Harold's

Last updated
Harold's
Industry Retail
Founded1948
FounderHarold G. Powell
Defunct2008
Fate Bankruptcy
Liquidation
Headquarters Norman, Oklahoma (1948–2001)
Dallas, Texas (2001–2008)
ProductsMen's and women's clothing
Number of employees
624 (prior to bankruptcy filing)

Harold's Stores, Inc. was a Norman, Oklahoma- and later Dallas-based chain of traditional, high-end classic styled ladies and men's specialty apparel stores. The chain operated 43 stores in 19 southern, western, and mid-western states in the United States. Prior to its bankruptcy filing, the company employed 624 people. The company was granted bankruptcy liquidation on November 10, 2008.

Contents

History

Harold's was founded in 1948 in Norman, Oklahoma by Harold G. Powell. [1] The buying offices were later moved to Dallas, Texas while distribution and operations were based out of Norman, Oklahoma. The chain operated high-end men's and women's clothing stores, usually located in upper-class areas and shopping centers in the southern, western, and mid-western parts of the United States, and targeted sales to customers between the ages of 30 and 50. [2] [3] [4]

Originally selling only menswear, Harold's added women's apparel in 1958. The chain issued its own credit card in 1977, became a public company in 1987, and issued its first clothing catalog in 1990. In 1999 it had 53 stores in 22 states. At its peak, Harold's employed up to 1,800 people and its annual sales exceeded $150 million. [5]

Harold's locations in Houston were known as "Harold Powell", the result of a 1992 gentlemen's agreement with Harold's Men's Wear founder Harold Wiesenthal, who had operated there since 1950. By 1996, however, Wiesenthal believed customer confusion had grown and filed a lawsuit blaming Powell's company. The two sides worked out a deal at the end of 1996, before the suit went to trial, with Powell agreeing to use a different cover on catalogs delivered to the Houston area, rather than just a sticker noting the differing store name. [6] [7]

Changes in leadership

Powell stepped down from leadership in May 1998 when his daughter, Rebecca Powell Casey, who joined the company in 1977 and was its CEO from 1992, became the company's board chairman. Casey had been president of the company from 1989 to 1992, [1] preceded in that role by former Bonwit Teller president, Bernard H. Newburg. [8] Clark Hinkley replaced Casey as Harold's CEO in February 2001, and in June 2001 the company stopped all of its catalog and Internet ordering activities, which had been losing money. After concentrating on their core business and accumulating seven consecutive months of store sales increases, Harold's reinstituted catalog sales in September 2003. [9] Hugh Mullins, formerly of Neiman Marcus, became the CEO in February 2004 and resigned in August 2005. [10] [11] Hinkley then re-assumed the role as interim CEO. [12] Casey, serving as executive vice president, left the company for personal reasons in January 2006, expressing in her resignation letter a lost faith in the company's leadership. [5] [13] Ronald S. Staffieri, who had been president of Michaels Stores, succeeded Hinkley as CEO in October 2006. [12]

Decline and bankruptcy

By 2001, the company was under the control of preferred stockholders Howard Lester of Williams-Sonoma and Ronald de Waal, formerly of Saks. Company headquarters moved that year to Dallas, and Casey stepped down as CEO. Lester and de Waal loaned the company millions of dollars over the next several years to keep it running. Harold's had added new clothing styles to attract more youthful buyers, but alienated its core customers in the process. Hurricanes in 2005 added to heavy losses for stores in three southern states, and the company lost $6 million that year and $11 million in 2006, the year Harold's stock was delisted from the American Stock Exchange. [5] [14]

On November 10, 2008, Harold's Stores and six related companies were granted bankruptcy liquidation, stating, "Increased competition and a weak economy have left us no choice but to cease operations." The month before, it had hired consultants to look at alternatives, though only received interest from merchandise liquidators, of which it chose Gordon Brothers. [2] [15] The closure surprised some as the Chapter 11 filing is usually to allow for financial restructuring, and the chain had received a $1.8 billion loan in the prior quarter; [3] [16] the filing was converted to Chapter 7 in March 2009. [5] [14] Before bankruptcy, Harold's had 43 stores and 624 employees, about half of whom were part-time, across 19 states. [15] [17] Its assets (and liabilities) were listed as between $10 million and $50 million. [15] Investors Lester and de Wall lost at least $15 million and $23.5 million, respectively. [5]

Sidewalk outside Harold's former flagship store in 2009 in Norman, Oklahoma Campus corner.jpg
Sidewalk outside Harold's former flagship store in 2009 in Norman, Oklahoma

Aftermath

Two years before he became mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, Bill Haslam of Saks Fifth Avenue was appointed in September 2001 as non-executive chairman of Harold's, a role he kept through the 2008 bankruptcy. [14] In August 2009, the trustee of the bankruptcy filed a lawsuit against Haslam and the other directors and officers of Harold's, charging that the company had illegally paid nearly $6 million in dividends to preferred shareholders while in debt, and that Lester and de Waal's loans to the company were made in bad faith and without considering other options. Harold's leadership denied the claims and both sides ultimately settled out of court for $2 million in February 2014. [5] [14] Haslam said he was not influenced by de Waal and that he never had an operational role in the company, a claim also supported by Casey. [14]

Powell had sold most of his stock in the company before it went bankrupt. A large antique carousel horse he bought and which was the basis for a longtime logo and mascot for Harold's, was still at Casey's vacation home in Texas as of September 2014. Cafe Plaid, a restaurant Powell had opened in 1996 next to the flagship store in Norman, was also still in business then, but with different ownership. [5] In October 2010, the former flagship store in the city's Campus Corner district became an OU IT technology store run by University of Oklahoma's Information Technology department, with additional space made available for meetings. [18] Powell died at the age of 92 in June 2016 from complications related to lung cancer. [19] [20]

Related Research Articles

7-Eleven, Inc. is an American multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. After 70% of the company was acquired by an affiliate Ito-Yokado in 1991, it was reorganized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings.

Kmart U.S. big box retailer and subsidiary of Transform Holdco LLC

Kmart Corporation is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was incorporated in 1899 as S. S. Kresge Corporation and renamed Kmart Corporation in 1977. The first store with the Kmart name opened in 1962 in Garden City, Michigan. At its peak in 1994, Kmart operated 2,486 stores globally, including 2,323 discount stores and Super Kmart Center locations in the United States. As of April 16, 2022, that number was down to nine, including just three in the continental states. From 2005 through 2019, Kmart was a subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation. Since 2019, Kmart has been a subsidiary of Transform SR Brands LLC, a privately held company that was formed in 2019 to acquire assets from Sears Holdings.

Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids, Inc. and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.

Food Lion American grocery store chain

Food Lion is an American grocery store chain headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina, that operates over 1100 supermarkets in 10 states of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The chain employs over 63,000 people. It was founded in 1957 as Food Town, a single grocery store in Salisbury. It later expanded to many locations across North Carolina. It was independently operated until it was acquired by the Belgium-based conglomerate Delhaize Group in 1974. In 1983, the company changed its name and branding to Food Lion to allow it to expand into regions where Food Town was already in use by unrelated stores. Following further mergers and acquisitions, Food Lion, LLC is currently owned by Ahold Delhaize. The mascot’s name has been George the Food Lion since January 17, 1997.

Taco Bueno

Taco Management LLC, doing business as Taco Bueno, is a U.S.-based, quick service restaurant chain specializing in Tex-Mex-style cuisine. The company is headquartered in Farmers Branch, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. Its first location opened in Abilene, Texas in 1967. The food chain has locations in Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Dippin Dots Ice cream brand

Dippin' Dots is an ice cream snack invented by Curt Jones in 1988. The confection is created by flash freezing ice cream mix in liquid nitrogen. The snack is made by Dippin' Dots, Inc., headquartered in Paducah, Kentucky. Dippin' Dots are sold in 14 countries, including Honduras and Luxembourg.

Shopko Defunct chain of retail stores

Shopko was a chain of department stores based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. All locations closed on June 23, 2019 with the exception of the Shopko Optical locations which continue to operate.

Caseys Chain of gas stations in the Midwestern United States that also serve made-from-scratch pizza

Casey's Retail Company is a chain of convenience stores in the Midwestern and Southern United States. The company is headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines. As of April 30, 2019, Casey's had 2,146 stores in 16 states. Following 7-Eleven's purchase of Speedway, Casey's is the 3rd largest convenience store chain in the United States and the largest that is wholly American-owned.

Chesapeake Energy Corporation is an American energy company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration. It is headquartered in Oklahoma City. The company is named after the founder's love for the Chesapeake Bay region. The company is ranked 513th on the Fortune 500.

Belk American retail chain

Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings and wedding registry.

Stage Stores American retail company

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.

Gordmans Defunct American retailer

Gordmans is a online store 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.

C.R. Anthony Co., stores branded as Anthony's, was a chain of family-owned and - operated upscale department stores founded in 1922 in Cushing, Oklahoma by C.R Anthony. The company began expanding outside Oklahoma, first into Kansas in 1924, then into Texas in 1925. By 1972, Anthony's had 325 stores in 21 states, all west of the Mississippi River. Anthony's was acquired by Stage Stores Inc. in 1997 and most stores were rebranded as Stage or Beall's.

Bealls (Texas) American department store chain

3 Bealls Holding Corp. was an American chain of department stores, owned by Stage Stores Inc. and headquartered in Houston, TX. The store specialized in retailing desirable brand name apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, and housewares.

Gadzooks (retailer) American teen-clothing retail chain.

Gadzooks, Inc. was a mall-based teenage clothing retailer. It was acquired by Forever 21 in 2005 and then shut down. Most Gadzooks stores had a life-size version of part of a Volkswagen Beetle inside.

Linens 'n Things was a Clifton, New Jersey-based big-box retailer specializing in home textiles, housewares, and decorative home accessories. 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."

National Stores Inc., is a family-owned company headquartered in the Harbor Gateway area of Los Angeles, California with 344 locations in 22 states and Puerto Rico, employing 9800 people nationwide as of August 2018.

Mattress Firm American mattress retailer

Mattress Firm Inc. is an American mattress store chain founded on July 4, 1986. The headquarters of the company is located in Houston, Texas.

Luckys Market Colorado supermarket

LM Acquisition Co. LLC , doing business as Lucky's Market, is a group of two separate supermarket chains in Colorado and Ohio that started in Boulder and briefly became a national chain before it shrank back to its home state. Founded in 2003 by Bo and Trish Sharon, the chain focuses primarily on organic food. From 2016 to 2019, the company was partially owned by the Kroger supermarket chain. At its peak in 2019, the company had 39 stores in ten states. The withdrawal of financial support from Kroger at the end of 2019 led to a massive company downsizing to just six surviving stores in four states and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in January 2020. After the Sharons obtained the surviving six stores, they quickly sold off the four stores outside of Colorado to only retain two stores, one in Boulder and the other in Fort Collins, by April 2020.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail Aspect of viral outbreak

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a sharp economic toll on the retail industry worldwide as many retailers and shopping centers were forced to shut down for months due to mandated stay-at-home orders. As a result of these closures, online retailers received a major boost in sales as customers looked for alternative ways to shop and the effects of the retail apocalypse were exacerbated. A number of notable retailers filed for bankruptcy including Ascena Retail Group, Debenhams, Arcadia Group, Brooks Brothers, GNC, J. C. Penney, Lord & Taylor and Neiman Marcus.

References

  1. 1 2 Hogan, Gypsy (May 5, 1998). "Harold's Stores Names New Board Chairman". The Oklahoman. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Harold's Stores files bankruptcy". The Norman Transcript . Associated Press. November 8, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  3. 1 2 Mize, Richard (November 12, 2008). "In surprise move, Harold's will close stores". The Oklahoman. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  4. "US: Harold's Stores to close down" . just-style.com. Aroq. November 11, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bailey, Brianna (July 20, 2014). "Oklahoma saw the rise and fall of Harold's clothing chain". The Oklahoman. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  6. Pybus, Kenneth R. (October 6, 1996). "Competing clothiers take suit to court". Houston Business Journal. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  7. Pybus, Kenneth R. (December 29, 1996). "What's in a name? Ask your lawyer". Houston Business Journal. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  8. Cuff, Daniel F. (March 16, 1988). "Business People; Ex-Retailer to Return To the Work He Missed". The New York Times. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  9. "Dallas-Based Harold's Stores Releases First Catalog in Two Years". The Journal Record . September 8, 2003.[ dead link ]
  10. "USA: Harold's Stores Names Mullins CEO" . just-style.com. Aroq. February 9, 2004. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  11. "USA: Harold's Stores President, CEO Quits" . just-style.com. Aroq. August 3, 2005. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Harold's Stores, Inc. Announces Appointment of Ron Staffieri as Chief Executive Officer". Houston Chronicle. PRNewswire. October 9, 2006. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  13. "US: Harold's exec vp Rebecca Powell Casey quits" . just-style.com. Aroq. January 27, 2006. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Flory, Josh (October 17, 2010). "Haslam says he tried to save company he chaired from bankruptcy". Knoxville News Sentinel . Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  15. 1 2 3 "Harold's to close all 43 stores, begins liquidation". Reuters. Bonds News. November 11, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  16. "Harold's Stores file for Ch. 11". Dallas Business Journal. November 10, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  17. "Harold's Stores files for Chapter 11, will pull out of Kansas City". Credit Management Association. November 10, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
  18. "OU IT store now open on Campus Corner". The Norman Transcript. October 17, 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  19. Slinkard, Caleb (June 26, 2016). "Norman remembers businessman, 'gentleman' Harold Powell". The Norman Transcript. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  20. "Harold Powell 1924–2016". The Oklahoman. June 27, 2016. Retrieved March 19, 2020 via Legacy.com.