Nostalgic Retail Series #15 - LINENS 'N THINGS
"In November 1958, Eugene Wallace Kalkin established a leased-linen department in the New Jersey discount retailer Great Eastern Mills. In August 1970, Great Eastern Mills opened the first Linens 'n Things store in East Brunswick, New Jersey. After a succession of corporate ownership changes and the bankruptcy of Daylin, Inc. in 1975, Kalkin bought seven locations out of bankruptcy and founded an independent parent company, which became Linens 'n Things, Inc.." [Home Textiles Today]
In 1983, Melville Corporation acquired the 55 unit chain. By 2006, the chain boasted 571 stores in the U.S. and Canada. 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."[The Wayback Machine]
But with a ton of debt from private equity buyouts (I know we have never heard this story before), all Linens 'n Things stores were closed in late 2008.
As with many of the retailers in this series, the brand went online only with a relaunch in early 2009 and then shut down their online-only presence in 2018.
The rights to the brand were acquired by Retail Ecommerce Ventures in 2020 and the website was relaunched. As of today, it is active with brands of yesteryear showing on the top banner that live on in an online only fashion.
