Company type | American private company |
---|---|
Industry | Retail (Specialty) |
Founded | 1856 in Sacramento, California, United States of America |
Founder | John Breuner |
Defunct | 2004 (retailer, internet outlet closed soon after) |
Area served | Internet |
Key people | Bill Breuner, Beth Breuner Grebitus |
Products | furniture |
Website | Now defunct |
Breuners Home Furnishings was a chain of furniture stores in Southwestern United States for 148 years before declaring bankruptcy in 2004.
Founded in California during the California gold rush in the mid-19th century, its stores served California and Nevada before expanding to the east coast in the late 20th century. [1] In 2004 the company declared bankruptcy, [2] closed all its retail stores. For a time it had been a virtual brand on the Internet until it too went defunct.
The store was founded in 1856 by William Robert “Bill” Breuner’s great-grandfather [1] John Breuner (1828–1890) to cater to prospectors during the California gold rush. [3] The first store opened in Sacramento, California, with subsequent branches in Oakland, San Francisco and later throughout California and Nevada. The company went public in 1968 under Bill Breuner. [1] Breuner sold the company in the 1970s [4] and it was acquired by Marshall Fields in 1983. [1] At its height Breuners operated 40 retail outlets. [1] The stores were large bigboxes around 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2). [5] By the 1990s the company was based in San Diego and in 1995 expanded into the New York and New Jersey markets by acquiring Huffman Koos’ 13 stores for 36.9 million dollars. [6] Breuners also owned Good’s Furniture stores. [2] Private investment company Oak Point Partners acquired the remnant assets, consisting of any known and unknown assets that weren't previously administered, from the Breuners Home Furnishings Corp., et al., Bankruptcy Estates on November 13, 2012. [7]
Breuner Marsh, a wetlands area, and Breuner Field, a model airplane field within it, in addition to the Breuner Building in downtown Oakland, are all named after the family. [3]
Mervyn's was an American middle-scale department store chain based in Hayward, California, and founded by Mervin G. Morris (1920–2021). It carried national brands of clothing, footwear, bedding, bath products, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, toys, and housewares. Many of the company's stores were opened in shopping malls; however, some locations were operated independently. Based on 2005 revenue, Mervyn's was the 83rd largest retailer in the United States.
Pier 1 Imports, Inc., is an online retailer and former Fort Worth, Texas-based retail chain specializing in imported home furnishings and decor, particularly furniture, table-top items, decorative accessories, and seasonal decor. It was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker PIR. In January 2020, Pier 1 had over 1,000 physical stores throughout the United States and Canada. Pier 1 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 17, 2020, and on May 19, 2020, announced it was asking the bankruptcy court to close all stores, due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Broadway Stores, Inc., was an American retailer based in Southern California. Known through its history as Carter Hawley Hale Stores and Broadway Hale Stores over time, it acquired other retail store chains in regions outside its California home base and became in certain retail sectors a regional and national retailer in the 1970s and 1980s. The company was able to survive takeover attempts in 1984 and 1986, and also a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 1991 by selling off most of its assets until August 1995 when its banks refused to advance enough additional credit in order for the company to be able to pay off suppliers. At that point, the company sold itself to Federated Department Stores for $1.6 billion with the acquisition being completed on October 12, 1995.
Frederick & Nelson was a department store chain in the northwestern United States, based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891 as a furniture store, it later expanded to sell other types of merchandise. The company was acquired by Marshall Field & Company in 1929. By 1980, the Frederick & Nelson chain had expanded to 10 stores in two states. The company filed for bankruptcy and went out of business in 1992. Its former Seattle flagship store building is now occupied by the flagship Nordstrom store.
Euromarket Designs Inc., doing business as Crate & Barrel, is an international furniture and home décor retail store headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. They employ 8200 employees across over 100 stores in the United States and Canada, with franchises in Central America, South America, Asia and United Arab Emirates.
Raley's Supermarkets is an independent, family-owned American grocery and retail technology company headquartered in West Sacramento, California. Raley's was founded in 1935 by Thomas P. Raley in Placerville, California.
Fortunoff is a New York–based retailer of outdoor furniture and jewelry.
Storehouse Furniture was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1969, and it quickly became an early style leader in well-designed, well-priced contemporary furnishings. In fact, it was Storehouse that brought many of today's best international manufacturers to the United States for the first time. Through company-owned stores and franchises, Storehouse soon spread across the Southeast and Texas, and then into the mid-Atlantic region.
Franchise Group, Inc. is an American privately-held holding company that acquires and manages mainly franchise companies. It owns brands in various retail industries including American Freight, Buddy's Home Furnishings, The Vitamin Shoppe, and Pet Supplies Plus.
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market was a chain of grocery stores in the Western United States, headquartered in El Segundo, California. It was a subsidiary of Tesco, the world's third largest retailer, based in the United Kingdom, until November 2013 when it was purchased by Yucaipa Companies. It had plans for rapid growth – the first stores opened in November 2007 and, after a pause in the second quarter of 2008, the opening program recommenced. While there were over 200 stores in Arizona, California, and Nevada by December 2012, Tesco confirmed in April 2013 that it was pulling out of the US market, at a reported cost of £1.2 billion. On September 10, 2013, Tesco announced they were transferring ownership and operations of more than 150 stores to supermarket-owner Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies group. At the beginning of October 2013, Fresh & Easy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. bankruptcy court. The sale cost Tesco £150m, taking the total cost of its failed US venture to nearly £2bn. On October 23, 2015, Yucaipa announced that it would close all Fresh & Easy stores.
World Market, formerly Cost Plus World Market, is an American chain of specialty/import retail stores, selling home furniture, decor, curtains, rugs, gifts, apparel, coffee, wine, craft beer, and international food products. The brand's original name came from the initial concept, since abandoned, of selling items for "cost plus 10%". The company was owned by Bed Bath & Beyond from 2012 to 2021, and is currently headquartered in Alameda, California.
Jennifer Furniture is an American retail company, based in Great Neck, New York. The company is owned by John Garg and the Namdar Realty Group.
Food Fair, also known by its successor name Pantry Pride, was a large supermarket chain in the United States. It was founded by Samuel N. Friedland, and his brother George I. Friedland who opened the first store in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in the late 1920s. As of 1957, Food Fair had 275 stores, and at its peak, the chain had more than 500 stores. Friedland's family retained control of the firm through 1978, when the chain entered bankruptcy.
Levitz Furniture was a nationwide chain of American furniture stores that helped create the "furniture warehouse" genre of retail furniture sales. It was in business for nearly 100 years before liquidating in bankruptcy in early 2008.
The Room Store was a chain of furniture retail stores in the eastern and southern United States, which operated from 1992 to 2012. The company, which was owned by RoomStore, Inc., specialized in retailing all the pieces of furniture for an entire room rather than individual pieces of furniture. For example, a table may have been sold with chairs and other dining room accessories in a package rather than a table alone. The Room Store was ranked as one of the top 25 furniture retailers in the United States. A similar chain with the same name operated stores in Arizona from 1993 to 2016.
Wickes Furniture was a privately held chain of furniture stores based in Wheeling, Illinois. The company was founded in 1971 with a showroom in Fridley, Minnesota, and at its peak, operated 43 stores in California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Texas and Oregon.
Mattress Firm, Inc. is an American mattress store chain founded on July 4, 1986. The headquarters of the company is located in Houston, Texas.
McMahan's Furniture was a family-owned furniture retailer with stores in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Colorado and Oregon. Much of its business came from customers to whom it provided credit.
Z Gallerie is an American chain of home furnishing, art and decor retail stores founded by siblings Joe Zeiden, Mike Zeiden, and Carole Malfatti in Sherman Oaks, California in 1979. The operation began as a small poster shop and started opening combined retail locations in 1982. The retailer was acquired by Brentwood Associates Private Equity V LP in 2014. Karat Home Inc. acquired Z Gallerie on Jan 19, 2024.