Nostalgic Retail Series #23 - MONTGOMERY WARD
Montgomery Ward was started by Aaron Montgomery in 1872 as a mail-order business selling to farmers in rural areas near Chicago.
Along came competition ni 1886 with the introduction of the first Sears' general catalog.
The first retail stores opened in 1926 as the company expanded beyond mail-order only, growing to more than 500 stores by 1929. A year later, in 1930, Montgomery Ward turned down a merger offer from Sears. After many ups and downs, the company merged with Container Corporateion of America in 1968 under the new parent name of MARCOR.
In 1985, the company ended its catalog business. Facing competition from new discount retailers in the 1990s, the store filed for bankruptcy in 1997.
"On December 28, 2000, after lower-than-expected sales during the Christmas season, the company announced it would cease operating, close its remaining 250 retail outlets, and lay off its 37,000 employees." [Wikipedia] The last store closed in 2001.
In 2004, the Montgomery Ward intellectual property was purchased by DMSI (Direct Marketing Services, Inc.) and DMSI launched a new online and catalog-based retail presence. In 2008, with DMSI struggling, Swiss Colony (eventually Colony Brands) purchased DMSI and re-launched the website in late 2008 with new catalogs surfacing in early 2009.
As with many of the brands in this series, Montgomery Ward continues to exist online at wards.com. They pay tribute to their past with a section of the website dedicated to their "150th Anniversary" which took place in 2022.
