Retailer

Zany Brainy - #10

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 since acquiring rival company Noodle Kidoodle in 2000. It shuttered all stores in late 2003. [Wikipedia]

Zany Brainy, like many of the retailers in this Series, created an online presence in 2020. There is not much to the website and it does not appear to be too successful.

The founder and CEO of Zany Brainy (David Schlessinger and Tom Vellios) went on to found another retail chain (you may have heard of), called Five Below.

Chess King - #48

If you walked through any mall in the 80s and left with an acid-washed jean jacket, parachute pants, or a skinny leather tie, you probably know Chess King. In 1967, traveling salespeople from Melville Corporation's Thom McAn shoe division spotted a gap: young men had nowhere to shop

Is AI Slowly Stealing the Competitive Advantage of Site Selection?

A few months ago, I wrote about how traditional trade area analysis is dead. Radius rings and demographic overlays can't capture the micro-market dynamics that actually drive retail performance. But here's what I've been thinking about since: if AI and dynamic location analytics are

Can We Bet on the Future of Retail?

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Bon-Ton - #47

𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙬 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙞𝙙𝙬𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙋𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙨𝙮𝙡𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝘽𝙤𝙣-𝙏𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚. Carson's. Younkers. Elder-Beerman. Bergner's. All the same company. All gone. The beginning started in 1898 when Max Grumbacher and his father Samuel open a one-room millinery store in York, Pennsylvania. The Timeline: 𝟭𝟵𝟮𝟵: The company incorporates. "Bon-Ton" (French for "high society") becomes

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Chess King - #48

Is AI Slowly Stealing the Competitive Advantage of Site Selection?

Can We Bet on the Future of Retail?

Bon-Ton - #47