Carson's | |
Company type | Subsidiary |
Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1854Chicago, Illinois | in
Founders | Samuel Carson, John Pirie |
Defunct | 2018 | (as an original retailer with physical stores)
Fate | Filed for bankruptcy, reorganized |
Number of locations | 0 (at peak, 51 stores) [1] |
Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, housewares |
Parent |
|
Website | carsons |
Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (also known as Carson's) is an American department store that was founded in 1854, which grew to over 50 locations, primarily in the Midwestern United States. It was sold to the holding company of Bon-Ton in 2006, but still operated under the Carson name. The entire Bon-Ton collection of stores, including Carson's, went into bankruptcy and closed in 2018. Bon-Ton's intellectual property was quickly sold while in bankruptcy, and the new owners reopened shortly afterwards as a BrandX virtual retailer. [2]
The chain began in 1854 when Samuel Carson and John Thomas Pirie first clerked in the Murray's dry goods store in Peru, Illinois, then opened their own store in LaSalle, followed by one in Amboy. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed 60% of the store's stock.[ citation needed ]
John Edwin Scott operated a dry goods store in Ottawa, Illinois. He later moved up to Chicago and became the first partner of Carson and Pirie in the ownership of a dry goods store which became known as Carson Pirie Scott & Co. Two of Scott's sons, Robert L. and Frederick H., were members of the department store firm.
The flagship store on State Street in the Downtown Chicago Loop is still known as the Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building. Louis Sullivan designed it for department store Schlesinger & Mayer, who added to it over the years. When that company went bankrupt in 1904, they sold the building to Carson Pirie Scott in 1904, and it would remain Carson's flagship store for 114 years until the Carson's chain closed in 2018.
In 1961, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. greatly expanded in Illinois by purchasing the 20 unit Block & Kuhl chain headquartered in Peoria. [3]
In 1980, to diversify its business, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. borrowed $108 million to buy Dobbs Houses, Inc., an airline caterer and owner of the Toddle House and Steak 'n Egg Kitchen restaurant chains. These were sold in 1988, as was the County Seat clothing chain.
In 1989, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. was acquired by P.A. Bergner & Co. (founded in Peoria), who operated the Bergner's, Charles V. Weise, Myers Brothers and Boston Store chains. [4]
Year | Description |
---|---|
1961 | Block & Kuhl stores rebranded Carson Pirie Scott |
1987 |
|
1989 | Carson Pirie Scott acquired by P.A. Bergner & Co. who operated the Bergner's, Charles V. Weise, Myers Brothers and Boston Store chains |
1998 | Proffitt's Inc., now Saks Incorporated, buys P. A. Bergner & Co. |
2005 | Saks sells Carson Pirie Scott as well as Bergner's, Younkers, Boston Store, and Herberger's to Bon-Ton Stores |
2018 | Bon-Ton liquidates its department stores |
In 1991, P.A. Bergner & Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; [5] upon emerging from bankruptcy in 1993, it became a NASDAQ publicly traded company, changing its operating name to Carson Pirie Scott & Co. [6] [7] One year later, the company commenced trading on the NYSE under the CRP symbol.
By 1998, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. ownership was held by Proffitt's, Inc., (later renamed Saks Incorporated to reflect the acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenue). The Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, and Boston Store chains, along with Younkers and Herberger's nameplates, eventually operated as Saks' Northern Department Store Group (NDSG), based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In late 2005, however, the group was put up for sale as Saks Incorporated tried to refocus itself primarily on its core Saks Fifth Avenue stores.
Carson's and its associated stores became part of The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. in a $1.1 billion deal completed on March 6, 2006. [8] The group's merchandising and marketing base remained in Milwaukee.
Bon-Ton converted Elder-Beerman stores in Indiana and Michigan to the newly shortened Carson's name in 2011 and 2012. [9] [10] The chain expanded into Metro Detroit in 2013 with the conversion of three Parisian stores. [11]
Bon-Ton announced on April 17, 2018 that they would cease operations and began liquidating all 267 stores after two liquidators, Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group, won an auction for the company. The bid was estimated to be worth $775.5 million. This included all remaining Carson's stores after 164 years of operation. According to national retail reporter Mitch Nolen, stores closed within 10 to 12 weeks. [12] [13]
The intellectual property of Bon-Ton, including Carson's, was quickly sold in bankruptcy to CSC Generation, and online retail was reopened. The new owners, based in Merrillville, Indiana, were also exploring opening new store locations. [2] On October 29, 2018; Under this new ownership and using the same company and stores' names, Bon-Ton started announcing it would reopen the Evergreen Park, Illinois Carson's store on November 24 (Black Friday)–one of Bon-Ton's first brick-and-mortar stores to reopen. Bon-Ton has also announced plans to open brick-and-mortar Carson's stores in Bloomingdale, Lombard and Orland Park. [14] The sole location to return to operation was in Evergreen Park; the company never followed through in Orland Park and Lombard. The Evergreen Park location closed in October 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. [15] Carson's currently has no brick and mortar stores and exists only as on online retailer. As of November, 2021 Carson's website is preparing for another relaunch by BrandX who has also acquired the Stage Store trademarks.
Parisian Inc. was an American chain of upmarket department stores founded and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. Competing mainly through the 1980s against Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and Gus Mayer, Parisian underwent a series of restructurings and mergers during its 130-year history, and was taken over by Proffitt’s, Inc. in 1996. In September 2006, Belk purchased Parisian from Saks for $285 million with twenty-four locations later becoming Belk by September 2007. Parisian was quickly sold once more in October 2006 to The Bon-Ton with stores operating in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio. Parisian operated individually under its own separate division until 2013 when the exclusive rights to operate Parisian had expired, marking the end of this upmarket department store.
County Seat was an American clothing retailer founded in 1973. With more than 740 stores at its peak, the chain closed in 1999 following Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Younkers Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded as a family-run dry goods business in 1856 in Keokuk, Iowa. The retailer had evolved over more than 150 years to include a presence in locations throughout Iowa and bordering states in the Midwest region of the United States. It is pronounced yong-kers. Younkers became influential as it acquired several rivals throughout the 20th century both inside and outside of Iowa. The chain itself was sold by the late 1990s, with ownership transferring out of state, and its Des Moines-based headquarters closed by 2003 as a part of a corporate consolidation. Following its last sale in 2006, Younkers operated as a subsidiary of The Bon-Ton, with locations in seven Midwestern states, primarily in shopping malls. As of 2013 the chain operated more than fifty locations in the region. On August 29, 2018, Younkers closed its doors one last time.
Saks, Inc. was an American holding company founded in 1919. Before acquisition by the Canadian-founded Hudson's Bay Company in 2013, it held ownership of department store chains including New York City-based Saks Fifth Avenue (1998–2013) and Tennessee-based Proffitt's (1919–2005). It acquired several mid-range department store chains in the 1990s, however, refocused on upscale retailing and divested of them in the mid-2000s.
Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. The chain was founded in 1919 by David W. Proffitt and James Ellis. In 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk after Belk had acquired the two chains in July 2005 from Saks, Inc. At the time of their demise they operated 47 Proffitts & McRae's stores.
The Boston Store is a digitally native retailer. It was established in 1897 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a department store.
G. R. Herberger Inc. is a digitally native retailer. It was established in 1927 in the Midwestern United States as a department store.
Bonton Holdings Inc. operating as Bonton was an American department store chain and group founded in 1898. The former York, Pennsylvania-based company BonTon filed for bankruptcy in February 2018 and sold the name to CSC Generation, which sold it to BrandX.com in 2021, operating an e-commerce site under the brand name. Along with Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson's, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's, and Younkers, the names of most of the defunct retail group's department store chains are owned by BrandX.
P.A. Bergner & Co. is an upscale Midwestern department store in the United States, that was established in 1889. The chain is now an online retailer operated by BrandX.com, Inc. The flagship store was located in Peoria, Illinois at The Shoppes at Grande Prairie.
Allied Stores was a department store chain in the United States. It was founded in the 1930s as part of a general consolidation in the retail sector by B. E. Puckett. See also Associated Dry Goods. It was the successor to Hahn's Department Stores, a holding company founded in 1928. In 1935 Hahn's was reorganized into Allied Stores.
The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., commonly known as Elder-Beerman, was an American chain of department stores founded in 1883 and whose last stores closed in 2018. The chain, based primarily in the Midwestern United States, was composed of 31 stores in eight states at the time of its liquidation in 2018, and peaked around 2003 with 68 stores and $670 million in annual sales.
Southlake Mall is a shopping mall in Hobart, Indiana that is marketed as being in Merrillville, Indiana, due primarily to being served by the 46410 postal Zip Code. The tract of land on which it sits was annexed by the city of Hobart from unincorporated Ross Township in 1993. It lies in the Chicago metropolitan area. Southlake Mall is the only enclosed super regional mall in Northwest Indiana, as well as one of largest in the state overall along with Castleton Square in Indianapolis and Glenbrook Square in Fort Wayne. The mall's anchor stores are Kohl's, JCPenney, Macy's, H&M, and Forever 21. There are three vacant anchors stores that were once Dick's Sporting Goods, Carson Pirie Scott, and Sears. The Macy's store was an L. S. Ayres store prior to September 9, 2006. The mall first opened with only two anchor stores – JCPenney and Sears – and the north and south anchor wings were added later. The former Carson's had housed the cafeteria-style "The Garden Restaurant" by the entrance near the security garage on the south side of the mall from 1975 to 1989.
Spring Hill Mall was a shopping mall in West Dundee, Illinois. The mall's anchor tenants are currently Kohl's and Cinemark. There are four vacant anchor stores that were once Carson Pirie Scott, Sears, Macy's, and Barnes & Noble.
Gordmans was a retailer founded in Omaha, Nebraska. The chain is owned by BrandX as of May 2022. In 2019, Stage Stores began converting other retail chains it owned into Gordmans stores, with the goal of having 700 Gordmans stores in 42 states by the end of 2020. In May 2020, Stage Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and began liquidating its stores. Although a buyer for Stage could have prevented liquidation, Stage later announced that they would proceed with going out of business sales at all locations. There is one store in the town of Algonquin, Illinois.
The Plaza, formerly known as Evergreen Plaza, was a shopping mall in Evergreen Park, Illinois, United States. It was legally organized by Arthur Rubloff, who is also credited with coining the phrase "Magnificent Mile" describing the upscale section of Michigan Avenue north of the Chicago River to Oak Street. Rubloff secured the funding for the Evergreen Plaza from the Walgreen family who lived nearby in Beverly, Chicago. The Evergreen Plaza operated from 1952 to 2013. It featured over 120 stores, as well as a food court. The mall closed in 2013 and became an outdoor shopping center. Anchors include Whole Foods Market, and Burlington Coat Factory.
Randhurst Village is a shopping center located at the corner of Rand Road and Elmhurst Road in Mount Prospect, Illinois. The shopping center took its name from combining the names of these two roads.
Concord Mall was an enclosed shopping mall serving Elkhart, Indiana, United States. It opened in 1972, featuring Montgomery Ward and Robertson's as its anchor stores, with JCPenney being added on in 1976. Robertson's was converted to Meis, Elder-Beerman, and Carson's before closing in 2018, while Montgomery Ward was divided between Hobby Lobby and ABC Warehouse. These are also the only two stores open at the mall, which otherwise closed for business in 2023.
Muncie Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Muncie, Indiana. Opened in 1970, it was developed by Melvin Simon & Associates, now known as Simon Property Group. The mall's original anchor stores were W. T. Grant, Britt's, Sears, and Ball Stores. In 2020 the mall had no anchor stores, although it continued to have over 30 inline tenants. Its anchor stores as they closed were JCPenney, Macy's, Carson's, and Sears. In 2021 the former Macy's building was bought by a discount store called Buyers Market. The mall is owned and managed by the Hull Property Group.
Village Mall is a shopping mall in Danville, Illinois in the United States. Opened in 1975, the mall's anchor stores are County Market, Pet Supplies Plus, Dunham's Sports, Ross Dress for Less, Citi Trends, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Burlington, Shoe Sensation, Slumberland Furniture, and AMC Theatres. There are 2 vacant anchor store that were once Carson's and Sears. It is managed by T Danville, a division of Tabani Group.
Cross County Mall is a shopping mall in Mattoon, Illinois, U.S. It was opened in 1971 with JCPenney, G. C. Murphy, IGA, Arlan's, and Myers Brothers, with Sears joining in 1972. Following the closure of Arlan's in 1973, the space became Kmart one year later. G. C. Murphy became Meis, Elder-Beerman, and then Carson's, while Kmart moved out of the mall in 1993 and became a larger Sears store. The Sears closed in 2014 and became a Rural King in 2019. Following the closures of Carson's and JCPenney in 2018 and 2020 respectively, the mall's anchors are Rural King, Marshalls, Jo-Ann Fabrics, and Dunham's Sports. Rural King also owns the mall.
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