A Lens into Retail & Commercial Real Estate Past (Present & Future)
Retailer
Tower was founded in 1960 by Russell Solomon in Sacramento, California. The store was named after his father's drugstore, which shared a building and name with the Tower Theater. In addition to CDs and cassette tapes, stores also sold DVDs, video games, accessories, toys and electronic gadgets like
Retailer
David Schlessinger, who had earlier started the defunct Encore Books chain of bookstores, founded Zany Brainy in 1991. The chain sold puzzles, books, games, and electronics, along with holding workshops for kids and teachers. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 15, 2001, having faced financial difficulties
Retailer
RadioShack was founded in Boston in 1921 by the Deutschmann brothers to provide equipment for ham radio operators. The company became "the place" for electronics, selling everything from eight-track players to portable CD players to cell phones. The chain grew fast in the 1970s, in part because
Retailer
Founded in 1923 by Barney Pressman, the luxury department store and its iconic brand began to lose its luster as department stores experienced declines in the last several years and were further impacted by the pandemic. The company dropped the apostrophe in Barney's in 1981 and became Barneys.
Retailer
Brothers Max and Morris Feldberg founded a company in Boston in 1919 to supply undergarments to department stores. When sales began to decline, they ventured out to create a new discount department store. The first Zayre location opened in Hyannis in 1956. Zayre which was a transformation from the Jewish
Retailer
Started by Mervin G. Morris in 1949 in San Lorenzo, California, the company grew to almost 200 stores, mostly in the West. The mid-scale department store grew to the US’s 83rd largest retailer in 2005. As it expanded outside of California, Mervyn’s ran into trouble. Was it
Retailer
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, started as a mail order business around 1859. By 1920, there were 4,500 stores; by 1930, 15,000. In 1936, in Braddock, Pa., A&P opened a “supermarket.” By the 1950s, A&P was,
Retailer
Going old school here. Founded in 1879, Woolworth’s sold general merchandise and was called “five and dime” because everything sold for 10 cents or less (the precursor to dollar stores and Five Below). By 1929, there were 2,250 stores. “Despite its growing to be one of the largest
Retailer
Founded by David Cook in 1985 as Blockbuster Video in Dallas, Texas, the retailer initially specialized in video rentals. In 1987 the acquisition of most of the stores took place by Wayne Huizenga, who put the company into rapid expansion mode. Viacom acquired the retailer in 1994 for $8.4B.
Retailer
Founded in Michigan in 1971, Borders heyday was in the early 2000s. In 1992, Borders was acquired by Kmart (who already owned Waldenbooks) and grew to close to 1,250 stores by 2003. But Amazon and electronic book readers changed the game. The company shuttered all locations and filed for
Retailer
In early 1949 Samuel Wurtzel was on vacation in Richmond, Virginia when, while at a local barber shop, he was witness to the start of television in the South. Imagining the opportunities, in late 1949, he moved his family to Richmond and opened the first Wards Company retail store. Later,