Former Hills locations that didn\'t become Ames

[SomeBeach]

Michigan actually had the misfortune of having some Hills stores close before they could even become Ames! Here are the ones I've found that did that.

Hills
4295 E. Court St., Burton - divided among Office Max, Dunham's Sports, Family Dollar, and Dollar Palace; Dunham's moved
G3080 S. Linden, Flint - Now Furniture Row
2629 W. Pierson Rd, Flint - Yankee->Zody's->Hills->Kroger/Family Dollar
Eastbrook Mall (now Centerpointe Mall), Grand Rapids - now Menard's
3460 Plainfield NE, Grand Rapids - Later Handy Andy, now empty
661 E. 24th, Holland - Now Save-A-Lot and Menard's
7500 Cottonwood, Jenison - Later Handy Andy, now Hobby Lobby
Westmain Mall, Kalamazoo - Later Menard's. Whole mall torn down for Lowe's and supermarket
879 Mall Drive, Kalamazoo Now Menard's
Frenchtown Square Mall, Monroe - now Target
5105 Gratiot Rd, Saginaw - Yankee -> Zody's -> TradeWay -> Hills -> Kmart
2258 Tittabawassee, Saginaw -- Later Handy Andy, demolished for Lowe's
4550 Clyde Park SW, Wyoming -- Yankee -> Hills -> Value City

For those not familiar, Yankee, Zody's, and Tradeway were all discounters. Handy Andy (now extinct) and Menard's are home improvement stores.

Are there any other Hills that closed pre-Ames?

[d_fife]

Originally posted by SomeBeach
Michigan actually had the misfortune of having some Hills stores close before they could even become Ames! Here are the ones I've found that did that.

Hills
4295 E. Court St., Burton - divided among Office Max, Dunham's Sports, Family Dollar, and Dollar Palace; Dunham's moved
G3080 S. Linden, Flint - Now Furniture Row
2629 W. Pierson Rd, Flint - Yankee->Zody's->Hills->Kroger/Family Dollar
Eastbrook Mall (now Centerpointe Mall), Grand Rapids - now Menard's
3460 Plainfield NE, Grand Rapids - Later Handy Andy, now empty
661 E. 24th, Holland - Now Save-A-Lot and Menard's
7500 Cottonwood, Jenison - Later Handy Andy, now Hobby Lobby
Westmain Mall, Kalamazoo - Later Menard's. Whole mall torn down for Lowe's and supermarket
879 Mall Drive, Kalamazoo Now Menard's
Frenchtown Square Mall, Monroe - now Target
5105 Gratiot Rd, Saginaw - Yankee -> Zody's -> TradeWay -> Hills -> Kmart
2258 Tittabawassee, Saginaw -- Later Handy Andy, demolished for Lowe's
4550 Clyde Park SW, Wyoming -- Yankee -> Hills -> Value City

For those not familiar, Yankee, Zody's, and Tradeway were all discounters. Handy Andy (now extinct) and Menard's are home improvement stores.

Are there any other Hills that closed pre-Ames?

camillus ny (outside syracuse) as ames was down the road, there were 2 in jamestown ny as ames and hills were in the same area and maybe taht did not make it to become hills,

[storehistoryguy]

Ames might not have turned those Hills into Ames because they didn't get as much business.

[d_fife]

Originally posted by storehistoryguy
Ames might not have turned those Hills into Ames because they didn't get as much business.

or another factor of distribution and logstics and your reason could have played a big part for most of those un-ames hills. like ames closed some zayre as soon as they were bought out.

[IGA/Kmart Is Forever!]

Michigan actually had the misfortune of having some Hills stores close before they could even become Ames! Here are the ones I've found that did that.

Hills
3460 Plainfield NE, Grand Rapids - Later Handy Andy, now empty
7500 Cottonwood, Jenison - Later Handy Andy, now Hobby Lobby
5105 Gratiot Rd, Saginaw - Yankee -> Zody's -> TradeWay -> Hills -> Kmart
2258 Tittabawassee, Saginaw -- Later Handy Andy, demolished for Lowe's

For those not familiar, Yankee, Zody's, and Tradeway were all discounters. Handy Andy (now extinct) and Menard's are home improvement stores.

Did all three of these Hills locations (3460 Plainfield NE, Grand Rapids, 7500 Cottonwood, Jenison & 2258 Tittabawassee, Saginaw) become Handy Andy after these Hills locations closed? I am only asking this because Handy Andy went out of business in my area in the late 1980's/early 1990's which if you will realize was a five to ten year time frame before Ames ever bought the Hills chain right before Black Friday in 1998.

Also, is this former Hills (5105 Gratiot Rd, Saginaw) still a Kmart at all? If it is, does it still look like a Hills or did Kmart have the store completely renovated?

[retailfan]

Hills in Indianapolis In closed before the sell out they were open maybe 2 years before they closed them down

[TheFugitive]

Michigan actually had the misfortune of having some Hills stores close before they could even become Ames! Here are the ones I've found that did that.

Hills
4295 E. Court St., Burton - divided among Office Max, Dunham's Sports, Family Dollar, and Dollar Palace; Dunham's moved
G3080 S. Linden, Flint - Now Furniture Row
2629 W. Pierson Rd, Flint - Yankee->Zody's->Hills->Kroger/Family Dollar
Eastbrook Mall (now Centerpointe Mall), Grand Rapids - now Menard's
3460 Plainfield NE, Grand Rapids - Later Handy Andy, now empty
661 E. 24th, Holland - Now Save-A-Lot and Menard's
7500 Cottonwood, Jenison - Later Handy Andy, now Hobby Lobby
Westmain Mall, Kalamazoo - Later Menard's. Whole mall torn down for Lowe's and supermarket
879 Mall Drive, Kalamazoo Now Menard's
Frenchtown Square Mall, Monroe - now Target
5105 Gratiot Rd, Saginaw - Yankee -> Zody's -> TradeWay -> Hills -> Kmart
2258 Tittabawassee, Saginaw -- Later Handy Andy, demolished for Lowe's
4550 Clyde Park SW, Wyoming -- Yankee -> Hills -> Value City

For those not familiar, Yankee, Zody's, and Tradeway were all discounters. Handy Andy (now extinct) and Menard's are home improvement stores.

Are there any other Hills that closed pre-Ames?

My wife worked at that Burton Road store for awhile.  It was doing quite well by all accounts.  Right across the
street from the Courtland Center mall.  Corporately they were just too shaky to remain in Michigan at the time.

Pierson Road was known throughout the state as a "combat zone" store.  The LP manager had to be quickly
reassigned to Ohio after his car was blown-up in the parking lot!

Always wondered what happened to Handy Andy's.  They struck me as a clone of the Busy Beaver chain
here in Pittsburgh.

[TheFugitive]

Ames might not have turned those Hills into Ames because they didn't get as much business.

Ames slammed into the brick wall of the Zayre deal and began leaving Michigan about a year later.

Plus Ames was in smaller towns and rural areas (Caro, Imlay City, Hillsdale, Sturgis, etc.)
Locations like Pierson Road would have had zero appeal to them.