List of defunct retailers of the United States — BrandWiki
List of defunct retailers of the United States
Below is a list of notable defunct retailers of the United States.
Automotive
Al's Auto Supply – Chain that operated in Washington, California, Idaho, Oregon, Nevada, and Alaska; purchased by CSK Auto. Founded by Abe "Al" Wexler in Everett, Washington in the late 1950s;[1][2] sold 15 store chain to Paccar in 1987;[3] Paccar sold chain (along with Grand Auto) in 1999 to CSK Auto which eventually rebranded stores as Schucks.[4][5][6]
Auto Palace – A New England-based chain that had 112 stores in six states before it was acquired and rebranded by AutoZone
Abby Z. – plus size design label founded by Abby Zeichner in 2004.[46] The Abby Z flagship store opened in SoHo, New York at 57 Greene Street in 2008 and closed in 2009[47] when its parent company filed for bankruptcy.[48]
Alfred Angelo – closed all stores in 2017 without warning customers
American Apparel – closed all stores in 2017 after acquisition by Gildan Activewear but still exists online
Anchor Blue – youth-oriented mall chain, founded in 1972 as Miller's Outpost. The brand had 150 stores at its peak, predominantly on the West Coast. Anchor Blue declared bankruptcy in 2009 and shuttered more than 50 stores, and gradually shrank to include stores solely in California. It went bankrupt once more in 2011, with the remaining stores closed before Easter of that year.
Brooks Pharmacy – chain of more than 330 pharmacies located throughout New England and New York, with corporate headquarters were located in Warwick, Rhode Island; was acquired by Rite Aid in 2007
Electronics stores
47th Street Photo – Closed 1997
Allied Radio – Chicago, Illinois, acquired by Radio Shack in 1970;[78][79][80][81] some stores sold to Schaak Electronics in 1973,[82][83] a few stores converted to Radio Shack, and the rest closed
Art Van Furniture – Founded in 1959 in Warren, MI, and operated over 300 stores and outlets in 7 states. On March 5, 2020, Art Van Furniture announced it would liquidate all of its company-owned stores and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Badcock Home Furniture &more
Barker Bros. – Los Angeles-based furniture store chain, which was at one time the largest furniture store chain on the West Coast for nearly a century before it filed for bankruptcy in 1992
Castro Convertibles – primarily Northeast and Southeast U.S.
Conn's HomePlus
Fradkin Brothers Furniture – Baltimore County, Maryland
Georg Jensen Inc. (New York, NY) (1935-1968)
Grocery stores and supermarkets
365 by Whole Foods Market – converted to regular Whole Foods stores in 2019 after Amazon acquired Whole Foods
A&P – also known as The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company; filed for bankruptcy for the second time in July 2015 and closed its last store in November 2015[112]
ABC Markets
ABCO Foods- former Arizona division of Alpha Beta spun off in 1984; stores closed by 2003
AJ Bayless- Arizona; stores sold to Bashas' in 1993
Gamble-Skogmo – bought by Our Own Hardware in 1986
Music, booksellers, and video stores
B. Dalton – closed in 2010. Barnes & Noble Booksellers revived the name in 2022.[125]
Blockbuster Music – sold to Wherehouse Music in 1998;[126] some locations converted to Wherehouse Music; majority were closed
Blockbuster Video – sold to Dish Network in 2011;[127] all company-owned stores were closed January 12, 2014, but 1 franchise store remains open in Bend, Oregon.[128]
E.J. Korvette – gradually liquidated by 1981 after declaring bankruptcy[189]
Fedco
GEM – initially called Government Employees Mutual Stores, and later Government Employees Mart before settling on G. E. M. Membership Department Stores, a profit-making company that was aimed at the governmental employees market; first store was opened in Denver in 1956;[190] after several expansions, the company filed for bankruptcy in 1974[191]
Gemco – acquired by Lucky Stores in 1961;[192] closed in 1986 and the vacant buildings sold to Target
Auto Works – Began in Michigan in 1976 by Perry Drug Stores and which grew mostly through acquisitions[10][11] prior to being sold to Northern Automotive in 1988.[12] In turn, Northern became CSK and CSK sold Auto Works to Hahn Automotive in 1993[13] before Hahn finally closed Auto Works in 1997.[14] At its height, there were 252 stores in eight states.
CSK Auto – (CSK = Checker, Schucks, Kragen) based in Phoenix, Arizona with stores nationwide; bought by O'Reilly Auto Parts in 2008[17][18]
Parts America – Sears created the Parts America store concept in 1995 and tried to convert full service Western Auto stores into the parts-only Parts America brand until it sold the stores to Advance Auto Parts in 1998.[19][20][21] Upon merger, Parts America stores were rebranded Advance Auto Parts and the website partsamerica.com became a web only store for Advance Auto Parts. With financial backing from Sears, Advance Auto Parts decided to make the partsamerica.com into a portal for web purchasing of auto parts as part of a joint venture with CSK Auto.[22] The website appeared to have been deactivated by 2009.[23]
Trak Auto – Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and West Coast; founded by Robert Haft (Crown Books) in 1981; purchased and rebranded by Advance Auto Parts in 2002[26][27]
MC Sports – filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2017
Modell's Sporting Goods – first store opened in 1889. On March 11, 2020, the company filed for bankruptcy and announced it would close all 115 stores. At the time of the announcement, Modell's was the world's oldest sporting goods chain
Moosejaw – was acquired by Dick's Sporting Goods in 2023 and rebranded under Dick's "Public Lands" brand; most of the physical stores were closed.[33]
Olympia Sports – the company was founded in 1975, and on July 22, 2022, the company filed for bankruptcy and announced it would close all 35 stores by September 30
Oshman's Sporting Goods – founded in Houston in 1933; acquired by Gart Sports in 2001; most stores rebranded as Sports Authority
Sportmart – Merged with Gart Sports in 1998 and then merged with Sports Authority in 2003; All stores were branded into Sports Authority by 2006.
Sports Authority – bankrupt in 2016 and liquidated. Brand was acquired by Dick's Sporting Goods
Sports Unlimited – First store in 1983. In 2008, it closed all stores and moved online.
Sportswest – owned by Pay 'n Save and spun off in 1984; acquired by Big 5 Sporting Goods in 1988
Sunny's Surplus – went bankrupt in 2000 but emerged in 2001; filed for bankruptcy again in 2007 and closed most locations; three reopened in late 2007 but shut down again in 2008
Anderson-Little – men's specialty retailer originally associated with a large Massachusetts-based men's clothing manufacturer; also known as Anderson Little-Richman Brothers; owned for many years by F. W. Woolworth Company. Ceased operations in 1998,[50][51][52][53][54] revived as a small online retailer in 2008.[55]
Bob's Stores – Suffered bankruptcy in 2024, closed all stores in July.
BuyBuy Baby
Casual Corner – liquidated in 2005
Chess King – sold to Merry-Go-Round in 1993; liquidated along with that chain in 1995
Christopher & Banks – bankrupted in 2021 from financial loss, because of the COVID-19 pandemic
Club Libby Lu – closed by Saks
County Seat – founded in 1973, the denim-focused mall retailer expanded in the 1980s to nearly 500 stores. It filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and shuttered stores, and another bankruptcy in 1999 put the company out of business.[56]
Cygnet Shops – women's fashion store that closed in 1975
DEB – closed its stores in 2015, and returned later that year as an online-only retailer selling plus-size clothing
Delia's – founded in 1993 as a juniors' clothing catalog, Delia's (stylized as dELiA*s) expanded to more than 100 physical locations before cheaper competitors sent it to bankruptcy in 2014.[57] It was reopened in 2015 as an online retailer, but this was unsuccessful and has been licensed by online fashion company Dolls Kill since 2018.
Disney Store – owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Closed the majority of its retail stores in 2021 mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with merchandise moved online and to department stores such as Target and JCPenney.[58]
Dressbarn – closed all stores in 2019 but still operates online
Edison Brothers Stores – operator of numerous shoe and clothing chains, including Bakers Shoes, Wild Pair, J. Riggings, Oaktree, Foxmoor and Fashion Conspiracy. Company was liquidated in 1999, though some chains it operated, including Bakers, have survived.
Fashion Bug – plus-size women's clothing retailer that once spanned more than 1000 stores. Parent company Charming Shoppes, which owned other plus-size retailers including Lane Bryant, shuttered the brand in early 2013.
Footstar
Forever 21 – Still exists outside of USA, plans to reopen stores.
Foxmoor Casuals – Closed in Edison Brothers Stores liquidation.
Gadzooks – Founded in 1983 as a T-shirt store, Gadzooks grew to a 250-store mall fashion retailer before making an ill-advised decision to discontinue menswear. The company was purchased by competitor Forever 21 out of bankruptcy in 2005, with its stores either closed or converted to F21 formats.
Gantos – a women's specialty clothing retailer based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In late 1993, the company announced bankruptcy reorganization, closing 50 stores between 1993 and 1994,[59] and the chain announced the liquidation of its remaining 114 stores by the end of the decade, ceasing operations in 2000.[60]
Goody's (store) – defunct 2009, revived 2010, defunct again in 2020
Gordmans – would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and would get bought by Stage Stores which filed for bankruptcy in May 2020 and all Gordmans stores would be closed.
Gottschalks – Founded in 1904, this middle-market regional department store was once the largest independently owned, publicly traded department store in the United States. Bankruptcy claimed the brand in 2009.[61]
Hahn's Shoes (1876–1995) – Washington, D.C. region
Harold's – founded in 1948 in Norman, Oklahoma, and liquidated through bankruptcy in 2008[62]
The Limited – filed for bankruptcy and liquidated in 2017. Its products became available again online after the brand was acquired by Sycamore Properties.
Margo's LaMode – Dallas-based women's clothing store that closed in 1996 after corporate parent underwent bankruptcy reorganization
Martin + Osa – Established in 2006 as the more mature counterpart to American Eagle Outfitters, the chain grew to 28 stores before millions in losses forced its parent company to discontinue it. The brand's stores and e-commerce site disappeared in 2010.
Merry-Go-Round – Merry-Go-Round had more than 500 locations during its heyday in the 1980s. It went bankrupt in 1995.[66]
Mervyn's – a California-based regional department store founded in 1949. Mervyn's ill-fated expansion out of West Coast markets in the months before a recession sent the company into bankruptcy in 2008.[67][68]
Miller's Outpost – see "Anchor Blue" above
Papyrus (company) – closed all stores in 2020 due to parent company filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy but Papyrus still remains a brand on some greeting cards
Payless (footwear retailer) – Filed for bankruptcy twice and closed all stores in Canada and the US in 2019.
Raleigh's – also known as Raleigh Haberdasher; a men's and women's clothing store in Washington, D.C., 1911–1992
Robert Hall – clothing store that existed from 1938 to 1977. At its peak, the store had locations in both New York City and Los Angeles. In addition, the firm invented the big box concept where all non-clothing lines were leased by other retailers.
Rogers Peet – New York City based men's clothing retailer established in late 1874. Among the chain's innovations: Rogers Peet showed actual merchandise in their advertising, advertised fabric types on merchandise, and put price tags on merchandise. The chain went belly-up in 1981.
Roos/Atkins – a San Francisco menswear retailer formed in 1957 and expanded throughout the Bay Area in the 60s. The brand went into decline in the 1980s and ceased operations by 1995.
Ruehl No.925 – concept brand launched by Abercrombie & Fitch in 2004; poor sales and operating losses led to A&F ceasing operations of Ruehl in early 2010
The Sample – Western New York-based retailer founded in Buffalo in 1928 when its founder brought a sample set of 48 dresses back from New York City. At its peak, the retailer was noted for its semi-annual clearance known as the Pup Sale. The demise of The Sample was in 1991 following the death of the chain's chairman a year earlier.
Sibley's Shoes – a show retailer founded by Harry Rosenfield in 1920; had locations in Michigan and Ohio and closed in 2003 when the company's executives decided not to save the company
Stein Mart – closed all stores in 2020 however still exists online
Steve & Barry's – "extreme value" retail clothing chain that operated 276 stores in 39 states.
Sycamore Shops – an Indianapolis-based women's clothing retailer; spun off from L.S. Ayres; was later forced into bankruptcy and liquidated by early 1996[69]
Thom McAn – shoe retailer founded in 1922; had over 1,400 stores at its peak in the 1960s. In 1996, the parent company decided to close all remaining stores, but Thom McAn footwear is available in Kmart stores.[70]
The Fair Store - Retail clothing store in Port Arthur, Texas and Beaumont, Texas during the 1970s
Things Remembered – still exists online but closed all stores in 2022
Today's Man – a men's suiting store that began in the 1970s and expanded rapidly in the 1980s and 90s. Overexpansion brought the brand to bankruptcy in 1996.[71]
Virginia Dare Dresses, Incorporated – merged with Atlantic Thrift Centers, Inc in 1963
Warner Brothers Studio Store – Meant to be the WB answer to the rapidly growing Disney Store, the Warner Bros. Studio Stores sold collectibles and apparel based around WB properties including Looney Tunes and DC Comics. The Studio Stores were a victim of the AOL-Time Warner merger, and shuttered operations in 2001.[72]
Yellow Front Stores – Founded in the 1950s as an army surplus store, Yellow Front transitioned to become a camping gear retailer before going bankrupt in 1990.
Cunningham Drug Stores – Metro Detroit, Michigan area; founded 1889, dissolved in 1982
Dart Drug – converted to Fantle's
Dorb the Chemist, Inc. – filed for bankruptcy in 1932
Drug Emporium – closed 2003 after being acquired by Snyder Drug
Drug Fair – Alexandria, Virginia-based drug chain.
Eckerd Corporation – acquired by CVS Pharmacy in the South and Rite Aid in the Northeast–Mid atlantic Region
Fantle's – short lived chain that was a successor from Dart Drug; closed in 1990
Farmacias El Amal – San Juan, Puerto Rico, firm; 20 locations bought by Walgreens in 2008; remaining closed in 2011
Circuit City – filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and liquidated on March 8, 2009;[84][85][86] reopened online through Tiger Direct in April 2009; closed again in late December 2012; intellectual property was sold again to Circuit City Corp. in January 2016, which plans to open an online operation and retail stores
CompuAdd – bankrupted in 1993[87] and ran a chain of superstores in the 80s/90s
CompUSA – on November 2, 2012, it was announced that Systemax would drop both the CompUSA and Circuit City storefront brands; CompUSA was relaunched in 2018 as an online retailer.
Computer City – CompUSA quickly closed this chain after purchasing it from Tandy in 1998[88][89]
Fry's Electronics – Closed permanently in 2021 after 35 years as a result of low sales, and potentially bankruptcy and liquidation due to online competition and the COVID-19 pandemic
Future Shop – Closed in the US 1999. Bought out by Best Buy 2001. March 28, 2015, Best Buy announced the dissolution of the Future Shop brand and the closure of 66 of its locations.
H. H. Gregg, Inc. Went bankrupt and closed in 2017; it relaunched as an online retailer in 2017 and opened its first brick and mortar store in 2019 following bankruptcy.
HiFi Buys – acquired by Tweeter in 1997 but they kept the brand name until Tweeter closed in 2008
Incredible Universe – closed in 1997; six stores acquired by Fry's Electronics and the rest shut down
J&R – major New York City electronics and music store officially closed in April 2014
Lafayette Radio – Acquired by Circuit City in 1981
Lechmere – Liquidated with parent company Montgomery Ward in 1997
Luskin's – Baltimore, Maryland-based appliance and electronics retailer[95][96]
Mars Music – Founded in 1996, over-expansion, a struggle to raise financial capital and a failed reorganization attempt led to Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2002.
Newmark and Lewis – Bankrupt 1992
Olson Electronics (currently a redirect that needs expansion) – a nationwide electronics store chain founded in 1927 by brothers Sidney, Philip and Irving Olsen in Akron, Ohio; at one time had more retail locations than Radio Shack; sold to Teledyne in 1968 and rebranded Teledyne Olson Electronics; later sold to 3 Chicago investors in August 1984 who later filed for bankruptcy just 15 months later; filed for bankruptcy in 1985[97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105]
Polk Brothers – Faced competition from Best Buy, liquidated 1992
Schaak Electronics – liquidated in 1986 after filing for bankruptcy the second time in a decade[106][107][108][109]
Sharper Image – filed for bankruptcy in 2008 only to relaunch in 2009.
TigerDirect – In 2015, TigerDirect phased out brick-and-mortar retail operations. Online operations continued until March 31, 2023 when parent company Insight officially retired the brand.
Tweeter – Went bankrupt in 2008; original company remains as a shell company.
Ultimate Electronics – Bankrupt 2011
United Audio Centers – Acquired by Tweeter along with Douglas TV in 2000
American Fare – Hypermarket chain owned by Kmart and Bruno's Supermarkets, all 3 stores closed in 1994.
Auchan – French hypermarket chain tested in Houston and Chicago, last store closed in 2003.
Big Bear Stores – Columbus, Ohio based chain; stores closed or sold to Kroger by 2004. Unrelated chain in San Diego with same name sold to Fleming Companies and Albertsons in 1994
Boys Markets – converted to Ralphs or Food 4 Less in 1994[113]
Bruno's
Buehler Foods – operated as Buehler's Buy-Low
Buttrey Food & Drug – Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota; sold to Albertsons in 1998
Cala Foods and Bell Markets – rebranded as DeLano's IGA; others sold to other retailers
Carrefour – French hypermarket chain tested in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, closed in 1993.
Carter's Foods
Chatham Supermarkets – chain headquartered in Southeastern Michigan founded by Royal Supermarkets in the mid-1950s, bankrupt in 1987, acquired by Kroger after defunct
Clemens Markets – suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; acquired by Giant in 2006
Colonial Stores
Dahl's Foods – Des Moines, Iowa-based chain; acquired by Associated Wholesale Grocers after bankruptcy and rebranded as Price Chopper and Cash Saver in 2015[114]
Delchamps
Dick's Supermarket – Southwestern Wisconsin; acquired by Piggly Wiggly in 2006
Dismuke Storehouse – Georgia
Dominick's – Chicagoland; operated by Safeway from 1998 until the last closures in January 2014; some locations acquired by Jewel, Whole Foods Market, Mariano's Fresh Market, and Heinen's Fine Foods
Fresh & Easy – California, Nevada, Arizona; American subsidiary of British retailer Tesco
Furrs Supermarkets – New Mexico/West Texas; went bankrupt in 2001.
Genuardi's – defunct as of 2012 as a chain; 2015 all locations
Giant – Ralphs big box format; Southern California
Giant Open Air – merged with Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy
Hills Supermarkets
Hinky Dinky – Nebraska chain acquired by Nash Finch in 2000
Hughes Markets – a Southern California-based supermarket chain that was first acquired by QFC in 1996[115] and then merger into Ralphs the following year when the parent companies of both Hughes and Ralphs were simultaneously acquired by Fred Meyer[116]
Hypermart USA – Hypermarket chain owned by Walmart, closed in favor of their new Supercentre concept.
Jewel T – founded by the Jewel Companies as their discount chain, but was sold to Save-A-Lot in 1984 when Jewel was acquired by American Stores[117][118][119]
Jitney Jungle
Kash n' Karry – became Sweetbay Supermarket
Kessel Food Market — Michigan chain sold to Kroger
Kohl's Food Stores – Wisconsin chain acquired by A&P and closed by 2003
Laneco – Eastern Pennsylvania/Western New Jersey; closed in 2001[120]
Loblaws – Northeastern Ohio, Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York. Stores in California were sold in 1976.
Market Basket (California) – Former Kroger-associated chain that operated in Southern California from 1930 to 1982. Not related to similar-named chains in Texas, Louisiana, or New England.
Mars (supermarket) – Maryland grocery chain which operated from 1943 to 2016.
Marsh Supermarkets – Indiana and Ohio chain that was liquidated in 2017
National Tea
O'Malia's Food Markets – Central Indiana chain that was liquidated in 2017
Quality Markets – owned by Penn Traffic, Western New York; acquired by Tops Friendly Markets
Rainbow Foods – Twin Cities chain owned by Fleming Companies, then Roundy's. Roundy's exited Minnesota in 2014.
Red Food – Chattanooga, Tennessee, area; acquired by Bi-Lo Stores
Red Owl – Upper Midwest; acquired by Supervalu in 1988, one location still exists in Wisconsin
Sage's – Sage's Complete Markets based in San Bernardino, California, chain that was liquidated in 1973.
Sav-A-Center – A&P in the New Orleans, Louisiana, region
Schwegmann Brothers Giant Supermarkets – New Orleans, Louisiana; acquired by National Tea
Seaway Food Town – Northwest Ohio chain sold to Spartan Stores in 2000; remaining stores closed or sold by 2003
Seessel's Supermarkets – Memphis chain acquired by Schnucks
Shopping Bag Food Stores – Southern California chain that was founded in 1930 and later acquired by Vons and then Fazio's before it was rebranded and later sold to Albertsons in 1978
Sweetbay Supermarket – All locations converted to Winn-Dixie
Twin Valu – hypermarket launched by SuperValu (owner of Cub Foods and ShopKo) in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio in 1989 and Euclid, Ohio (1990); closed March 1995
Ukrop's – Richmond, Virginia chain acquired by Ahold and converted to Martin's in 2010; notable for pioneering ready-to-eat foods in the 1980s
Victory Supermarkets – Greater Boston chain sold to Hannaford
Waldbaum's – New York metropolitan area (liquidated in 2015)
Walmart Express – Convenience store concept created by Walmart, all locations closed in 2016.
Weingarten's – Houston area, Arkansas, Louisiana; sold to Safeway in 1983
White Hen Pantry – merged with 7-Eleven in mid-2007
Wild Oats Markets
Pier 1 Imports – permanently closed all 540 of its stores in 2020
Tuesday Morning – closed all stores but still exists via e-commerce
Waccamaw's Homeplace/Waccamaw Pottery – started out as Waccamaw Pottery; merged with a home retailer called HomePlace in 1999, becoming Waccamaw's HomePlace. The company didn't last long and closed all stores in 2001
Wicks 'N' Sticks – closed all corporate-owned stores after filing for bankruptcy in 2006; some independently owned franchise locations remained open with the last one closing at the Volusia Mall in 2016
Payless Cashways – included Furrows & Payless; all assets liquidated as of November 2001
Pergament Home Centers
Rickel
Scotty's Builders Supply
Somerville Lumber
Yardbirds Home Center
Borders Books – filed for bankruptcy in 2011;[129] some locations purchased by Books-A-Million; borders.com website acquired by Barnes & Noble Booksellers. There are still Borders locations in the Middle East.
J&R – New York City; closed their music store at the beginning of 2014
Kim's Video and Music – closed last New York store in 2014
King Karol – New York City
Kroch's and Brentano's – Chicago-based bookstore chain; filed for bankruptcy in 1995[135]
Licorice Pizza – Southern California chain that was started in Long Beach by James Greenwood in 1969,[136] acquired by Record Bar in 1985, acquired by Musicland in 1986,[137] and rebranded Sam Goody.[138] In November 2021, director Paul Thomas Anderson released a movie with the same name loosely based on this chain.
Media Play – closed and dissolved in 2006; a media superstore (books, music, and video) concept created by Musicland in 1992[139][140]
Movie Gallery – operated stores under the Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, and Game Crazy brands; liquidated and closed in 2010[141]
MovieStop (purchased by Hastings Entertainment shortly before bankruptcy)
Music Plus – Southern California-based chain that was acquired by Blockbuster and converted
Musicland – founded in Minneapolis in 1955, acquired by American Can in 1977; Musicland Group acquired Sam Goody in 1978 while keeping brand separate[142] until 1997 when the Musicland Group decided to rebrand all existing Musicland stores as Sam Goody;[143][144] Musicland Group acquired by Best Buy in 2001[145] and eventually sold to Trans World Entertainment
National Record Mart – a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company that went bankrupt in 2002[146][147][148][149][150]
Peaches Records & Tapes
Planet Music – converted to FYE
Record Bar – malls; acquired by Blockbuster in 1993 and converted[151]
Record Town – store name changed to FYE by parent company Trans World Entertainment
Record World – company also operated The Record Shops at TSS; was purchased by W.H. Smith after declaring bankruptcy in 1992; rebranded The Wall the following year[152][153][154]
Sam Ash Music – after operating for over 100 years, Sam Ash closed in 2024
Sam Goody – most locations converted to FYE, but two locations continued to operate as Sam Goody until they closed in 2025.
Saturday Matinee – converted to FYE
Sound Warehouse – Dallas, Texas based chain; acquired by Blockbuster in 1992 and all stores converted to Blockbuster Music.
Spec's Music – Florida-based chain; last store closed in 2013[155]
Strawberries Music – converted to FYE
Streetside Records – converted to FYE
Suncoast Motion Picture Company – converted to FYE, though three continue to operate as Suncoast Motion Picture Company.
Tape World – a store concept created by Trans World Entertainment in 1979 but later replaced by its f.y.e. store concept[156]
Tower Records – founded in 1960 in Sacramento, California; all retail stores were liquidated in 2006,[157] and the name was purchased for use as an online-only retailer. Tower Records still operates in Japan.
Turtle's Records & Tapes – Atlanta, Georgia-based chain with most stores located in Georgia and Florida; acquired by Blockbuster in 1993 and converted[151]
Virgin Megastores – all Megastores in the United States were closed in 2009[158] and the remaining airport stores closed a few years later. Stores are still in the Middle East and Northern Africa.
Waldenbooks – in 2011, the chain was liquidated after parent Borders filed for bankruptcy in 2011[159]
Wallichs Music City – the largest music retailer on the West Coast during the 1950s and 1960s; founded by Glenn Wallich, founder of Capitol Records; had stores in California and briefly in Arizona before it went bankrupt in 1977[160][161][162][163][164][165]
West Coast Video – permanently closed in 2009
Wherehouse Music – filed for bankruptcy in 2003;[166][167] Trans World took control of 111 stores and liquidated nearly a third of them[168][169]
F.A.O. Schwarz – sold to Toys 'R Us after bankruptcy in 2009; all stores closed except the original NYC flagship store, which closed in 2015.[178] The chain was bought out by ThreeSixty group and opened two new locations in Rockefeller Center, and LaGuardia airport, with plans to open up to 30 more in the future.
KB Toys – liquidated February 9, 2009, which closed all of the remaining stores;[179] sold to Toys "R" Us and then to Strategic Marks, LLC; although it planned to reopen stores in 2019, this never happened due to a lack of funding.
Noodle Kidoodle – acquired in 2000 by Zany Brainy and rebranded[186]
Toys "R" Us – liquidated most stores in 2018; still active in Canada and other countries. The company was bought and reformed by its lenders as a brand owned by TRU Kids. On November 27, 2019, Toys "R" Us re-entered the American market with a retail store at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey. On December 7, 2019, a second location was opened at The Galleria in Houston, Texas. Both stores were permanently closed in early 2021. A new standalone location was later opened in the American Dream Mall in New Jersey. On August 19, 2021, Macy's bought Toys "R" Us and announced they will be opening store-within-a-store locations in 400 Macy's locations. More standalone locations will open by the end of 2025.
Warner Bros. Studio Store – stores closed in 2001[72][187]
Zany Brainy – liquidated in 2003 after parent company filed for bankruptcy[188]
known as Memco in the Chicago and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas
Más Club – Hispanic version of Sam's Club, shut down only location in 2014.
Pace Membership Warehouse – founded in Denver in 1983 and quickly expanded to the East Coast;[194][195] acquired by Kmart in 1989;[196][197] later sold to Sam's Club in 1993 and rebranded[198][199]
78.Tandy Corp. Acquires Allied Radio, Chicago, From LTV Subsidiary: LTV Ling Altec Sells Business And Certain of Unit's Assets; Purchase Valued at $30 Million The Wall Street Journal, April 15, 1970^
