Tandy Corporation was an American family-owned leather-goods company based in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. Tandy Leather was founded in 1919 as a leather supply store. By the end of the 1950s, under the tutelage of then-CEO Charles Tandy, the company expanded into the hobby market, making leather moccasins and coin purses, making huge sales among Scouts, leading to a fast growth in sales.
RadioShack is an American electronics retailer founded in 1921. It was established as an amateur radio mail-order business centered in Boston, Massachusetts. Its parent company, Radio Shack Corporation, was purchased by Tandy Corporation in 1962, shifting its focus from radio equipment to hobbyist electronic components. At its peak in 1999, Tandy operated over 8,000 RadioShack stores in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.
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.
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids and various others. The company was founded in 1948; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.
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.
ComputerLand was a widespread chain of retail computer stores during the early years of the microcomputer revolution, and was one of the outlets chosen to introduce the IBM PC in 1981. The first ComputerLand opened in 1976, and the chain eventually included about 800 stores by 1985. After this time the rapid commoditization of the PC led to the company's downfall, with most of the retail locations closing by 1990. The company officially ended in February 1999.
Party City Holdco Inc, commonly referred to as Party City is an American publicly traded retail chain of party stores founded in 1986 by Steve Mandell in East Hanover, New Jersey. The companies headquarters are in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. The company is the largest retailer of party goods in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company operates over 850 company-owned and franchise outlets in over 70 countries around the world under the Party City, Halloween City, Toy City, Factory Card and Party Outlet brands.
The Source (Bell) Electronics Inc., doing business as The Source, is a Canadian consumer electronics and cell phone retail chain. The chain goes back over 40 years in Canada, initially as Radio Shack and later as The Source by Circuit City. The Source is now owned by BCE Inc., which purchased the assets of InterTAN from its parent, American retailer Circuit City, in 2009. The Source is a unit of 4458729 Canada Inc. and is based in Barrie, Ontario.
InterTAN Canada Ltd. was created by Tandy Corporation in 1986 to operate Radio Shack stores in Canada, Europe and Australia. After the UK locations, which were branded 'Tandy', were sold to Carphone Warehouse in 1999 and the Australian locations to Woolworths Limited in 2001, the company's primary asset was the RadioShack franchise for Canada. InterTAN's relationship with RadioShack was terminated in 2005, after InterTAN became a wholly owned subsidiary of Circuit City on May 19, 2004.
Euromarket Designs Inc., doing business as Crate & Barrel, is an international furniture and home décor retail store headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. They employ 8200 employees across over 100 stores in the United States and Canada, with franchises in Central America, South America, Asia and United Arab Emirates.
K·B Toys was an American chain of mall-based retail toy stores. The company was founded in 1922 as Kaufman Brothers, a wholesale candy store. The company opened a wholesale toy store in 1946, and ended its candy wholesales two years later to emphasize its toy products. Retail sales began during the 1970s, using the name Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby.
Briscoe Group is a New Zealand retail chain. It has 92 stores throughout New Zealand trading under the Briscoes Homeware (48) and Rebel Sport (44) nameplates. The company was founded in 1861 in Dunedin, New Zealand, providing wares to gold miners. Profit in 2022 was $88.4 million. It has 2,300 staff in 90 stores.
Gamble-Skogmo Inc. was a conglomerate of retail chains and other businesses that was headquartered in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Business operated or franchised by Gamble-Skogmo included Gambles hardware and auto supply stores, Woman's World and Mode O'Day clothing stores, J.M. McDonald department stores, Leath Furniture stores, Tempo and Buckeye Mart Discount Stores, Howard's Brandiscount Department Stores, Rasco Variety Stores, Sarco Outlet Stores, Toy World, Rasco-Tempo, Red Owl Grocery, Snyder Drug and the Aldens mail-order company. In Canada, retail operations consisted of Macleods Hardware, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Stedmans Department Stores, based in Toronto, Ontario. Gamble-Skogmo carried a line of home appliances, including radios, televisions, refrigerators, and freezers, under the Coronado brand name.
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.
FuncoLand was an American video game retailer based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, that specialized in selling new and used video game software. It is considered the first major video game retailer to allow consumers to sell and trade used video games. The chain's parent company Funco Inc. was established in the home of David R. Pomije in 1988, initially as a leaser of video games to video stores, and then as a mail-order business specializing in used video games. Upon the success of this venture, Pomije moved Funco to a Minneapolis warehouse, and began opening FuncoLand retail outlets nationwide.
Paradies Lagardère operates stores in airports, hotels, and other locations throughout the United States and Canada. Locations include specialty stores, restaurants and bookstores. The company was founded in 1960 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Unicomer Group, is a multinational retailing and consumer finance group headquartered in San Salvador, El Salvador with regional offices in Miami, Trinidad, Jamaica, and Costa Rica. It operates several chains of retail brands in the consumer durables sector, specializing in furniture, audio & video, appliances, and electronics in Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and United States.
Nakajima USA, Inc., is an American toy manufacturer, founded in 2000. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nakajima Japan, a family run company founded in 1919. A seasoned company in the design and manufacture of licensed plush, collectible and seasonal toys and gifts, Nakajima USA currently produces and distributes a wide range of lifestyle products under a master license agreement for Sanrio Inc. as well as the company’s signature characters.
Five Below Inc. is an American chain of specialty discount stores that prices most of its products at $5 or less, plus a smaller assortment of products priced up to $25. Founded by Tom Vellios and David Schlessinger and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the chain is aimed at tweens and teens. There are over 1,400 stores located across the United States.
Learning Express Toys, incorporated in 1987 as Learning Express, Inc., is a specialty toy, game and book retailer and franchisor headquartered in Devens, Massachusetts, United States. The company franchises specialty toy stores in the United States, each locally owned and operated. It also operates online at learningexpress.com.
