Lechmere
| File:Lechmerelogo.png | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 5, 1913 Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Founder | Abraham Cohen |
| Defunct | November 7, 1997 |
| Fate | Liquidation |
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Electronics, housewares, appliances, exercise equipment, footwear and music |
| Parent | Dayton's (1968–1989) Berkshire Partners (1989–1994) Montgomery Ward (1994–1997) |
Lechmere (/ˈliːtʃmɪər/) was a New England-based retail store that closed in 1997. It had 24 stores located throughout New England and New York, as well as several locations in the Southeastern United States, offering electronics and appliances.
History
The chain began in June 1913 when Abraham "Pop" Cohen opened a harness shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When his three sons Maurice, Philip and Norman and daughter Nan entered the business in the 1940s, it evolved into a tire and automotive store and later into a consumer appliance store. Household goods, televisions, and other goods were added to the merchandising mix in the 1950s, as were luggage, sporting goods, toys, and lawn and garden accessories.
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The first store moved to a former bus garage on 88 First Street in 1956, furthering the expansion of merchandise mix. Lechmere also began advertising on television in the 1950s, and ended all of its prices in 88 to represent the store's address.[1]
The First Street building was expanded in 1962 to a 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) store, to which office equipment, jewelry, hardware and further goods were added. A second store later opened in 1965 in Dedham. In 1968, in order to capitalize further growth, the Cohens sold the chain to Dayton's, a department store based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[2] The new parent company became Dayton Hudson Corporation soon after the purchase, and is now Target Corporation. Dayton maintained Lechmere as a separate subsidiary and mostly left its operations in the Cohens' hands. With Dayton Hudson's resources now behind it, Lechmere opened stores in Danvers and Springfield.[1]
The Cohens retained day-to-day control of the chain until the mid-1970s. With the Cohens' retirement, Lechmere's merchandise mix changed to a discount department store line. Due to declining sales, the chain began cutting prices as well. Stores in Framingham, Massachusetts, and Manchester, New Hampshire, followed in 1977.[1]
Lechmere introduced many retailing innovations, including discount pricing and a central pick-up counter to make shopping easier for customers. Merchandising strategy included offering items at many different price points to offer something for every customer and prices on major appliances listed in code so that customers would have to talk to a sales person to find out the cost. Every year on Washington's Birthday, Lechmere had a big sale, which featured 22-cent cherry pies to draw customers.[3] Despite the opening of new stores, Lechmere's sales continued to decline, until when C. George Scala was named CEO in 1980.[4] He changed the merchandise mix again to housewares, appliances, sporting goods, electronics, and music.[citation needed] It also began expanding outside its New England base, including locations such as Charlotte, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia.[5][6] Berkshire Partners and Boston-based mall developers Steve Karp and Steve Wiener bought the chain from Dayton Hudson in 1989.[7] As a condition of this sale, stores in the Southeastern United States were closed.[8] In 1992, the company successfully went to the Supreme Court in Lechmere, Inc. v. NLRB to block union organizers from being on their property. Berkshire Partners sold Lechmere to Montgomery Ward Holdings in 1994, in a deal worth more than than $200 million.[9]
Closure
On August 1, 1997, Montgomery Ward announced that all Lechmere stores were to be closed as part of their bankruptcy reorganization. At the time of the chain's closing, 27 stores remained open, including 20 in New England, 12 of which were in Massachusetts.[10] All six "Home Image by Lechmere" stores were also closed at that time.[11]
Legacy
The original store and the nearby Green Line (MBTA) transit station got their names from their locations in Lechmere Square.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b c "Lechmere Inc. History". fundinguniverse.com. 1995.
- ^ "Lechmere Sales to merge with Dayton Corp". The Boston Globe. November 13, 1968. p. 24. Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Thomas, Jack (August 12, 1997). "Store of memories". The Boston Globe. p. C1. Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
On brink of demise, Lechmere chain recalled for the life it brought to Boston
- ^ Naughton, Michael (January 8, 2007). "C. George Scala; helped build Lechmere into N.E. powerhouse". The Boston Globe. p. D7. Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Mehegan, David (September 29, 1989). "Lechmere to close 10 stores in South". The Boston Globe. p. 61. Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Mehegan, David (September 29, 1989). "Lechmere to close 10 units in South (cont'd)". The Boston Globe. p. 62. Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "COMPANY NEWS; Dayton Hudson To Sell a Chain". The New York Times. 1989-07-20. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
- ^ "Lechmere Closing 8 of 10 Stores in Southeast". The Atlanta Constitution. October 5, 1989. p. B1. Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Zuckoff, Mitchell (February 2, 1994). "Lechmere agrees to takeover". The Boston Globe. p. 39. Retrieved May 24, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "All 27 Lechmere stores close; Montgomery Ward Struggling". The Boston Globe. AP. November 8, 1997. p. F1. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
Consumer electronics giant Lechmere disappeared yesterday.
- ^ "Montgomery Ward to close specialty stores". The New York Times. 1997-08-01. Retrieved 2007-11-18.