Macy's, Inc. is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito's. Bloomingdale's joined Federated Department Stores the next year. Throughout its early history, frequent acquisitions and divestitures saw the company operate a number of nameplates. In 1994, Federated took over the department store chain Macy's. Despite a long history of preserving regional nameplates, with the acquisition of The May Department Stores Company in 2005, they were retired and replaced by the Macy's and Bloomingdale's brands nationwide by 2006. Ultimately, Federated itself was renamed Macy's, Inc. in 2007.
Zayre was a chain of discount stores that operated in the eastern half of the United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters was in Framingham, Massachusetts. In October 1988, Zayre's parent company, Zayre Corp., sold the stores to the competing Ames Department Stores, Inc. chain. In June 1989, Zayre Corp. merged with one of its subsidiaries, The TJX Companies, parent company of T.J. Maxx, which still exists today. A number of stores retained the Zayre name until 1990, by which time all stores were either closed or converted into Ames stores.
Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. It is the third-largest drugstore chain in the United States, with over 2,000 stores, and ranked No. 148 in the Fortune 500 in 2022.
Revco Discount Drug Stores, once based in Twinsburg, Ohio, was a major drug store chain operating through the Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic states, and the Southeastern United States. The chain's stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol RXR. Revco was sold to CVS Pharmacy for $2.8 billion in February 1997. When it was sold, the chain had over 2,500 stores.
Melville Corporation was a large retail holding company incorporated by Ward Melville in 1922 from Melville Shoe Company. Formerly based in Rye, New York, it became CVS Corporation in 1996 under a massive reorganization plan. The company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker MES, before changing its ticker to CVS.
Hook's Drug Stores was an Indianapolis, Indiana-based drug store chain which was founded in 1900 by John A. Hook. The chain flourished throughout central Indiana for most of the 20th-century.
The Penn Traffic Company was a food service company founded in 1854 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Grand Union Supermarkets, later known as Grand Union Family Markets and often referred to simply as Grand Union, is an American chain of grocery stores that does business in upstate New York and Vermont, and used to do business throughout most of the northeastern United States. It operated stores in other areas of the country including the midwestern and southeastern states, and internationally in the Caribbean and Canada. The company was founded and headquartered in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and moved to Brooklyn, New York, in the early 20th century. Grand Union moved again to Elmwood Park, New Jersey and finally to Wayne, New Jersey before the company was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2001 and sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers.
K·B Toys was an American chain of mall-based retail toy stores. The company was founded in 1922 as Kaufman Brothers, a wholesale candy store. The company opened a wholesale toy store in 1946, and ended its candy wholesales two years later to emphasize its toy products. Retail sales began during the 1970s, using the name Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby.
Hills was a discount department store chain based in Canton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1957 in Youngstown, Ohio and existed until 1999 when it was acquired by Ames. Most stores were located in Ohio, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, though the company did make a push into other markets. It pushed further south and had several stores in Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama and west into Michigan.
A closeout or clearance sale is a discount sale of inventory either by retail or wholesale. It may be that a product is not selling well, or that the retailer is closing because of relocation, a fire, over-ordering, or especially because of bankruptcy. In the latter case, it is usually known as a going-out-of-business sale or liquidation sale, and is part of the process of liquidation. A hail sale is a closeout at a car dealership after hail damage.
Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. is an American discount closeout retailer consisting exclusively of supermarket locations that offer deeply discounted, overstocked, and closeout products from name-brand and private-label suppliers. The company has stores in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, and Delaware.
Value City Department Stores was an American department store chain with 113 locations. It was founded in 1917 by Ephraim Schottenstein, a travelling salesman in central Ohio. The store was an off-price retailer that sold clothing, jewelry, and home goods below the manufacturer suggested retail price. The chain focused on buyout and closeout merchandise, and occasionally irregular apparel and factory seconds. The stores were branded Schottenstein's in the Columbus, Ohio, market. The Schottenstein name was dropped in 2008. Also, three stores in Metro Detroit were co-branded as Crowley's Value City. From 1984 to 1995, Schottenstein also owned Shifrin-Willens, a jewelry store.
Gamble-Skogmo Inc. was a conglomerate of retail chains and other businesses that was headquartered in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Business operated or franchised by Gamble-Skogmo included Gambles hardware and auto supply stores, Woman's World and Mode O'Day clothing stores, J.M. McDonald department stores, Leath Furniture stores, Tempo and Buckeye Mart Discount Stores, Howard's Brandiscount Department Stores, Rasco Variety Stores, Sarco Outlet Stores, Toy World, Rasco-Tempo, Red Owl Grocery, Snyder Drug and the Aldens mail-order company. In Canada, retail operations consisted of Macleods Hardware, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Stedmans Department Stores, based in Toronto, Ontario. Gamble-Skogmo carried a line of home appliances, including radios, televisions, refrigerators, and freezers, under the Coronado brand name.
Retail Ventures was a holding company originally created in 2003 for DSW, Filene's Basement, and Value City Department Stores. The retailer's initial public offering was in 1991 under the Value City name. Value City went on to purchase the DSW shoe business in 1998 and Filene's Basement in 2000.
CVS Health Corporation is an American healthcare company that owns CVS Pharmacy, a retail pharmacy chain; CVS Caremark, a pharmacy benefits manager; and Aetna, a health insurance provider, among many other brands. The company is the world's largest healthcare company, and its headquarters are in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. In 2023, the company was ranked 65th in the Forbes Global 2000.
National Wholesale Liquidators is a Brooklyn, New York-based company that operates warehouse-style closeout discount stores. It offers a mix of brand-name items, everyday household items, and furniture. National Wholesale Liquidators carries over 120,000 items. The company also offers appliances, automotive products, bath towels, bedding, carpets and floor covers, detergents and cleaning products, electrical hardware, electronics, food products, furniture outdoor, giftware, health and beauty aids, holiday decorative, and household storage products. In addition, it offers indoor furniture, jewelry, kitchen towels-linens, luggage, men's apparel and fragrances, paint and sundries, paper goods and supplies, personal umbrellas, pet supplies, sporting goods, vacuums and accessories, video games, and women's fragrances.
The history of Target Corporation first began in 1902 by George Dayton. The company was originally named Goodfellow Dry Goods in June 1902 before being renamed the Dayton's Dry Goods Company in 1903 and later the Dayton Company in 1910. The first Target store opened in Roseville, Minnesota in 1962 while the parent company was renamed the Dayton Corporation in 1967. It became the Dayton-Hudson Corporation after merging with the J.L. Hudson Company in 1969 and held ownership of several department store chains including Dayton's, Hudson's, Marshall Field's, and Mervyn's. In 2000, the Dayton-Hudson Corporation was renamed to Target Corporation.
Retail apocalypse refers to the closing of numerous brick-and-mortar retail stores, especially those of large chains, beginning around 2010 and accelerating due to the mandatory closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
US$6.15 billion (2021) [2] 
