The Retail Collapse of the Late 90’s/Early 2000’s…

The late 90s Early 2000s retail apocalypse…

References:

Library of Congress

Zayre88

V1 Analytics

NYSE

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 YouTube. #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.

[mx]

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.

[FeasterProductions]

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.

[kenm.]

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

[FrothingFanboy]

In Canada, R.I.P. to Woolco, Beaver Lumber, Eaton's, and Zellers.

[HumbleAshe]

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.

[shrodingerschat]

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.

[msnman]

The last Bay Area sears still in service in pleasant hill ca

[KJJ]

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.

[whatsup]

love these types of video, very specific topic that rarely gets talked about

[familianigasak]

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!

[davidchodds]

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.

[spectrumvirkeytroni]

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.

[greggirons]

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 ...

[revpeyton]

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)

[AbandonedPKB]

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.

[participantparticipant]

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".

[FeasterProductions]

No more Toys R Us, Ames, Bradlees, Kmart, Circuit City, Blockbuster, Sears, they're all gone.

[cgimovieman]

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.

[msnman]

Kmart and sears were awesome rest in peace

[StevenEveral]

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.