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| Fate | Bankruptcy |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1958 New London, CT |
| Defunct | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Braintree, Massachusetts (headquarters) |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics and housewares. |
| Website | Bradlees.com |
Bradlees was a chain of discount department stores which operated primarily in the Northeastern United States. The chain went bankrupt in 2000 and all of its stores were closed by March 2001.
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History
Beginnings
The first store was opened in New London, Connecticut in 1958. It was named after Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks, CT where the store planning meetings were held. The company was acquired by grocery chain Stop & Shop in 1961, which owned the chain until 1992.
Bradlees was also the site of many former J.M. Fields and Two Guys department store locations. Many of the latter were also Jefferson Ward, a division of Montgomery Ward. Two Guys and J.M. Fields (stores had a discount department store and a grocery store together) were both the Wal-Mart Supercenter of their day. The Two Guys chain reigned extremely popular throughout New York and New Jersey in the 1960s and 1970s.
In the New York/New Jersey area, nearly all shopping centers that had Bradlees stores would also have a Stop & Shop in the same plaza or, in some cases, connected with the store as a supercenter, but this ended when Stop & Shop pulled out of the New York market during the 1980s (not to return until 2000 when Royal Ahold bought the company and rebranded its Edwards chain as Stop & Shop). In 1993, Bradlees began adding Dunkin' Donuts, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell departments.
During the 1970s and early 1980s (and again in the late 1990s), Bradlees was known for its TV and print ads featuring the character "Mrs. B." (played by actress Cynthia Harris), depicted as the chain's buyer, who constantly searched for bargains to pass onto her customers.
Bankruptcy and closure
The first major Bradlees store closings came in 1988, when it exited from the Southern United States. It also closed a few stores in New Jersey. Bradlees had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 1995 and closed down some underperforming stores in 1996. Some of those locations were turned into Ames. The company successfully exited from bankruptcy in February 1999 after making a decent profit through 1998 and early 1999.
The fortunes of Bradlees took a turn for the worse in 2000 and on December 26, the company announced another filing for bankruptcy protection, and said that Bradlees would begin liquidation sales as soon as possible, ending business. Executives of Bradlees said it filed for bankruptcy protection because of a general economic downturn, including rising interest rates and higher gas and heating oil prices that have left customers with less disposable income. The executives also said new competition, unseasonable weather in the first half of 2000, and the tightening of trade credit contributed to its inability to operate profitably.
In an interview just before the chain closed, analyst Eric Beder of Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. said "They really needed a perfect economy to get this thing moved", referring to the attempt at recovery after the restructuring of the company. "But the recent consumer spending slow down did not facilitate that environment", he said.
In early January 2001, the chain started closing all their stores and the final store closed in March 2001. At the time of its liquidation, the company had 10,000 employees and 105 stores in 7 states. Many of its former store locations were purchased by Wal-Mart, although other locations became The Home Depot, Target, Kohl's or Stop & Shop. Stop & Shop owned much of its real estate even after it spun off the company. Stop & Shop was acquired by Ahold in 1996, and some former Bradlees were sold to other Ahold divisions, such as Giant.
When the Nasdaq stock market suspended trading in Bradlees stock, it closed at just under 22 cents.
External links
- First Bradlees Website--April 1998
- Bradlees Locations before Bankruptcy
- History of Bradlees
- Story on the closing of all 105 Bradlees Stores
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 1 January 2009, at 21:44.
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