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Barker's Discount Department Stores was a chain of discount department stores founded in May, 1957 by Felix Mininberg and Irving Barker. As one of the first hard goods discounters, and with creative promotions, the initial store, in Orange, Connecticut, grew quickly with a wide variety of products for the home arranged in a supermarket style. This success spawned a second 40,000 sq. ft. location in Wallingford, Connecticut in 1960. The company was sold to Franklin Stores Corporation in 1961, and then grew quickly throughout the Northeast and South Central United States, the Caribbean, and the United States Virgin Islands. Irving Barker left Franklin Stores Corporation in 1963 and started his own discount store, Sabers. Felix Mininberg stayed on as Vice President. Mininberg's main position was to find locations for the new stores and oversee the building of each new store.
Barker's invested heavily in imports which they purchased directly from manufacturers, which played a major role in their discounting plans. They made use of import distributors domestically, as well as direct buying from overseas. Barkers belief was that to offer discounts, they must offer a wide variety of brand names, private brands, imports and domestic labels. Barkers layout was mostly the same as other retailers. They had departments featuring furniture, electrical, hardware, clothing, health and beauty aids, records, books, TV's, camera's, automotive, camping, bicycles, garden, etc.
The slogan they used was "Pay Less For The Best".
Barkers, like other department stores, had its share of competition, including Nichols Discount City, Bradlees, King's Department Stores and Caldor.
Barker's was founded in May, 1957 by Irving Barker and Felix Mininberg, in Orange, Connecticut. As one of the first hard goods discounters and with creative price and entertainment promotions, Barker's grew quickly from its $20,000 initial investment. Following the opening of a second store in Wallingford, Connecticut in September, 1960, Barker's had gross sales of $7 million (~$55.3 million in 2023). The company was acquired by Franklin Stores Corporation in 1961. Paul Panagrosso was one of the founding employees who was instrumental in designing and setting up the initial store that would then grow into a multimillion-dollar regional empire.
Under Franklin, Barker's began a period of 19 years in business. Between 1961 and 1970, Barker's would open over 11 more stores. From 1970 to 1975, Barker's would become one of the nations fastest growing retail chains in the United States, opening almost 20 stores alone in New York State. In 1976, Barkers would open up several former W.T. Grant store locations in central New York. Irving Barker remained with Franklin Stores until 1963.
After years of prosperity, Barkers was on its downfall, along with several other major retailers. King's Department Stores Inc. (later renamed KDT Industries, Inc) acquired the financially ailing Barkers for $30 million (~$93.1 million in 2023) in August 1980. Included in this deal was the 125 Franklin Store chain, a women's specialty shop retailer. Barker's stores retained their name until early 1981, when most Barker's were renamed King's. Barker's stores not purchased by King's were either closed or sold to other retailers. At the time of this purchase, Barker's operated 63 stores. Only the stores in Louisiana, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands retained the Barker's name. KDT Industries, under a reorganization plan, would finally close all Louisiana Barker's stores on October 24, 1982. Their Puerto Rico stores were converted to Kmart stores throughout 1983 and 1984. An location example is Humacao, Puerto Rico.
A store in San Antonio, Texas was converted into Globe Discount City. the store later became Kmart and closed in 2003 and is now the headquarters of San Antonio Police Department.
Kmart, formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department store chain, and an online retailer in the United States and its territories and operates six remaining Kmart big-box department stores — 3 in the US Virgin Islands and one each in Kendale Lakes, Florida ; Bridgehampton, New York; and Tamuning, Guam.
Zellers was a Canadian discount store chain founded by Walter P. Zeller in 1931. It was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 1978, and after a series of acquisitions and expansions, peaked with 350 locations in 1999. However, fierce competition and an inability to adapt during the early stages of the retail apocalypse resulted in Zellers losing significant ground in the 2000s.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as a mail ordering catalog company migrating to opening retail locations in 1925, the first in Chicago. In 2005, the company was bought by the management of the American big box discount chain Kmart, which upon completion of the merger, formed Sears Holdings. Through the 1980s, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States. In 2018, it was the 31st-largest. After several years of declining sales, Sears's parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018. It announced on January 16, 2019, that it had won its bankruptcy auction, and that a reduced number of 425 stores would remain open, including 223 Sears stores.
Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is an American department store chain that operates 656 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Men's, Women's, Boys', Girls', Baby, Bedding, Home, Fine Jewelry, Shoes, Lingerie, JCPenney Salon, JCPenney Beauty, as well as leased departments such as Seattle's Best Coffee, US Vision optical centers, and Lifetouch portrait studios.
A discount store or discounter offers a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down costs.
Walden Book Company, Inc., doing business as, Waldenbooks, was an American shopping mall-based bookstore chain and a subsidiary of Borders Group. The chain also ran a video game and software chain under the name Waldensoftware, as well as a children's educational toy chain under Walden Kids. In 2011, the chain was liquidated in bankruptcy.
OfficeMax is an American office supplies retailer founded in 1988. As an independent chain, it was the third-largest office supply retailer in the United States. Following a 2013 merger, it is currently a brand and subsidiary of Office Depot.
Caldor, Inc. was a discount department store chain founded in 1951 by husband and wife Carl and Dorothy Bennett. Referred to by many as "the Bloomingdale's of discounting," Caldor grew from a second story "Walk-Up-&-Save" operation in Port Chester, New York, into a regional retailing giant. Its stores were earning over $1 billion in sales by the time Carl Bennett retired in 1985, by which time Caldor was a subsidiary of Associated Dry Goods.
McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often included a lunch counter or snack bar. They also exclusively sold Oriole Records, one of the most popular "dime store labels" from 1921 to 1938.
The Shoppes at South Hills, formerly South Hills Mall, was a shopping mall on U.S. 9, now converted into a strip mall, in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York. The 675,000 ft² plaza opened in 1974 and included two anchors, Sears and Kmart, at opposite ends of the mall. Currently, The Shoppes at South Hills are owned and operated by DLC Management Corporation.
Thom McAn is an American brand of shoes and was formerly a retail chain. Its shoes have been sold in Kmart and Sears stores. It consists of leather-dress, casual, and athletic shoes. Until the 1990s, Thom McAn had hundreds of retail stores in the US, and was one of the oldest and best-known shoe retailers in the country. As of late 2008, the brand was controlled by Sears Brands, LLC.
Farmacias El Amal, was a regional pharmacy chain operating throughout Puerto Rico. At its peak, it operated more than 60 pharmacies across Puerto Rico. The chain was privately held and was founded in 1973. Its largest competitors were Walgreens, Kmart and Walmart.
Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-largest retailing company in the United States in 2015. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018, and sold its assets to ESL Investments in 2019. The new owner moved Sears assets to its newly formed subsidiary Transformco and after that, Sears Holdings Corporation was closed.
San Patricio Plaza is a 640,000 square feet (59,000 m2) three-level enclosed shopping mall located in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The mall is located at the intersection of PR-2, PR-23, and PR-20, and has over 120 stores with its anchors being T.J. Maxx, Capri, Walgreens, PetSmart, Caribbean Cinemas and Office Depot, and Burlington, plus an outdoor shopping area known as "Liberty Square".
Plaza Rio Hondo is a shopping mall in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. It opened in 1982 and is anchored by Marshalls Megastore, Caribbean Cinemas, TJ Maxx, Best Buy, Golden Corral, Pueblo Supermarkets, Chili's Grill & Bar, Walgreens, and PetSmart.
Pitusa was a chain of department stores operating in Puerto Rico. It was one of the largest Puerto Rican store companies and a competitor of another chain on the island, Topeka.
Transform SR Brands LLC is an American privately held company formed on February 11, 2019, to acquire some of the assets of Sears Holdings Corporation. The new company is owned by ESL Investments. Following the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Sears Holdings on October 15, 2018, Transformco purchased the surviving assets owned by Sears Holdings for $5.2 billion.
Señorial Plaza, also known as the El Señorial Plaza, is an enclosed shopping mall in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Anchor stores for the mall are a Pueblo Supermarket, and a Walgreens. It formerly had a Kmart as an anchor store which closed in August 2015, the space remaining vacant.
Sears Roebuck de Puerto Rico, Inc., or just Sears de Puerto Rico, was founded in 1961, as a subsidiary to the main Sears Roebuck and Company. It would serve to operate Sears stores in Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The company's line of business includes the retail sale of general lines of apparel such as suits, coats, dresses, and home furnishings. Sears Roebuck and Company established itself in Puerto Rico in 1937, opening a catalogue store that year. At its peak, Sears had 10+ locations on the island. As of October 2023, two Sears stores remain open on the island at the Plaza Las Américas shopping mall.
Plaza del Atlántico is an enclosed shopping mall located in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Anchor stores for the mall is a Tiendas Capri and a Grand Stores, other main stores in the mall consists of All Ways 99, Me Salve, Rainbow, Exentrix, La Nueva Era, and others. It was formerly anchored by a Kmart store which was announced to close in November 2019.