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.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States.
The Michaels Companies, Inc. is an American retail holding company, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It was formed as a parent company of Michaels in 2014. As of 2021, The Michaels Companies operates its flagship brand, Michaels, and Artistree, a manufacturer of custom and specialty framing merchandise. There are over 1,252 arts and crafts stores located in the United States and Canada.
Consumers Distributing was a catalogue store in Canada and the United States that operated from 1957 to 1996. At its peak, the company operated 243 outlets in Canada and 217 in the United States; these included stores in every province in Canada and in the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California and Nevada.
David's Bridal is a clothier in the United States that specializes in wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, prom and homecoming dresses, quinceañera dresses, flower girl dresses, other formal wear, and alterations. Until filing for bankruptcy in 2023, David's Bridal operated 298 stores in 49 states, Canada, and the United Kingdom, making it the largest American bridal-store chain It sold 25-30% of all wedding dresses purchased in the United States.
Lucky Stores are a pair of American supermarket chains plus a defunct historical chain. The original chain was founded in San Leandro, California and operated from 1935 until 1999. The Lucky brand was revived circa 2007 and is now operated as two distinct chains: Albertsons operates Lucky in Utah and Save Mart Supermarkets operates Lucky California in Northern California.
B. Dalton Bookseller was an American retail bookstore chain founded in 1966 by Bruce Dayton, a member of the same family that operated the Dayton's department store chain. B. Dalton expanded to become the largest retailer of hardcover books in the United States, with 779 stores at the peak of the chain's success. Located mainly at indoor shopping malls, B. Dalton competed primarily with Waldenbooks. Barnes & Noble acquired the chain from Dayton's in 1987 and continued to operate it until a late 2009 announcement that the last 50 stores would be liquidated by January 2010. B. Dalton was later revived by rebranding a Barnes & Noble location in 2022.
Stage Stores was a department store company specializing in retailing off-price brand name apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, and housewares throughout the United States. Stores were usually located in shopping malls and centers or in standalone locations. The corporate office was located in Houston, Texas.
C&S Wholesale Grocers, LLC is a national wholesale grocery supply company in the United States, based in Keene, New Hampshire. In 2021 it was the eighth-largest privately held company in the United States, as listed by Forbes. C&S operates and supports corporate grocery stores and serves independent franchisees under a chain-style model throughout the Midwest, South and Northeast. C&S owns the Piggly Wiggly grocery brand, which is independently franchised to store operators, the Grand Union supermarkets brand, as well as several private label brands, including Best Yet.
Filene's Basement, also called The Basement, was a Massachusetts-based chain of department stores which was owned by Retail Ventures, Inc. until April 2009 when it was sold to Syms.
Jo-Ann Stores, LLC, more commonly known as Jo-Ann, is an American fabric and crafts retail company based in Hudson, Ohio. It operates the retail chains JOANN Fabrics and Crafts and Jo-Ann Etc.
Ritz Camera & Image is a photographic retail and photofinishing specialty store, headquartered in Edison, New Jersey. The company owns and used to operate a chain throughout the United States under the names Wolf Camera, Inkley’s and Ritz Camera. In 2012, Ritz Camera was acquired by C&A Marketing.
Stein Mart is an American discount men's and women's online retailer & former department store chain based in Jacksonville, Florida. Stein Mart had locations primarily in the Southeast, Texas, and California. Stein Mart stores sold recent trends in clothing for both men and women. Additionally, home decor, accessories, and shoes were all available at discounted prices.
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.
Linens 'n Things was a big-box retailer specializing in home textiles, housewares, and decorative home accessories. Based in Clifton, New Jersey, the chain operated 571 stores in 47 U.S. states and six Canadian provinces, and had 7,300 employees as of December 2006. The company's business strategy was "to offer a broad selection of high quality, brand name home furnishings merchandise at exceptional everyday values, provide superior guest service, and maintain low operating costs."
Deb Shops, Inc. was a specialty retail chain store and catalog in the United States, selling women's clothing and accessories under its own private labels, as well as other labels, then exclusively an online retailer. The company was based in Philadelphia and principally served junior and plus-sized women in their early teens through their late twenties. At its peak Deb Shops operated 337 stores across 42 states. Following two bankruptcies in 2015, it became an exclusively plus-size online store.
Art Van Furniture Inc. was an American furniture retail store chain, with stores across the Midwestern United States. Founded in 1959, the company was headquartered in Warren, Michigan, and claimed to be the largest furniture retailer in the Midwest at its peak. In 2020, the company filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its stores.
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.
