The Retail Collapse of the Late 90’s/Early 2000’s…
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- The late 90s Early 2000s retail apocalypse…
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Bright Sun Films
Images:
"Manchester Parkade: Bradlees (Color)" by cometstarmoon is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"New Bradlees Road Sign" by Salem State Archives and Special Collections is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"Caldor Store Opening" by Salem State Archives and Special Collections is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
“Somerville, Massachusetts (51830881734).jpg”
by Byron A. Nash from USA is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"Wal-Mart at Night - Menomonee Falls, WI" by Brave New Films is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"Zayre, Addison, IL 1" by Joe Archie is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse Store" by JeepersMedia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"Kohl's Store Wallingford, CT 6/2014 Pics by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on TH-cam. #Kohls #KohlsStore #KohlsWallingfordCT #KohlsSign #KohlsLogo" by JeepersMedia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"Target Store" by JeepersMedia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"Dan Rego of Caldor" by Salem State Archives and Special Collections is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"New Wal-Mart Supercenter sign" by Brave New Films is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"Home Depot" by JeepersMedia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
"Target" by JeepersMedia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Sears' decline was self-inflicted. They were a staple for tools and appliances but back in 2003 they took away all of the warranties that came with what they sold.
Mostly self-inflicted by one guy, at the top. How he's not more infamous is the biggest mystery. 😲
They were also infamous for making bad investments. They constantly bought out smaller retail chains, and never did anything with them, so it was just a waste of money.
And they didn't learn their lesson when they merged with Kmart. Now they're both gone because of it.
Kill me now. As a Gen X-er, who remembers so many of these companies, I miss the diversity we once had. I’m tired of having to bow down to all of these huge corporate giants.
We used to have regional grocery chains in Florida now its all owned by the KKKroger monopoly
As a millennial. Same.
It's all a race to the bottom now.
@Tonysopranoyafinook Huh? Gen-X doesn't have kids old enough!? We're mostly in our 40s 50s, most starting families in the late 20s or early 30s. 🤷
@Tonysopranoyafinookno. Millenials were born to boomers. Gen X children are gen z.
Sears and Kmart used to be the go to place for anybody in America. But due to the competition from Target, Wal-Mart, and Amazon, these stores no longer exist.
Circuit City used to be the go-to electronics spot for anybody in America. But due to the competition from Best Buy and the Apple Store, these stores no longer exist.
Sam Walton didn't kill Sears
It was Fast Eddie Lampert
@@donaldpalugaTHANK YOU.
Don't forget KKKroger
The Sears - KMart merger and mismanagement by a certain Eddie L. was a bigger reason for their failure, not Target & Walmart, but agree, competition really didn't help them to evolve and improve.
No more Toys R Us, Ames, Bradlees, Kmart, Circuit City, Blockbuster, Sears, they're all gone.
Don’t forget Borders and now Bed Bath and Beyond.
All part of the controlled demolition of America
Ames was trash. No love lost.
@Feaster1026Productions There still a Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon...
There still is a Toys R Us in American Dream Mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Until I skimped to find where it was at, I didn't know TRU will be opening 24 more stores
Interesting how Marshall Field’s used to be dominant in Chicago, then it was purchased by Macy’s, and now Macy’s is severely struggling
Macys parent company Federated buying out every single one of these samesey clothing brands and turning them ALL into Macys was a terrible mistake in 2006..
Was dominant in Detroit too, same with HUDSONS
@@NorthCdogg22yo north I was just watching one of your videos before this lol
One thing to be sure of: nobody ever thought stores like Sears and Kmart would fail. They were just too big. I feel the same will happen one day with Walmart and Target.
Target, sure. Walmart? The Waltons are too ruthless and intelligent to allow themselves to end up selling their brands to others.
love these types of video, very specific topic that rarely gets talked about
Growing up, we had two five and tens (Grants and Murphys) and one big store (Fisher's Big Wheel) in town. When I go back to my home town now, there is just a generic Walmart.
Quite interesting to look back at how retail ebbed and flowed, or even crashed, in the earlier days before our modern times.
I was a kid in the late 90s/early 2000s, but I do still remember vaguely when some smaller but still decently-sized brands/stores used to dot areas in my hometown, or when those big retail shops started growing more and more in my area.
As someone much older than you are, I commend you on a great job researching those old companies. I remember going to Montgomery Ward and Woolworth as a youth growing up in Los Angeles.
I remember Montgomery Wards, as a kid my grandma used to buy me Star Wars figures in the early 1980’s, and I also remember Bradlees having a good selection of toys. I wasn’t a huge fan of Ames or Caldor. I remember when Walmart moved up to the Northeast from the south, they wreaked havoc on Kmart and Sears stores. Additionally Best Buy also was better at sales electronics compared to Sears or Kmart.
I'm from south of San Francisco, where we had a Gemco. It closed and a Target took its place a few years later. Less than a mile away was a mall with a Montgomery Ward. That closed and a Target also took its place! We have two Targets within one square mile!
IKR? It's crazy that they are right across 280 from each other but I remember in the 90's and 00's how crowded the orignal one on the east side would get on the weekends.
Yep, the Gemco in Stockton turned into a Target.
In Canada, R.I.P. to Woolco, Beaver Lumber, Eaton's, and Zellers.
You have a great voice for narrating videos. Calm and straight forward. I would love to listen to you narrate much longer videos ( hint hint haha)
The last Bay Area sears still in service in pleasant hill ca
Fuck yeah I was born in Detroit area and I was sad when the local sears closed. Happy to report that I live in Florida, there's a sears at the millenia mall
Kmart and sears were awesome rest in peace
Not the ones by me.
I think there’s still a Sears in Orlando and Kmart in the Miami area
Anyone remember theTreasury ? Owned by JCPenny, it was kind of the forerunner of today's Wal-Mart's and Targets where it was a really nice department / discount store with a grocery department as well ... JCP I believe shut the down in 1980/81 timeframe ...
I grew up with Two Guys, Zody's, White Fronts, Gem co etc ...
I used to love Zayre and Woolworth’s. Memories!!
I remember Zayre!!
@@steveo6034 We are telling our age!😂
Channel and Rickel, too, not to mention S Klein, Korvettes, and Woodies. Just wish Meijer would expand east. Whenever I visit friends in Michigan, I notice it's "Walmart done right".
Wiggermart and KKKroger
To me, the Meijer's by me is Walmart with employees and managers who actually care. Employees actually greet you and smile at you at Meijer's! Case in point, I was at a Meijer's recently and was leaving. I saw an employee chasing after a shopper who had forgotten their bag of groceries - "sir you forgot your bag!". Think that would happen at WalMart? No way.
@@ronhoover5516 I miss Meijer since I moved to Florida. But we have Publix, 100% employee owned. Reminds me of what Hiller's was in Metro Detroit before KKKroger took over
@@joeysworldsewerWhy are you spelling Kroger with so many Ks
@@DJVexillum because KKKroger is as oppressive and predatory as the Ku Klux Klan
Maybe they were different in their home territory down south, but back around the millennium, I remember Wal-Mart being present, but it was a place you absolutely avoided unless you had no other option. I think Target managed to expand the way they did in no small part because, while their prices were marginally higher than at Wal-Mart or K-Mart, it was more than worth it because the shopping experience was infinitely better: the products on sale were of noticeably higher quality; the stores were clean, organized, well-stocked; and not least you didn't have to deal with any of the infamous People of Wal-Mart.
It's a shame how far they've fallen off since then. Nowadays Target is basically just Red Wal-Mart.
This is how it was in the mid atlantic too. There was a borough near me that fought walmart's move into their local mall because everywhere walmart popped up it attracted crime.
Man, you’re right. I’ve never thought of it that way. Only heard of THE retail apocalypse of the 2010’s.
In my area in the late 90’s to early 2000’s, we lost Woolworth, Ames, Hills, the last downtown JCPenney, Montgomery Ward, Rex, Sun TV, Ben Franklin, and in ‘99 our Walmart became a supercenter.
I still remember when Lowes bought Eagle Hardware up in the Northwest. Even to this day, I still will drive by a Lowe's and still think of it as an Eagle Hardware.
I miss Media Play, and bookstores.
Montgomery Ward brought me some memories as I bought my computer desk from them about a year or two before they closed down，and the site where they once stood is now a TARGET store - at Serramonte Shopping Center in Colma, California.
the kmart collapse blows my mind because here in Australia kmart is thriving but target is dying rapidly
You make great video and I enjoy watching them, keep up the good work 👍
It was pronounced Heckingers. They had a bunch of stores in the area before they got wiped out by home depot and Lowes.
Growing up in the Metropolitan DC-MD-VA area, we had most of these stores mentioned, especially being smack dab in the middle of the Mid-Atlantic states.
Your pronunciation of Hechinger is unlike any I've heard before. 😊
Around here, most would call it Hechinger's.
"The Hechinger Company was an American chain of home-improvement centers headquartered in Landover, Maryland, on the immediate outskirts of Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1999. It was also an online retailer owned by Home Decor Products from 2004 to 2009.
In the 1980s, it underwent a massive expansion of both HQ and the Hechinger Co. divisions, opening big-box stores to better compete with rivals Home Depot and Lowe's.
After several rounds of store closings, the Hechinger Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 11, 1999, but the reorganization failed. Later that year, in September 1999, Hechinger's assets were liquidated, including its 117 remaining stores." 🤓
Regional retailer ShopKo managed to make it through almost one more decade, lasting until early 2019.
ShopKo received a boost in store count when they merged the Pamida stores into their operations, and converting them into ShopKo Hometown. ShopKo also saw an opportunity to expand their Hometown stores to more small towns when ALCO went out of business in 2013.
The only regional retail player that continues to thrive in the Midwest retail landscape today, is Meijer.
Nothing brings me back than the smells of the Hill's food court.
Yes! I almost forgot about that! They were the only place where I could find jeans I liked, but they were noooot a “cool” place to shop…couldn’t tell kids at school we shopped at hills…but oh how nostalgic I am now!
I really enjoyed your video! I miss some of those old stores.
Another banger
I worked in retail from age 16 on and LOVED it. A great majority of my career was spent working at Best Buy in what I would consider to be their glory days. I started working there in 1997 and had a total blast the entire time.
Went to Bradlees in Union and Clark NJ a lot back then. We were just about to get Target and Walmart in local area a few years later
Clover, Strawbridges. Even regional pharmacies like Eckhart were killed by CVS and Walmart
Great job I love seeing those old companies
I can think of at least a dozen department stores which are now all gone.. and they're still disappearing. I hate shopping these days..
When I was in high school, Hills was the only place I could find jeans that fit me and I liked…wow, haven’t thought about Hills in years!
I liked Ames and even worked there during the summer for a few years. Also recall Bradlees, Caldor, Jamesway, K-Mart, Ben Franklin, Hills, Zayres, and of course, Woolworths. Three generations of women in my family worked for Woolworths.
When Caldor went bankrupt,Target bought them out for pennies on the dollar!! $200,000,000 to be exact and Target sold some of the stores to Burlington Coat Factory.
I miss BiWay and Zellers, they weren't US-based but rather Canadian, now it's all Wal-Mart and, well, there's Wal-Mart
As someone who was born in 1997, I've never even heard of some the stores mentioned in this video. In fact, I only vaguely remember Sears and K-Mart. If Bradlees, Ames, Montgomery Ward, and the other stores mentioned in this video were anything like Sears and K-Mart, then I'm glad they're gone. I hated Sears and K-Mart (along with several other retailers) with a passion. The only big retailer that I actually like nowadays is Meijer.
Thanks for such a well researched and excellent presentation.
Left out JCP. started by James Cash Penny.
Some of the national chains that killed the regional ones aren't exactly dominating anymore. I can't remember the last time I had to wait in long line to check out at GameStop or had trouble finding a parking spot at Best Buy.
Price seems to be the only thing consumers actually consider in their decisions, to the detriment of any other quality. As such the market seems adjusting to price and only price.
A rare counter to these phenomena by me is Micro Center. They're often the cheaper option, but even when not, their service and selection makes them the first choice for anything with a board or needing repair. They know what they are talking about, are honest of advice, and aren't afraid to say what may kill this sale right now... because they know you'll be back with your next query.
Don't ever forget that there can be a high cost to low prices.
Venture, a middle America store was a notable one you kept out.
A good start.
But an average follow through. You seemed to only deal with brands from the northeast.
Montgomery Ward is still around. They just went back to being a catalog only company.
I bought an amazing peacock cabinet from them a few months ago…gorgeous! Google it!
As an A&P employee(butcher)I saw some fishy things going on at the top(hiring the president that put K-Mart) in bankruptcy twice in 2005 I knew it was time for a change,glad I did😊,now live in a warmer climate with 401k.
Last place I worked also had a guy who worked at KMart before it collapsed, and he thinks it's somehow impressive that he made it some money just before he left to let it collapse
At least we still have jewel here in the Chicago burbs. RIP Mr. Z’s In Lombard though.
Knock on wood, Meijer stores still exist in the Columbus, OH area that give the both the Kroger's and the Target's/Walmart's competition.
Also the quick demise of the "catalog showroom stores" (Service Merchandise, Best Products etc), with their obsolete Soviet style retail.
I still shop at drug emporium, a tiny regional chain in Texas and Louisiana. Out of once over 300 locations they now only have something like 10. It's about the only place I can find to shop other than Walgreens.
Add Mervyn's to that list - once they finally started turning their inventory into a more interesting and appealing place to shop!
Meijer which is a regional store chain that competes directly with Walmart in parts of the midwestern US still exists today.
Gemco was the best. It was a department store where you could find anything you want.
There's no question that Target has amazing carts that make shopping just so much better. Also, as awful as Blockbuster was by the end, they were a game changer at first. The place I rented my movies and games from as a little kid had a crappy selection and only let you check the games out overnight. Blockbuster let you check things out for at least two nights and the selection was huge by comparison.
There was a local department store chain in the Cincinnati area called Van Leunens that was the best, especially for kids as their stores were known for their impressive toy aisles.
Edit - I also wanted to add that one of the big reasons Walmart drank up everyone's milkshake was that they were fast to sign lucrative deals with Chinese importers, allowing them to sell durable goods, small appliances and similar for considerably less than Kmart and competitors.
I guess the same is true for Menards today. It’s very Midwest focused, but slowly expanding outward.
The old mom and pop hardware stores are the ones I miss. Not many left.
Toysrus blew it. Their stores were old and tired. They could have set up amazing displays that would have had the kids jonesing to come in. They also refused to have a significant video game section. That part was almost an afterthought. To me what really did them in is not focusing in on online content. Amazon killed them in this segment.
Toys "R" Us did have a decent video games section in the past. I remember seeing GBC games for sale, and since then, they had many decent deals. I bought e-Reader cards on clearance, a GameCube with Melee, a Genesis USB controller, and more. I even played _DDR SuperNOVA_ at the Times Square location! In Canada, there are still many stores, which had Switch and Arcade 1UP stations in the recent past.
Sadly, there are almost no video games at TRU today, despite the jingle. I know that children and teens shouldn't just play video games, but I think TRU should at least have a decent small selection.
@@DanceDanceNorth live in Vancouver. Just noticed the one here closed and being gutted.
3:35 Don't forget Hills, Venture Stores, and Jamesway.
Don’t forget Radio Shack, and Roses…
When it was popular, I never got the appeal of Radio Shack, it seemed kind of dinky compared to Circuit City and later, Best Buy.
However, now, there's definitely some nostalgia for any/all of them to come back!
(Technically BB is still around, for now, but seems like they'll be next) 😲
I heard in the news recently that Ames is opening back up for business
Another great, interesting video. Keep 'em coming!
4:39 Blockbuster's fate was sealed long before. Written in the prophecies of technology.
i never got to go to it, but the my local ames is still there. well, the building is at least lol
Who remembers Best and their flower covered exterior façade?
As a GenX in NEOhio when I think back on Ames / Hills / Kmart / Woolworth I think grey, dank, depressing.
Where Target / Kohls / Best Buy are bright and positive.
Could just be I’m only remembering the end of those store’s lives but it sure feels like a huge contrast between then and now.
Give me a Woolworth's any day over Family Dollar or Dollar General. Or anything with Dollar in their name.
The high cost of a low price!
😢
The Sherman Act, if properly interpreted and enforced, would protect the smaller entities.
Do a video about the city of San Bernardino
Sears was a result of bad management… look at JCPenney they aren’t doing great but they still exist
Good vid
Hope TH-cam re-monetized your channel
Shopping sucks today. Like everything else in America, it used to be so much better.
Ames is coming back.
It was pronounced HECK-in-jer not hetch-IN-jer or even HETCH-in-jer
RIP Shopko
NO APOSTROPHE FOR YOU SIR!
Hechinger is pronounced Heckinger.
It's capitalism gone wild
Wooo #1
RIP to Farmer Jacks and Hiller's Grocery in MICHIGAN. I hate KKKroger