains of acquisitions and sales, eventually getting liquidated.
16:59As of May 2023, only four Suncoast Motion Picture Company franchises exist in the United
17:04States.
17:06Number 30.
17:07Filene's
17:08William Filene was an American businessman who founded an incredibly successful department
17:12store in Boston in 1881.
17:14Filene's is so important to the city's identity, the original store was designated
17:18a city landmark.
17:19His sister's store, Filene's Basement, saw similar success.
17:28In 1929, Filene's joined with other competitors to create the holding company, Federated Department
17:34Stores.
17:35In the back half of the 20th century, Filene's gained a foothold in New England and New York
17:39shopping malls.
17:40Filene's was sold off to May Department Stores in 1988.
17:44However, Federated acquired May in 2005 and folded Filene's into Macy's.
17:49I guess we could hit Filene's Basement, see if there's anything in the bargain bin.
17:52Never!
17:53You now only shop upstairs at Filene's, where they have fancy windows and you pay
17:58full price.
17:59Number 29.
18:00Discovery Channel Store
18:01Large companies love to find ways to leverage their brand power and enter new markets.
18:06In the 1990s, a number of media corporations tried to synergize their media brand with
18:10a retail store business to sell branded content.
18:13Both Disney and Warner Brothers made the attempt but failed, thanks to large market forces.
18:18But those brands, each with a massive library of intellectual property, couldn't make
18:22it happen.
18:23It's no surprise that the Discovery Channel Store was an abysmal failure.
18:27Why?
18:28Why?
18:29Discovery Channel!
18:30Discovery Channel!
18:31Why?
18:32The company tried to create a retail market to sell Discovery Channel merchandise.
18:35Unfortunately, the small retail chain of less than 20 locations lasted less than a dozen
18:40years before going under.
18:41As of 2023, even Discovery's online store has closed.
18:45There's nothing like the gift of Discovery.
18:49Number 28.
18:50Zany Brainy
18:51David Schlesinger was an entrepreneur frustrated by a lack of brick-and-mortar stores for educational
18:55toys.
18:56He started the retail chain Zany Brainy in 1991 to bridge that gap.
19:00Zany Brainy's products specialized in developmental education through play.
19:05They sold puzzles, books, audiotapes and CDs, toy trains, and learning software.
19:10The individual stores also offered in-store workshops, concerts, and book signings.
19:21Though the retailer was eventually purchased by F.E.O.
19:24Schwartz, it never really found a long-term market.
19:27Zany Brainy filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001.
19:30Less than two years later, all its locations shut down.
19:34Number 27.
19:35Models
19:36Memories begin now.
19:41After 140 years in business, Modell's sporting goods learned the hard way that not everyone
19:46has to go back to Moe's.
19:48Morris A. Modell, a Jewish immigrant from Hungary, founded the sporting goods store
19:52in Manhattan in 1889.
19:54Over the next century, his descendants grew the business into a profitable chain, operating
19:58over 150 stores in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
20:03By 2014, however, rival Dick's Sporting Goods had sued the company.
20:07They accused CEO Mitchell Modell of wearing a disguise to learn Dick's retail secrets.
20:12By mid-2020, every Modell's store had closed, attempting to rebrand as an online-only business.
20:24Number 26.
20:25Movie Gallery
20:27Movie Gallery was founded in 1985 in the middle of the ascension of home video.
20:31By the mid-1990s, the company launched an aggressive campaign of expansion.
20:36They added new franchises, bought out the competition, and built new stores.
20:40In 2005, they merged with competitor Hollywood Video to become the second largest video chain
20:46in North America.
20:47They had reached 4,700 stores in the U.S. and Canada with more than $2.5 billion in
20:53revenue.
20:54But it all went downhill from there.
20:59The rise of video-on-demand and streaming services destroyed Movie Gallery and Hollywood
21:03Video just as it had with Blockbuster.
21:06By 2010, even the contents of the corporate headquarters were auctioned off.
21:10Number 25.
21:12Pier 1
21:13The ripple effects of major global catastrophes can spread into every aspect of life.
21:18The Great Depression, Great Recession, and the pandemic all caused global shifts in consumer
21:23habits.
21:24In an adapt-or-die world, even large and powerful retailers fall victim to global trends.
21:34Pier 1 had risen to national prominence in the furniture and home decoration space.
21:38By January 2020, the business was struggling, and they announced the closure of almost half
21:43of their locations.
21:44The pandemic was the final nail in Pier 1's bespoke coffin.
21:48After all the stores shut for good, retail e-commerce ventures, Rev, acquired the company.
21:54Rev has a penchant for buying dying brands and pivoting to e-commerce.
21:58Unfortunately, in Spring 2023, Rev announced that it, too, may go bankrupt.
22:04Number 24.
22:05Kmart
22:06Inspired by a meeting with the founder of Woolworths, businessman S. S. Craigs founded
22:10his first big-box department store in 1899.
22:13The first Kmart-branded store opened in 1962 in Michigan.
22:17The next 30 years saw almost exponential growth.
22:20By 1990, it was the second-largest retailer in America, behind only Sears, and unfortunately
22:25struggled throughout the 90s and early 2000s, collapsing and merging with Sears.
22:32Both brands suffered further decline over the next decade, until Kmart underwent its
22:36second bankruptcy and sold off its stores.
22:39By 2019, virtually all Kmart locations were shuttered.
22:43As of April 2022, there were only nine Kmarts left in the world.
22:48Number 23.
22:50Lord & Taylor
22:51Lord & Taylor was the oldest retailer in America, having been founded in 1824 when John Quincy
22:57Adams was president.
22:59For almost two centuries, Lord & Taylor rose to become synonymous with luxury-branded clothing.
23:04Six different parent companies saw Lord & Taylor through two world wars, the Great Depression
23:09and the Great Recession.
23:10Unfortunately, the company could not survive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
23:15Retail locations were closed in March of 2020 and reopened by July.
23:19But the damage had already been done, and Lord & Taylor filed for bankruptcy in August.
23:29In 2022, the brand relaunched under new management as an e-commerce luxury retailer.
23:34Number 22.
23:35Bed Bath & Beyond
23:37This retailer went through a long, slow, painful demise.
23:41The company shifted from a small retail chain of local stores to a megastore chain in 1985.
23:47They reached over a billion dollars in sales in 1999, and there were over 1,100 locations
23:52by 2011.
24:00Declining profits led to a big shake-up in 2019.
24:04Investment firms purged the CEO from his perch and restructured the board of directors.
24:08They accused the company of nepotism and poor management.
24:11The pandemic proved to be a fatal blow for Bed Bath & Beyond, pulling the trigger on
24:14the starter gun for store closures.
24:16After limping along for several years, the company announced the full closure of all
24:20stores by July 2023.
24:23Number 21.
24:24The Limited
24:25The Limited was an Ohio-based clothing brand that became a mall staple in the 1980s and
24:3090s.
24:31At the height of its economic might, The Limited acquired popular brands like Victoria's
24:35Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Abercrombie & Fitch.
24:38A sub-brand, The Limited 2, was spun off in 1987, catering to young and tween girls.
24:50Both store chains did well with hundreds of stores around the country.
24:53The Limited 2 brand didn't even make it a decade, merging with Justice in 1996 and going
24:58defunct in 2009.
25:00Its parent company didn't fare much better.
25:02The bulk of the company was sold to a private equity firm in 2007.
25:05By 2017, all physical locations went out of business.
25:09Number 20.
25:11Sports Authority
25:12Like many retail outlets, Sports Authority was a casualty of the mid-21st century.
25:20Founded in 1928 by Nathan Gart, a series of mergers and acquisitions allowed Gart Sports
25:26to become the place for sporting goods in the United States.
25:30But by 2010, the tired retailer found it difficult to compete with the likes of Walmart and Amazon
25:35and began falling behind in its financials.
25:38By 2016, the company chose to close down and liquefy its assets.
25:43The clock has run out for Sports Authority.
25:46The sporting goods retailer plans to begin going out of business sales as soon as this
25:50Friday and will close all 463 stores by the end of August.
25:55Its brand name and intellectual property ultimately ended up in the hands of its competitor, Dick's
25:59Sporting Goods.
26:00Sports Authority has gone bust, as you know, and when they went bust, they did something
26:05that's so common now with failing retailers.
26:09They sold off all their dossiers on people who ever shopped at Sports Authority.
26:15Number 19.
26:16Wet Seal
26:17If the 2010s taught business anything, it's that the shape of retail shopping is changing.
26:31Founded as Lorne's in 1962, this fashion retailer was incorporated as Wet Seal in 1990.
26:37They also sold their clothing and accessories under the Arden B and Blink brands.
26:42By 2015, they were faced with heavy competition, forcing them to close several locations.
26:48Orange County retailer Wet Seal is drowning in debt, and now employees accuse the company
26:52of leaving them high and dry.
26:54Hundreds of Wet Seal stores were suddenly shut down today, leaving thousands of workers
26:58jobless.
26:59Store windows could be seen with protest signs from employees over communication from managers
27:05and compensation.
27:06Wet Seal closed all stores in January 2017, another victim of the so-called retail apocalypse.
27:13This is just another sign of tough times for retailers.
27:16The Limited, Sears, and Macy's have also announced closings this year.
27:21Number 18.
27:22Tower Records
27:23Long before the days of Spotify and Apple Music, people had to go into a store and purchase
27:29their music.
27:30Tower Records came to San Francisco when the city was at the center of the music world.
27:35It was opened in 1968 by Russ Solomon, who wanted to expand his family's Sacramento
27:40music store.
27:41Enter Tower Records.
27:43In their heyday, they were one of the largest retailers of music around the world.
27:47Based in the U.S., they spread to over a dozen countries worldwide.
27:51The movie Empire Records was even inspired by Carol Hakenen's time as an employee there.
27:56What you doing, man?
27:57Exercising my veto, man.
27:58It's only 9 o'clock.
27:59I mean, you sure you want to do that, Mark?
28:00Listening to this crap is guaranteed to make you sterile.
28:01Yeah, maybe I want to be sterile.
28:08Yet with all that success, bad business decisions and the launch of the digital music era killed
28:14off this giant in 2006.
28:16A changing music business, the advent of being able to get music through your computer on
28:21sites like Napster and iTunes, doomed the record store along with Tower's overly aggressive
28:26expansion.
28:27The brand did resurface as a website in 2020 and continues to sell music and merchandise
28:32online.
28:34Number 17.
28:35CompUSA.
28:36When you hear the term, big box store, you may think of Ikea, Walmart, or even Costco.
28:43One such player in this space was the now defunct computer store, CompUSA.
28:47All across America, computers are changing people's lives, and one company is changing
28:52the way people buy them.
28:53CompUSA.
28:54With the brands you want, all at guaranteed low prices.
28:58A purveyor of technology products, they were very similar to competitors like, say, Best
29:03Buy.
29:04And therein lies part of the problem.
29:06CompUSA employees were told of the sale at a meeting this morning.
29:09The company had been losing money against competitors like Best Buy.
29:13Their corporate strategies were out of touch, and they were destroyed by the competition.
29:17They were eventually sold to Systemax in 2008, and their last CompUSA stores were rebranded
29:23as Tiger Direct, which also phased out of retail in 2015.
29:34Number 16.
29:35KB Toys.
29:36It was 1946 when brothers Harry and Joseph Kaufman opened their own candy store, aptly
29:42named Kaufman Brothers.
29:53That quickly turned into a wholesale toy company in 1948, and a shopping mall staple in 1973.
29:59In the 1990s, a series of additional acquisitions brought the company hundreds of new store
30:04locations, totaling 1,324 by 1999.
30:21But a combination of both a poorly-timed dividend deal in 2002 and a drop in sales
30:26the following year sealed the company's fate.
30:29Neither a bankruptcy filing or a restructuring of the company was enough to keep it afloat.
30:33The company had been looking to liquidate more than a hundred stores across the country.
30:37The closing was a disappointment to this dad who's been coming to the store over the last
30:41two decades.
30:45They were eventually sold to their biggest competitor, Toys R Us, in 2009.
30:50Number 15.
30:52Warner Bros. Studio Store.
30:54In 1991, Warner Bros. entered the retail space, selling the likes of Looney Tunes and DC Comic
31:00Books merchandise.
31:02Eventually opening 130 stores across the country, the chain thrived for a short time.
31:14However, the AOL-Time Warner merger was completed in 2001, and the newly formed company had
31:25new plans.
31:26AOL's acquisition of Time Warner cost over $160 billion, making it one of the largest
31:32mergers in history.
31:33At the time, it seemed like a really good idea.
31:36With sales in decline and retail shops floundering in general, the newly formed conglomerate
31:40saw the writing on the wall.
31:42It took them less than a year to put the nail in the coffin on this chain when their
31:46last store closed on New Year's Eve, 2001.
31:53Number 14.
31:54Payless Shoes.
31:56Much like many of the other stores on our list, Payless started with humble beginnings
32:00only to fall victim to our ever-changing times.
32:10Founded in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shel Pozes, Payless became known for its unique
32:15line of shoes called Pro Wings, as well as a plethora of other footwear-related products.
32:30But in the mists of the retail shift in the 2010s, Payless filed for bankruptcy twice,
32:35eventually shutting down all operations in North America.
32:39Payless closed all of its remaining North American stores, more than 2,000 of them,
32:44in 2019 after filing for Chapter 11 for a second time.
32:48The company emerged from bankruptcy in January 2020.
32:52They do continue to operate stores in other parts of the world and online.
32:56Number 13.
32:57Ames.
32:58Department stores have always been common in big cities.
33:01But when Ames opened up in 1958, they went after the retail market in much smaller populated
33:07areas.
33:08This led to a boom in business and expansion, which reached up to 327 stores.
33:21It did not, however, come without a cost.
33:24Poor decisions around consumer credit resulted in a bankruptcy filing in 1990.
33:29The company survived and by 1993 was turning a profit again.
33:41But the success didn't last.
33:43By the turn of the century, Ames had begun closing many of its stores and filed a second
33:47bankruptcy in late 2001, which saw the end of this store.
33:58Number 12.
33:59Teavana.
34:00No matter how large a corporation gets, you have to remember that they all started out
34:05small.
34:06Such was the case for Andrew T. Mack and his wife, who formed Teavana in 1997 with a little
34:11tea house in a mall.
34:13The brand became so successful that it only took 15 years for Starbucks to take notice
34:18and acquire them to the tune of $620 million.
34:33The name persisted for five more years before Starbucks pulled the plug on all 379 Teavana
34:39shops.
34:40Starbucks is shutting down hundreds of its Teavana branded stores.
34:43That includes all four Colorado locations.
34:46Their entry into the tea market has since dropped considerably as Starbucks now only
34:50sells a very limited number of Teavana products.
35:00Number 11.
35:01Sharper Image.
35:02Similar to SkyMall and Hamacher Schlemmer, Sharper Image was a catalog business that
35:07thrived on high-tech gadgets and niche products.
35:23Distinguishing itself from the other catalog companies, they expanded into retail, opening
35:27187 stores throughout malls and airports across the United States.
35:38Oddly enough, it was an air purifier product that ultimately helped kill the company.
35:43After Consumer Reports gave fail ratings to their Ionic Breeze products, Sharper Image
35:48sued.
35:59However, they were themselves sued by customers for misrepresentation of their product.
36:05As the blame went back and forth, upper management changed and consumer interest tapered off.
36:10The company went bankrupt in 2008.
36:13Number 10.
36:14Circuit City.
36:20Founded in 1949 under the name Ward's Company, Circuit City was one of the most popular consumer
36:25electronics stores in the United States.
36:28During their peak, the chain boasted more than 550 stores across the country, offering
36:33plenty of electronic goods and services.
36:36They even had a chance to buy out the fledgling Best Buy operation in 1988, but declined when
36:43Circuit City's CEO thought they could just put them out of business.
36:46Well, that didn't work out in the long run.
36:49When 2007 rolled around, wages were being cut, locations were being closed, and management
36:54turnover was high.
37:05By 2009, the company pulled the plug, and the days of Circuit City were over.
37:10Number 9.
37:11A&P.
37:13The great Atlantic and Pacific tea company existed from 1859 to 2015.
37:19Known to most customers simply as A&P, there was a time when they were a huge player in
37:24the grocery business.
37:30From a few retail shops selling tea and coffee in New York, the company blossomed after being
37:34acquired by George Huntington Hartford.
37:37From there, over much time, it became a full-on grocery store, which would eventually have
37:42roughly 16,000 locations.
37:49However, by the 1970s, the stores had become conceptually stale and plagued by bad customer
38:02service.
38:03The chain did manage to have a bit of a comeback in the early aughts, but was short-lived,
38:08and it finally went under in 2015.
38:19Number 8.
38:20F.W.
38:21Woolworth Company.
38:27Did you know that Woolworth's may have been the original inspiration for the Dollar Store?
38:32Founded by Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879, it opened as Woolworth's Great Five-Cent
38:38Store, which sold everything for a nickel or two.
38:41Although that operation didn't last, the subsequent store became successful.
38:52Frank brought in his brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth, and the two began a journey that
38:56would see their ideas about retail continue to be used today.
39:00Woolworth's was highly successful until the 1980s, when stiff competition forced them
39:05to shift their priorities to their sporting goods division.
39:17In 2001, they became known as Foot Locker, and are still selling sporting goods today.
39:22A few dozen Woolworth's stores do still continue to exist in Mexico, under different ownership.
39:27Number 7.
39:28Sam Goody.
39:35Much like many other music retailers, Sam Goody became the victim of the digital revolution
39:39in music.
39:41Founded in 1951 as a small music shop in New York City, it eventually merged with Musicland,
39:46which helped expand the brand.
39:48At its peak, the Sam Goody-branded stores expanded to 800 locations, and brought in
39:53several billion dollars worth of revenue.
39:56It had become almost synonymous with music retail, which held it above water for a long
40:00time.
40:01But, after struggling through a handful of acquisitions and changes to its business model,
40:05the stores began to close.
40:07By 2012, most of the stores were gone, or simply rebranded as FYE.
40:13Number 6.
40:14Borders.
40:15Ever since Gutenberg revolutionized printing so long ago, books have been
40:25in demand.
40:27This human desire to learn or enjoy stories is what eventually spawned the likes of giant
40:31bookstore chains like Borders.
40:33Operating for nearly 40 years, this bookstore saw its peak with over 500 U.S.-based stores,
40:39and even more via other brands and franchising.
40:42By the time 2007 rolled along, however, the company had begun to struggle to remain in
40:47business.
40:55Several attempts were made to keep it going, but by September of 2011, the chain had come
41:00to an end, with its stores closing and rival chain Barnes & Noble buying its trademark.
41:14Number 5.
41:15Fry's Electronics.
41:21The sale of Fry's Supermarkets chain eventually spawned a completely new type of electronics
41:26store back in 1985.
41:29The intent was to make shopping for electronics a similar experience to going for groceries.
41:34Whether it was circuit boards, software, or any other kind of electronic device, Fry's
41:38was the place to get it.
41:46It was actually one of the few places you could buy raw computer parts off the shelf
41:50to assemble your PC on your own.
41:53The stores ballooned in popularity, and even the aforementioned Circuit City didn't offer
41:58the same kinds of fare.
42:14But after decades of sometimes controversial business practices and squeezed by the COVID
42:20pandemic in 2020 and long-standing market pressures, all their stores ceased operations
42:25in February 2021.
42:35Number 4.
42:36Linens and Things.
42:38If there is one common thread connecting many of these now-defunct businesses, it's that
42:42for many of them, a combination of acquisitions and management changes seems to be their undoing.
42:48Founded in 1975, this home, textile, and housewares big-box retailer grew considerably
42:53by the time it opened its 55th store in 1983.
43:07It was acquired and then eventually spun off as its own entity again in 1996, but then
43:13reacquired by Apollo Global Management in 2006.
43:17The company then truly began to find itself in financial difficulty.
43:30A series of losses combined with a decline of sales eventually forced the company to
43:34pull the plug on their stores by 2008, going online exclusively.
43:39Number 3.
43:40RadioShack.
43:52The humble beginnings of RadioShack began back in 1921.
43:57The company focused its sales strategy on radio and electronics hobbyists.
44:01For decades, this gave them a lucrative market to fill, and interest in electronics eventually
44:06grew even further with the new computer and video game age.
44:10It was also RadioShack that produced the famous TRS-80, one of the first widely available
44:15home computers.
44:26But much like many other retailers, their popularity declined with the rise of online
44:30shopping and fewer hobbyists to buy their wares.
44:38By 2017, the company had gone bankrupt and was no longer the giant retailer it once was,
44:44with a smattering of stores remaining under different ownership and eventually the brand
44:48being scooped up to attempt viability online.
44:55Number 2.
44:56Toys R Us.
44:57Who doesn't remember wanting to be a Toys R Us kid?
45:01From toys to video games to books to bikes, this was a chain that had almost everything
45:05a child could possibly want.
45:14But like many retailers over the last few decades, they struggled to keep up with the
45:17times and competition with the likes of mass market stores and online shopping.
45:22It was unprepared for what no one saw coming.
45:25In 2017, the chain filed for bankruptcy and began liquidating their assets.
45:34By the middle of 2018, they had closed most of their U.S. stores, with the last two closing
45:39in 2021.
45:42However, you can still find Toys R Us stores across Canada and Asia.
45:50Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
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46:06Number 1.
46:08Blockbuster
46:09One of the biggest industries to emerge from the creation of the VCR was the home movie
46:13rental business.
46:14At the inception of the movie business decades earlier, no one had ever expected people to
46:33want to watch their movies at home instead of at theaters.
46:36With more than 30,000 stores open globally at its commercial peak, if you wanted to rent
46:41a new release, odds are you went to Blockbuster Video.
46:48Video rentals became ingrained in our culture and Blockbuster profited mightily.
46:53But as streaming services and mail-in DVD options became available over the years, the
46:58days of Be Kind, Rewind were over and Blockbuster famously ceased to be.
47:03Its various partnerships folded and stores worldwide were rapidly plunged into administration.
47:11Its 9,000-strong chain had been reduced to one single franchise in Bend, Oregon.
47:18Did your favorite store in boom times go bust?
47:21Let us know in the comments below.
47:27Did you enjoy this video?
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