Discount Store Shorts
Description: Pic 'N' Save Corporation (later MacFrugals) was at one time the second-largest closeout retail chain in the United States. William Zimmerman founded Pic 'N' Save Corporation in 1950 in Culver City, California. By 1985, it operated 90 stores in California and six other U.S. states. In 1991, the company changed its name to MacFrugals. It later expanded to the Southwest and into the South, but left both markets in the late '90s. In 1997, Consolidated Stores Corporation bought out the remaining MacFrugals stores for $995 million in stock and slowly began converting them to their closeout retail store brand.
Description: Mammoth Mart was a popular discount department store chain in the Northeastern United States, operating from 1956 until the early 1970s. Known for its friendly elephant mascot, Marty, and bargain prices, the stores offered everything from clothing and toys to home goods. Though the chain eventually disappeared after bankruptcy and rebranding, Mammoth Mart remains a nostalgic favorite among fans of vintage retail history and classic American department stores.
Description: Bradlees Department Store, more commonly known as Bradlees, was a discount department store chain based in Braintree, Massachusetts, which operated primarily in the Northeastern United States. Bradlees sold various retail items in its stores, including clothing, jewelry, health care, beauty products, footwear, furniture, electronics, housewares, and bedding. At its peak in 2000, Bradlees operated over 105 stores in seven states across the Northeast, with close to 10,000 employees. The chain went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2000, with all of its stores eventually closed by March 15, 2001.
Description: A funny and sarcastic vintage-style badge design celebrating the 'End of an Era' for budget shopping. Featuring a withered tree growing out of a dollar sign and a lonely shopping cart, this distressed graphic bids a satirical 'Farewell to the $1.25 Paradise' and mocks the rise of inflation with the fictional 'Substandard Stores - Since Day One'. Perfect for anyone who loves retail humor, economic satire, and cool retro emblem designs.
Description: Ontario Discount Department Store was a chain of discount department stores, which operated primarily in Ohio from the late 1950s into the 1980s. Ontario's parent company, Cook United, discontinued the use of the Ontario brand when it bought the Rink's Bargain Barn chain in 1981. The remaining Ontario stores were rebranded as Rink's or Cooks stores. Cook United closed its remaining stores in 1987.
Description: Price Club was a warehouse store chain, founded by Sol Price in San Diego, California. Price devised the Price Club concept in 1975 after being forced out of FedMart, another retail chain he founded. Price and a few of his friends put up $2.5 million in capital to open the first Price Club on July 12, 1976 in San Diego. Price Club would eventually merge with one of its competitors and the combined company would go on to become the global leader in the wholesale shopping club space with more than 800 warehouses worldwide as of 2021.
