Borders Group, Inc. was an American multinational book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores.
Sears Canada Inc. was a publicly-traded Canadian company affiliated with the American-based Sears department store chain. In operation from 1952 until January 14, 2018, and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the company began as Simpsons-Sears—a joint venture between the Canadian Simpsons department store chain and the American Sears chain—which operated a national mail order business and co-branded Simpsons-Sears stores modelled after those of Sears in the U.S. After the Hudson's Bay Company purchased Simpsons in 1978, the joint venture was dismantled and Hudson's Bay sold its shares in the joint venture to Sears; with Sears now fully owning the company, it was renamed Sears Canada Inc. in 1984. In 1999, Sears Canada acquired the remaining assets and locations of the historic Canadian chain Eaton's. From 2014, Sears Holdings owned a 10% share in the company. ESL Investments was the largest shareholder of Sears Canada.
Hart Stores Inc. is a mid-sized value-driven department store in Eastern Canada. It was founded in 1960 by Harry Hart, in Rosemère, Quebec. Hart stores is based in the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, and Ontario. The head office used to be in the Montreal borough of Anjou but moved to Laval, Quebec, a northern suburb of Montreal, in early 2006.
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids 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.
Circuit City is an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s. After multiple purchases and a successful run on the NYSE, it changed its name to Circuit City Stores Inc.
Payless is an international discount footwear chain. Established in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez, Payless was a privately held company owned by Blum Capital, and Golden Gate Capital. In 1961, it became a public company as the Volume Shoe Corporation which merged with The May Department Stores Company in 1979. In the 1980s, Payless was widely known in the U.S. for its Pro Wings line of discount sneakers, which often had Velcro straps instead of laces. In 1996, Payless became an independent publicly held company. In 2004, Payless announced it would exit the Parade chain and would close 100 Payless Shoe outlets. On August 17, 2007, the company acquired the Stride Rite Corporation and changed its name to Collective Brands, Inc. The company had a total revenue for 2011 of US$ 3.4 billion. The company also has a stunt premium banner, Palessi Shoes. Payless is currently owned by a group of investors led by Alden Global Capital and Axar Capital Management.
NCIX was an online computer hardware and software retailer based in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1996 by Steve Wu (伍啟儀). The company served as an incubator for Linus Tech Tips, which was originally conceived by NCIX while Linus Sebastian was working there.
A&B Sound was a Canadian home electronics retailer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its flagship store was located in downtown Vancouver, and the chain expanded to other cities in B.C. and in western Canada, but the company began struggling in the 2000s decade and collapsed altogether in 2008.
New rue21, LLC (rue21) is an American specialty retailer of women's & men's casual apparel and accessories headquartered in the Pittsburgh suburb of Warrendale, Pennsylvania. Its clothes are designed to appeal to people who desire, wish, or feel to be 21. In 2013, Apax Partners, a global private-equity firm, acquired the company by funds advised for $42.00 per share in cash. rue21 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 16, 2017, and emerged on September 22, 2017, after the company's reorganization plan was confirmed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. New owners include hedge funds BlueMountain Capital Management, Southpaw Asset Management and Pentwater Capital Management.
Loehmann's was an American retail company which started as a single store in Brooklyn, New York and grew to a chain of off-price department stores in the United States. The chain was best known for its "Back Room", where women interested in fashion could find designer clothes at prices lower than in department stores. While the largest portion of its client base was historically women, the chain also offered shoes, accessories, and men's clothing.
Le Château Inc. was a fashion company, currently under liquidation, that was founded in 1959 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and designed, imported and retailed women's and men's apparel, accessories and footwear. In 2015, the company generated sales of about CA$237 million. The company sold directly to customers from 211 retail stores in Canada, as well as five that had been in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. In 2017, Le Château had employed more than 2,500 people worldwide. Le Château manufactured about 35% of the merchandise itself in Canadian factories with the remainder imported. On October 23, 2020, it was announced that Le Château would be filing for CCAA bankruptcy protection, liquidating its inventory and closing all 123 stores.
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.
Hastings Entertainment was an American retail chain that sold books, movies, music, and video games and functioned as a video rental shop. As of 2016 it had 126 superstores, which were mainly located in the South Central United States, Rocky Mountain States, and in parts of the Great Plains and Midwestern states. Hastings Entertainment stores were also located in many college towns in the U.S. Hastings Entertainment was headquartered in Amarillo, Texas.
The ALDO Group branded as ALDO, is a Canadian multinational corporation retailer that owns and operates a worldwide chain of shoe and accessories stores. The company was founded by Aldo Bensadoun in Montreal, Quebec, in 1972, where its corporate headquarters based in the Montreal borough of Saint-Laurent, Quebec remain today. It has grown to become a worldwide corporation, with nearly 3,000 stores across 100 countries, under three retail banners: ALDO, Call It Spring/Spring and GLOBO. Stores in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and Ireland are owned by the Group, while international stores are franchised. The company once operated the now closed or rebranded banners Little Burgundy, Simard & Voyer, Christian Shoes, Access, Pegabo, Transit, Stoneridge, Locale, Feetfirst and FIRST.
XS Cargo was a Canadian discount store chain founded in 1996 by Mike McKenna and headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. At its peak, it operated 50 warehouse-style stores, the first of which opened in Edmonton, Alberta, mostly in strip malls, across eight provinces selling a wide range of brand name clearance, liquidated, overstocked and unsold merchandise purchased from distressed retailers. It also administered two distribution hubs in Edmonton and Mississauga.
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."
DavidsTea is a Canadian specialty tea and tea accessory retailer based in Montreal, Quebec. It is the largest Canadian-based specialty tea boutique in the country. Following the company's initial public offering, common stock began trading on the NASDAQ Global Market on June 5, 2015.
A retail apocalypse is the closing of numerous brick-and-mortar retail stores, especially those of large chains worldwide. It began around 2010, and was severely exacerbated by the mandatory closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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.
