Federal's

Last updated
Federal's
Private
IndustryRetail
FateLiquidation
Founded1929;91 years ago (1929) in Detroit, Michigan
FounderDavison brothers
Defunct1980;40 years ago (1980)
Number of locations
54
Area served
Metro Detroit
ProductsClothing, household goods

Federal Department Store, or Federal's, was a department store chain based in Detroit.

History

Federal's was founded in 1929. [1] In 1961, Federal's merged with Kobacker's of Columbus, Ohio and in 1969, [2] it bought Shifrin-Willens Jewelers. [3] The chain filed for bankruptcy in 1972. [4] That same year, the Federal's stores in Lansing and Kalamazoo were closed. [5] Steven Watstein, also known as Steven West, purchased Federal's in 1978. [6] The chain was liquidated in 1980. [7] [8]

One of Federal's holdings at the time of the bankruptcy was the Hoffritz for Cutlery chain, which was sold off in 1975 in a leveraged buyout. [9]

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References

  1. Journal of the House of Representatives. 2. State of Michigan. 1980. p. 1814. OCLC   3825172 via Google Books.
  2. "Davidson Bros., Detroit, Buy Kobacker Stores". The Blade . Toledo. January 28, 1961. p. 15.
  3. "Federal's Buys Shifrin-Willens". The Wall Street Journal . April 29, 1969. p. 7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  4. Rizzo, Michael F. (2007). Nine Nine Eight: The Glory Days of Buffalo Shopping. Lulu Inc. ISBN   978-1430313861. OCLC   128202051.
  5. "Store Closings Set By Federal's Chain" . The New York Times . December 27, 1972. p. 68. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  6. "Steven West Assumes Control at Federal's Inc". The Wall Street Journal. March 20, 1978. p. 7. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  7. Whitaker, Jan & Lisicky, Michael. "More questions and comments about department stores from readers". The History of Department Stores (blog). Archived from the original on 2012-08-17. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
  8. Gleaves, Rebekah (August 29, 2002). "Wild, Wild West: Once convicted of fraud and in debt to the IRS for a cool million, Steven West is some kind of businessman". New Times Broward-Palm Beach .
  9. Trying a Jump-Start at Hoffritz, The New York Times (December 17, 1994)