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I don't agree with your analysis, mainly because you're missing a key detail. Picture private equity as a vulcher that comes to clean up the carcus after the animal is already dead. Private equity comes in when the company is already dead or dying, then just parts out the pieces, especially the real estate, for a profit. They're vulcher capitalists for sure, but they weren't the reason the businesses were failing for years in the 1st place, in fact, like a vulcher, the only reason they come around is because the business is already dead or dying but has hidden value within it.
Private equity people like to buy faltering businesses, load them up with debt after wowing banks and investors with splashy turn around plans, and peel that money off the books and into their pockets through dividends or consulting and administrative fees. Occasionally, a turn around actually succeeds which is just a bonus for them, but more times than not a failing business saddled with debt only has one direction left.
I worked there when I was 22, 23. I loved my job, but they weren't scheduling me, so I got another job that I was also going to work. I worked at the other place for a week before the manager above mine caught wind and she forced me to quit saying it was a conflict of interest. don't know how it's that when it was a portrait studio, and I worked as a Merchandise Consumer assistant. at least I think that's what MCA stood for can't remember. My manager was furious when she found out and I could hear her digging into the manager above her, talking about how she could get rid of the one employee that came in when called, was never late, and did her job unlike the other two people I worked with. I regret quitting should have left the other job because 4 months later I wasn't getting scheduled at the portrait studio called the district manager to complain because the store manager wasn't answering my calls to find out she told them I had quit and refused to sign any paperwork. Thankfully the district manager was appalled and made sure that I was put into the system as laid off, so I could get unemployment, because that company was going downhill as well, and I wasn't going to work for that branch anymore but couldn't afford to drive to the other one.
I agree sears was a big one here in Canada after acquiring the Canadian department store Eatons if you don’t know want eatons is it’s sears it closed in 2000s and was bought by Sears Canada
I agree sears was a big one here in Canada after acquiring the Canadian department store Eatons if you don’t know want eatons is it’s sears it closed in 2000s and was bought by Sears Canada
Sears, KMart, Strawberry, Easy Pickin's, Montgomery Ward, Alexander's, A&S, Consumer, Associated, Rave, Buster Brown, Thom MaCann, Bakers Shoes, Caldor... just in case you want to do 50 more retailers that no longer exist or exist at an extremely small scale.
Most of them, like Montgomery Ward or Sears are doing online retailing now. So not all that is lost. Oh, and you can find Toys R Us at Macy's. If only Watch Mojo would do a little digging, they would find out that most of these retails we missed so much are still online. I know, because I still get the MW catalog in the mail til this day. And I'm not talking about the outdated ones either. I'm talking about the updated ones.
My first job was at Mervyn’s as a Sales Associate. I was 18. Waldenbooks was my favorite bookstore. Payless Shoe Store, in my opinion, was the perfect store for shoes when you had growing kid, especially when you were on a budget. I remember when a lot of these stores closed.
I am a real life Toys R Us kid. I made two radio commercials for the company when I was a child. I was completely heartbroken when the company announced its bankruptcy and closures. 😭😭😭
Many moons ago, when the PlayStation 2 was at its peak, I went to Toys R US and purchased an accessory for my system. Well, the device was defective. I returned the following day with the device and my receipt with the hopes of obtaining a refund. I was greeted with, "We do not accept returns on opened electronics." I told the manager, "How was I supposed to know if the item was defective or not if I did not open it." Her response was, "Well, that was the chance you took when you bought it." Before leaving, I gave the manager the big "Fudge You" before vowing to NEVER set foot in their establishment again because Walmart and other retailers accept returns without a problem. So, it is also to say that Toys R US's poor service and asinine return policies could have also played a part in their downfall. As for the child in me, I do miss the store.
@@PJL7095 She told me that's the policy. What companies don't realize that there are many other establishments that sell the same goods. If you don't treat your customers well, then your profits decrease while the other guy's profits increase.
Yeah, they did the same with Kmart (about 6 stores remaining) while skipping over Sears (about 6 stores remaining). If they were going to move the goalpost stated right there in the title, why would they cover one chain and not the other when both were part of the same holdings company (and therefore fell victim to the same mismanagement), and the latter has a much longer and more prominent position, historically speaking.
Tuesday Morning was a retail store that closed last year. It’s on the vein of Pier 1. It sold merchandise and collectibles from other countries. It’s last year it sold Christmas ornaments from Pier1.
I remember a lot of these stores. Miss going to K-Mart, Suncoast, Pier 1, Toys R Us, Radio Shack, KB Toys, Circuit City, Blockbuster, and Movie Gallery.
How can a description of lost retail chains not have a discussion the toxic influence of the private equity industry? Leveraged buyouts buried retailers in unmanageable debt while making the PE pirates tons of money.
This. Also several of these brands are/were owned by big parent companies that are doing just fine. The Limited, for example, was owned by the same parent as Bath & Body Works (remember when BBW was only a section inside The Limited?), Victoria's Secret, Cacique, Limited Express, etc. That company is doing just fine.
My first job ever was at Super Crown Books which had gone out of business, and I was there until the final day. I did enjoy working there because I learned a lot and still have fond memories of the place.
At least other stores are still around to this day, such as Hot Topic, Spencer's, Macy's, Dillard's, Wal-Mart, GameStop, Big Lots, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Lane Bryant, JC Penny, etc.
Dollar Tree is now selling name brands at lower prices, such as Sara Lee Bread, Ben and Jerry, Eggos, etc. I miss my generic ice cream. The same with Dollar General and Family Dollar. I remember Filene's and Kinney's in Chicago.
Me and my Mom went to the Rexall in downtown San Diego and had lunch at its lunch counter. I was a TG&Y regular customer when I was a kid. My ex-husband worked at Kinney shoe store in the 1980's. Mervyn's was a favorite store of mine.
I fondly remember the 80's mall scene. I worked at Martin's Shoes. My boss's husband worked at Kinney's. We had several of the stores mentioned in this video but we had a lot that weren't. Meis and Snyder's were two anchor stores, Lane Bryant's, Roth's, Waldenbooks, Borders. Several music stores. A huge food court and several major restaurants. Our mall is still open but it's nothing like the 80's mall. I don't think we'll ever get that back.
Thank you for reminding me of Esprit, it was one of my favorite outlets in Orlando, and I completely forgot about it. Thinking of it makes me feel so much nostalgia and I'm going to their site now. ❤❤❤
@@bazzerker35s They don't exist in the United States anymore. The focus in on that fact. It is also mentioned in the video that some of those mentioned in the list still exist elsewhere.
I actually thought that Kmart went out of business because of Walmart. Well that's what happened where I live (about 70 mi north of Philadelphia) in Pennsylvania anyway. Kmart was the place to go, that place was always busy and then once Walmart showed up they closed within the year. Nichols is also a store that closed up years ago, It was bought out by Kmart (that was over 30 years ago)
Here are a list of stores that I remember right off hand from this video that I'm very glad that you mentioned on there: - Bed Bath and Beyond - Payless ShoeSource/Payless Shoes/Payless - Ames - FYE (which was known as Sam Goody in the video although I remembered FYE much more tbh) - RadioShack - Toys R Us - Blockbuster (or its full name Blockbuster Video)
But Bed Bath and Beyond and Toys R Us still exist. Overstock bought BBB and renamed their company that and Toys R Us came back as small boutiques in Macy’s but are expanding into their own stores
FYE formed as a consolidation of Sam Goody and Camelot Music (the company I worked for initially). I began in 1989 at Camelot. Camelot Music bought a series of regional chains like Strawberries, The Wall, The Box, and others. Not long after, the formation of FYE took place. I left in 2018. There is still one in Charlotte, NC where my friend works.
I grew up in Brooklyn, NY and my go to music place was “The Wiz” Their slogan was “nobody beats the Wiz!” Good memories. They were like a tower records for my hood. Anybody else remember The Wiz?
I absolutely loved Zaney Brainy as a kid. Libby lui the fairy dust. In the blue or pink bag. Loved having that experience as a kid. Warner Brothers was so fun. It's sad. I also loved boarders. It will be shocking to see what leave us by 2030
I remember that a Movie Gallery opened up across the street from our Family Video. I went in once just to look around, and found a movie in their sale bin that I wanted. I took it up to the counter, and... "Oh, we can't sell this to you unless you're a loyalty member." That was the last time I set foot in there.
So many retailers where the answer to "why they died" is "Walmart killed them" (or Target or other similar deep discounters) And so many others where the answer is "leveraged buyout or other dodgy financial shenanigans that made a few people richer at the expense of everyone else"
In San Diego, CA: Yogurt places like Penguin's, Heidi's, & Zipz really fell away, Tuesday Morning, Babies R Us, one local Round Table Pizza left; Boston Market & TGI Friday's gone, Crown Books was done in more by internal family conflicts but changing times hurt as well; Comp USA & Good Guys Electronics; The Sweet Factory, Pei Wei Asian Diner, & Fuddrucker's all gone; Cinnabon, Wetzel's Pretzels, Rite Aid & Red Robin are on life support; & there's only one Mrs. Field's left at the San Diego Convention Center when there was once one at every mall we had.
I remember most of these stores (realizing many were regional) since being a child through adulthood. Now, as I'm pushing 70, I'd rather shop locally even if that means reduced product selection over the big box stores (especially WM which intentionally put small town businesses out to become a localized monopoly).
Rexall made me laugh, because I was in a band in the late 70's into the early 80's called RoXlide. We named it such to use the huge X in the name to replace the letters, but to also have brand recognition alongside the larger Rexall brand. Most people misspelled our name as Rockslide, because they couldn't get their heads around the X replacing "cks" and that it was all one word. :D
Kmart was mismanaged before they bought Sears. Instead of investing in updating their stores, they chose to buy other retailers. Then Eddie Lambert came along and ran both Sears and Kmart to the ground as he was focusing on real estate, not the retail side. As of today, only 2 Kmarts are open in USA - one in New York and Miami, FL
Hill’s was a legendary store where I lived growing up. Ames bought them in a heavily leveraged buyout that ultimately killed them as well, though they were doomed themselves and simply didn’t know it. The bottom line is this: the only way anyone can survive in the retail space is to offer something unique and stay strictly with that. Any attempt to expand into other areas and broaden sales will result in Wal-Mart and Target eating your lunch due to simple economies of scale or people shopping your inventory so they know what to buy from Amazon. That’s why companies like Lowe’s, Harbor Freight, and Best Buy are still alive, they stick to what they do best.
I was so excited to buy a toy at the Toys R Us at the Mall of America recently. I miss it so much, and would have been bringing baby a lot if it was open near me
Man I remember working at CompUSA back in the day. Started off in the electronics department and then moved to cashier. Black Friday was the worst day of the year. A long twelve hour shift. I worked till the very last day.
They got eaten by Macy's...along with Hudson's and Dayton's (at least some of which were previously eaten by Macy's). Field Gear jeans fit me perfectly--I miss that!
Macy's ate Bullock's Wilshire and Bullock's, Bon Marche, then briefly Bon Macy's, Filene's and Marshall Fields.Homogenized forever: SoCal, Seattle, WA, Boston, MA and Chicago, IL. Quite an attack on Many special, regional department 🏬 stores. Now we are seeing much worse. . .😮💔😢✨🕯️🛡️🙏⚖️🩹🇺🇲
There is a Toys "R" Us in my Mall by my home in Toronto Ontario. I low-key sneak in there once in a while for nostalgic purposes. But then I turn around and leave when I get to the Barbie aisle... WADR, Down Syndrome Barbie just makes me feel some type of way.
I bought a lightsaber at Radio Shack. It was only $50, which was a steal. Even then, though, the writing was on the wall, and I knew they would close soon.
@CompanyMan does these videos excellently. Break these 50 companies into subgroups, based on commonalities of demise, etc... Then do about 4-6 videos please 👽
3:05 Macys was the setting of the miracle on 34th St. But gimbles were featured in the movie because Gimbles was across the street from Macy's, and it's actually Macy's that put Gimbles out of business. I worked at the Macy's in Herald Square. They teach all their workers about their history, including this.
Same here. I remember getting a PS2 games and a few movies for party's as well. Also I was able to find a block buster Funko as well that is in the shape of a VHS tape.
The Disney Store is still in business in Times Square. In fact, some of the footage you just showed was from that very location. I'm there all the time, so I recognize it.
I guess we can add big lots to the list now too since theyre closing down all their stores too. RIP big lots. Always hoarded up on dvds, blurays, and body wash there. Rest in peace 😭
The biggest reason the Disney store failed was you might as well call it the little Princess store. So much of the selection was for young girls and little for boys, teenagers, or adults
I was really impressed with Bed Bath and Beyond. They had very friendly employees. More than once I asked to see the manager to praise an employee who had helped me.
