Nordstrom, Inc. is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a second Nordstrom's shoe store opened in 1923. The growing Nordstrom Best chain began selling clothing in 1963, and became the Nordstrom full-line retailer that presently exists by 1971. The company founded its off-price Nordstrom Rack division in 1973, and grew both full-line and off-price divisions throughout the United States in the following years. The full-line division competes with department stores including Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue, while the off-price division competes with retailers including the TJX Companies and Ross Stores. Previous expansions beyond the contiguous United States include Puerto Rico (2015–2020) and Canada (2014–2023).
A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many parts of the world. A franchise retail establishment is one form of a chain store. In 2005, the world's largest retail chain, Walmart, became the world's largest corporation based on gross sales.
Hollywood Entertainment Corp., more commonly known as Hollywood Video, was an American video rental store chain. Founded in 1988, the chain was the largest direct competitor to Blockbuster Video until it was acquired by Movie Gallery in 2005. It ceased operations in 2010, when Movie Gallery declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a world-pioneering mail-order business and later a leading department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The current Montgomery Ward Inc. is a national online shopping and mail-order catalog retailer that started several years after the original Montgomery Ward shut down.
WinCo Foods, Inc. is a privately held, majority employee-owned American supermarket chain based in Boise, Idaho, with retail stores in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. It was founded in 1967 as a no-frills warehouse-style store with low prices. The stores feature extensive bulk food sections.
Dollar Tree, Inc. is an American multi-price-point chain of discount variety stores. Headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, it is a Fortune 500 company and operates 15,115 stores throughout the 48 contiguous U.S. states and Canada. Its stores are supported by a nationwide logistics network of 24 distribution centers. Additionally, the company operates stores under the name of Dollar Bills, as well as a multi-price-point variety chain under the Family Dollar banner.
Ingles Markets, Inc. is an American supermarket chain based in Black Mountain, North Carolina. As of September 2021, the company operates 198 supermarkets in the Appalachian region of the Southeastern United States. The company is listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol IMKTA and is part of the Global Select Market tier of trading.
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company, known as Stop & Shop, is a regional chain of supermarkets located in the northeastern United States. From its beginnings in 1892 as a small grocery store, it has grown to include 406 stores chain-wide.
Fred Meyer is an American chain of hypermarket superstores founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, United States, by Fred G. Meyer. The stores are found in the northwest U.S., within the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. The company was acquired by Kroger in 1998, though the stores are still branded Fred Meyer. The chain was one of the first in the United States to promote one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, bank, clothing, jewelry, home decor, home improvement, garden, electronics, restaurant, shoes, sporting goods, and toys. The Fred Meyer division is headquartered in Portland.
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 October 1, 2023, Casey's had 2,500 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. It is one of two Iowa-based Fortune 500 companies. Casey's is famous for their pizza including a breakfast pizza and a taco pizza resulting in Casey's being the fifth largest pizza chain in the U.S.
Shaw's and Star Market are two American supermarket chains under united management based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, employing about 30,000 associates in 150 total stores; 129 stores are operated under the Shaw's banner in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, while Star Market operates 21 stores in Massachusetts, most of which are in or near Boston. Until 2010, Shaw's operated stores in all six New England states, and as of 2021 Shaw's remained the only supermarket chain with stores in five of the six, after it sold its Connecticut operations. The chain's largest competitors are Hannaford, Market Basket, Price Chopper, Roche Bros., Wegmans, and Stop & Shop. Star Market is a companion store to Shaw's, Shaw's having purchased the competing chain in 1999.
Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of 2018, Ross operates 1,483 stores in 37 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Guam, covering much of the country, but with no presence in New York, northern New Jersey, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and areas of the Midwest. The company also operates DD's Discounts, a discount department store chain with over 300 locations across the United States, most of which are located in Sun Belt states.
Foot Locker, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in over 40 countries.
New Seasons Market is a chain of neighborhood grocery stores operating in the Portland, Oregon metro area, and southwestern Washington. Some of the products offered are organic and produced locally in the Pacific Northwest, but conventional groceries are also sold.
O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. is an American auto parts retailer that provides automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment, and accessories to professional service providers and do-it-yourself customers. Founded in 1957 by the O’Reilly family, the company operates more than 6,000 stores in 47 states and Mexico.
Dunlaps, based in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, was a family-owned chain of department stores in the central and southern United States catering to most classes depending on the location. The chain operated under the trade names of Dunlaps, Stripling & Cox, MM Cohn, Rogers, Clark's, Schreiner's of Kerrville, Hieronimus, Kerr's, Kline's, The White House, and Gabriel's. The company operated 38 stores in eight states. Due to stiff competition from larger retailers and lawsuits from suppliers, Dunlaps closed its last locations after liquidation sales in mid-2007.
Hannaford is an American supermarket chain based in Scarborough, Maine. Founded in Portland, Maine, in 1883, Hannaford operates stores in New England and New York. The chain is now part of the Ahold Delhaize group based in the Netherlands, and is a sister company to formerly competing New England supermarket chain Stop & Shop.
Dierbergs is a supermarket chain based in Chesterfield, Missouri, that, along with Schnucks, dominates the Greater St. Louis grocery market. Dierbergs operates 26 stores in both Missouri and Illinois. In 2006 it employed more than 5,000 employees, making it one of the top 25 largest employers in the St. Louis metro area.
Michaels Stores, Inc., more commonly known as Michaels, is a privately held chain of American and Canadian arts and crafts stores. It is North America's largest provider of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall décor, and merchandise for makers and do-it-yourself home decorators. The company is part of The Michaels Companies, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Irving, Texas. In addition to Michaels stores, The Michaels Companies operates Aaron Brothers Custom Framing store-within-a-store, and Artistree, a manufacturer of custom and specialty framing merchandise. The company also develops over a dozen private brands sold in Michaels stores, including Recollections, Studio Décor, Bead Landing, Creatology, and Ashland. As of January 2021, there were 1,252 Michaels stores in 49 out of 50 states in the U.S., and Canada, with approximately $5.362 billion in sales for fiscal 2020.
Sherman's Maine Coast Book Shops is a book and stationery retailer operating in Maine, United States. It is the oldest bookstore in the state, having been established in 1886, and is one of the ten oldest bookstores in the United States.
