Zayre

[TheFugitive]

I worked for Ames when we bought Zayre.  The two chains were actually rather different.

Zayre had a lot of stores in urban and inner city areas.  Some of these stores had exceedingly
high shrink (mostly paper shrink due to employees who could not do receiving paperwork properly).
Ames typically stuck to the rural areas and small towns, except in some markets like Pittsburgh.
Thus the supply chains were not well aligned.  For example, for awhile we were shipping Ames'
"Country Goose" pattern comforters and window treatments to Zayre stores in inner city Chicago!

I spent about six weeks at a Zayre in Jacksonville, Florida during the conversion.  The people were
very nice, but the store had been badly neglected from an infrastructure and maintenance standpoint.
(their NCR registers were ancient even then).  Always felt bad because those people got exactly one
Christmas as an Ames location before the store was closed.

When the merger was announced, we had a number of Ames managers who had previously worked
for Zayre, and in fact had left Zayre due to some of these issues.  They immediately began criping.
"Oh, no, this is going to be a disaster!"  I remember we all got pulled onto a conference call and
read the riot act that we were NOT to badmouth the merger or say anything bad about Zayre for
any reason.  I guess even back then if those rumblings had made it to Wall Street there would
have been trouble.

[dmx10101]

Do you recall where the Zayre in Jacksonville was at. That's where I'm from and recall going to a couple different locations there

[bubcolbert1952]

What did the Channel (hardware/lumber store) in Baltimore seen in the 1987 photo become? Their competitor Rickel (owned by Pathmark but that chain was never in any major cities south of Wilmington DE) bought Channel, but Rickel went out of business not long afterward. And a number of Channel stores closed before Rickel ever came into the picture, not to mention the many Channel stores that closed because they were too close to a Rickel after the merger. These two chains also competed with a chain called Grossman's that called it quits in the late 80's because their stores were all VERY small compared to the big-box chains starting around that time. Instead of Home Depot and Lowe's, chains such as Hechinger, HQ, Builders Square, and Mr Goodbuys were dominating the Philly area at the time.

[Caldor1999]

Batavia, NY. Anyone know all their ny locations ???

[Caldor1999]

Agawam, Ma 1971

[d_fife]

Batavia, NY. Anyone know all their ny locations ???

where did you get hat?

[bubcolbert1952]

where did you get hat?

At the souvenir shop on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. :D ;D :P ::) ;)

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

This former Shopko store in Springfield, Illinois was previously a Zayre store:

[TheFugitive]

Do you recall where the Zayre in Jacksonville was at. That's where I'm from and recall going to a couple different locations there

University Blvd. 

[Ameskid]

Forgot to upload these taken back in November of former zayre signs in biglots 2142 White Rd york pa

Interesting...that is at least the second Zayre-turned-Big Lots that I know of.  BL #428 in Cincinnati is the other one, and there are probably more.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Zayre Shoppers' City



Zayre expanded into Minnesota by buying out Northern Enterprises in 1967 and rebranding all seven Shoppers' City stores in the Twin Cities and Duluth to Zayre Shoppers' City. Shoppers' City was a forerunner to the modern day big box stores, supercenters, and hypermarkets of today in the fact that they sell a full assortment of groceries alongside general merchandise. While Zayre continued to operate in the rest of the country, Zayre pulled out of Minnesota by closing their Shoppers' City stores in the late 1970s. Many of the Shoppers' City locations became Kmart as of January 1980.

http://theanalogage.blogspot.com/2013/08/shoppers-city-story.html
http://mn70s.tumblr.com/post/44544700032/zayre-shoppers-city-grand-opening-st-cloud-mn

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

The Zayre store in Round Lake, Illinois

[danfifepsu]

would Zayre have gone out if Ames hadn't bought it out? how similar was Zayre to Ames?

I actually liked Zayre better and I Was like 6 when Zayre became Ames.

[TheFugitive]

I was with Ames when we bought Zayre.   I spent six weeks at a Zayre store helping to convert it over to an Ames store.

Zayre stores were in BAD shape!  High shrink, low morale, poorly maintained.  Personally I have no doubt that they would have gone out of business within a year or two if Ames had not bought them (though as it worked out the deal took Ames into Chap. 11, and they ended up closing most of the acquired Zayre stores anyway, including the one I helped convert.  It was gone by the following Christmas.)  If Ames had not bought them the Ames chain would have remained healthier, and may have survived. Zayre would have been just as dead either way.

Ames CEO at the time, Peter Hollis, had previously been with Zayre.  He brokered the deal, and in hindsight it appears he used his position at Ames to throw is buddies back at Zayre Corp. a lifeline. 

We bought only the Zayre discount stores, which were failing.  Zayre retained the part of the company now known as TJX Corp. (TJ Maxx and Marshalls), which is relatively healthy.  So his buddies at the executive suite got to hang on to their cushy jobs and bonuses, as we over at Ames took the crap and reaped the whirlwind.  (except Peter Hollis, who went on to take Jamesway into bankruptcy as well)

Many Ames managers had worked for Zayre and realized that we were buying a lemon.  There was a lot of negative chatter about what a stupid, destructive deal this was.  I remember we were all summoned onto a conference call and told we were forbidden to say negative things about Zayre.  Apparently Hollis and the boys feared some of this chatter making it's way to the Wall Street press and scuttling the deal.

Easily achieved within minutes via Twitter today.

[danfifepsu]

I was with Ames when we bought Zayre.   I spent six weeks at a Zayre store helping to convert it over to an Ames store.

Zayre stores were in BAD shape!  High shrink, low morale, poorly maintained.  Personally I have no doubt that they would have gone out of business within a year or two if Ames had not bought them (though as it worked out the deal took Ames into Chap. 11, and they ended up closing most of the acquired Zayre stores anyway, including the one I helped convert.  It was gone by the following Christmas.)  If Ames had not bought them the Ames chain would have remained healthier, and may have survived. Zayre would have been just as dead either way.

Ames CEO at the time, Peter Hollis, had previously been with Zayre.  He brokered the deal, and in hindsight it appears he used his position at Ames to throw is buddies back at Zayre Corp. a lifeline. 

We bought only the Zayre discount stores, which were failing.  Zayre retained the part of the company now known as TJX Corp. (TJ Maxx and Marshalls), which is relatively healthy.  So his buddies at the executive suite got to hang on to their cushy jobs and bonuses, as we over at Ames took the crap and reaped the whirlwind.  (except Peter Hollis, who went on to take Jamesway into bankruptcy as well)

Many Ames managers had worked for Zayre and realized that we were buying a lemon.  There was a lot of negative chatter about what a stupid, destructive deal this was.  I remember we were all summoned onto a conference call and told we were forbidden to say negative things about Zayre.  Apparently Hollis and the boys feared some of this chatter making it's way to the Wall Street press and scuttling the deal.

Easily achieved within minutes via Twitter today.

most of Zayre stores were built in the 60s right? how similar was Ames and Zayre? I liked Zayre better. did Zayre really have low quality stuff?

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Here's a map of all the Zayre location by state. "*Z" represents the state with the Zayre corporate headquarters and Zayre stores. "ZSC" represents locations known formerly as Shoppers' City, which they acquired from Northern Retail of Minnesota and renamed Zayre Shoppers' City. "Z" just represents states with Zayre stores.

[Bdubs]

This photo is of Norwich, CT Zayre. I stole this photo from a Facebook group from Norwich. Shop Rite is now occupying this space.

[busman_49]

I remember (vaguely) one in Canton, Ohio, in the Belden Village area.  I was under 10 at the time and we had stopped at an Arby's on Everhard Rd.; I remember seeing a huge Zayre sign.  The shopping center in question is below.

I'm wondering if BCF is now where Zayre used to be.  I did a little looking around, but I can't yet seem to find out where the store actually was.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

I remember (vaguely) one in Canton, Ohio, in the Belden Village area.  I was under 10 at the time and we had stopped at an Arby's on Everhard Rd.; I remember seeing a huge Zayre sign.  The shopping center in question is below.

I'm wondering if BCF is now where Zayre used to be.  I did a little looking around, but I can't yet seem to find out where the store actually was.

The Burlington Coat Factory was originally a Twin Valu supermarket. It would be possible that when Zayre closed their stores (and converted some to Ames) following bankruptcy in 1989, that this store was split between TJ Maxx and Twin Valu sometime in 1990.

[busman_49]

I remember (vaguely) one in Canton, Ohio, in the Belden Village area.  I was under 10 at the time and we had stopped at an Arby's on Everhard Rd.; I remember seeing a huge Zayre sign.  The shopping center in question is below.

I'm wondering if BCF is now where Zayre used to be.  I did a little looking around, but I can't yet seem to find out where the store actually was.

The Burlington Coat Factory was originally a Twin Valu supermarket. It would be possible that when Zayre closed their stores (and converted some to Ames) following bankruptcy in 1989, that this store was split between TJ Maxx and Twin Valu sometime in 1990.

Also important to note is that at some point, one of these storefronts (it could have been TJ Maxx) was a temporary location back in the early 90s for Toys R Us.  Their location on Whipple Ave. had to be relocated due to a fire that damaged it.

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

In 1967, Zayre acquired the Minnesota-based Shoppers City chain and converted them to Zayre Shoppers City. Shoppers City was the predecessor to the supercenters/hypermarkets of today, having both groceries and general merchandise under one roof.

The St. Louis Park, Minnesota store, 1968:


Early 1970s photos of Zayre Shoppers City in St. Louis Park, Minnesota:




By 1974 there were nine Zayre Shoppers’ City stores in Minnesota:

•63rd and Brooklyn Blvd. in Brooklyn Center
•St. Louis Park
•43rd and Central in Columbia Heights
•1740 Van Dyke in Maplewood
•2021 So. Robert Street in West St. Paul
•50th and Wadena in Duluth
•3330 West Division Street in St. Cloud
•494 and Lyndale in Bloomington
•Hanson Blvd. and “New Hiway 10” in Coon Rapids

The St. Louis Park store struggled along until the end of 1979. The Zayre Corp. was later bought by Ames in 1988 and thereafter went bankrupt amid accusations of fraudulent business practices.

Kmart took over the store in 1980 and opened in 1981. A fire happened at the St. Louis Park Kmart store on March 14, 1982. The St. Louis Park Kmart store closed for business on December 31, 1983.

The Zayre Shoppers City, now divided between a Kmart store and Red Owl Country Store, 1983:


Red Owl Country Store took the space to the left of the Kmart from May 18, 1981 to 1985:


Burlington Coat Factory took over the store when Kmart left in 1984, Almstead's New Market replaces Red Owl Country Store (as seen in this 1994 photo):

[Pikapower]

^I didn't know that supercenters dated as far back as the late-1960s!  :o

[Amesdepartmentstores]

Former zayre ames store in Orlando on east  colonial drive  and semoran  blvd

[Amesdepartmentstores]

This  is the  zayre_ames in Joliet Illinois' 1500 1500n Larkin have Joliet

[Amesdepartmentstores]

Zayre in shaumburg Illinois

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Butler, Pennsylvania

[Amesdepartmentstores]

This is the zayre in manchester nh Zayre department store on Elm Street

[TheFugitive]

All those 70's cars in the parking lot take me back!

[danfifepsu]

This is the zayre in manchester nh Zayre department store on Elm Street

no pic.

[Amesdepartmentstores]

This is one of the zayre stores in daytona beach fl