In-person retail has been in a critical decline for a very long time. An business that was as soon as the lifeblood of economic districts all throughout the nation has seen mass closings for the reason that mid-2000s, together with Maine- and New England-owned chains that had been staples of purchasing excursions for households all through the latter half of the twentieth century.
Whereas many downtowns have skilled revivals due to a renewed curiosity in small companies and a few Maine chains like Marden’s and Reny’s proceed to flourish — Reny’s will open its latest retailer quickly in Bangor — a lot of the shops we used to buy at are lengthy gone.
Listed here are six Maine or New England-based chains that you just in all probability bear in mind purchasing at. What are a few of your favourite recollections of those traditional shops? Did you do again to highschool or vacation purchasing or work at any of those locations? Did we miss a retailer you really liked? Go away a remark under or e mail us at internet@bangordailynews.com to share your tales.
LaVerdiere’s
Based in 1922, closed in 1994
This Waterville-based drug retailer chain was rather more than a pharmacy. LaVerdiere’s at one level had 70 areas in northern New England, and as Stephen King described it in his quick story “The Solar Canine,” it was extra of a “jumped-up five-and-dime than the rest.” It was most well-known, maybe, for its monumental number of Halloween sweet and costumes throughout the fall, adopted by an equally massive array of toys and presents for Christmas. What child didn’t take pleasure in rifling by way of the shop and fruitlessly begging their mother or dad to purchase them one thing?
Ames
Based in 1958, closed in 2002
At one level, Ames was the fourth-largest division retailer chain within the nation, behind Walmart, KMart and Goal. The Connecticut-based low cost retailer had shops in small cities and rural areas throughout the japanese U.S. and the Midwest, together with 26 areas in Maine, from Caribou to Calais to Wells. It was well-known for providing reductions to buyers aged 55 and over,and, like its foremost rival Kmart, was a full-service division retailer.
The corporate went bankrupt in 2001 and closed for good in 2002. Many former Ames shops are actually Ocean State Job Lot areas. A mysterious Ames Shops web site and related social media accounts emerged final yr that claimed that 35 new Ames areas would open throughout the nation in 2026, although no different details about the supposed revival of the chain has been made public since then.
Porteous
Based in 1873, closed in 2003
At one level, mid-market Maine division retailer chain Porteous had two of the busiest and hottest retailers within the state: a flagship location on Congress Road in Portland and one of many unique retailers to open within the Bangor Mall in 1978. Porteous had barely higher-end attire and residential items in its 10 areas throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. By the late Nineties, nevertheless, it couldn’t compete with shops like Kohl’s. The Congress Road location closed in 1991, and the final remaining Porteous shops in Bangor and Presque Isle closed in 2002 and 2003, respectively.
Filene’s
Based in 1881, closed 2006
The unique Filene’s was in Downtown Crossing in Boston and was a New England purchasing vacation spot for a lot of a long time till the Seventies, when it started increasing into purchasing malls throughout the japanese U.S. It opened shops within the Maine Mall in 1983 and the Bangor Mall in 1998, however its presence within the state was short-lived — each the Bangor and Portland areas closed in 2006.
Zayre
Based in 1956, closed in 1990
Among the many very first tenants on the Broadway Purchasing Middle in Bangor was Zayre, a reduction division retailer chain primarily based in Massachusetts. It opened in Bangor in 1961 alongside the newly constructed purchasing middle, one in all finally 13 Zayre shops in Maine from Madawaska to Saco.
In 1988, the underperforming Zayre chain was bought by Ames, and the unique firm as an alternative started to deal with its extra worthwhile retailer: TJ Maxx, which had additionally opened on Broadway in Bangor in 1977. The Bangor Zayre turned an Ames in 1988, which closed in 2002, and TJ Maxx expanded into that house in 2004.
W.T. Grant
Based in 1906, closed in 1976
At its peak, there have been 28 W.T. Grant areas in Maine — one of many largest retail chains within the state, with an enormous presence in Aroostook County, the place there have been six shops. The Massachusetts-based chain was ubiquitous and well-known for being a throwback to an earlier period in that it provided store-branded merchandise like electronics, sporting items and clothes.
Up till the Fifties, W.T. Grant shops had been mainstays of downtowns, together with on Congress Road in Portland and Central Road in Bangor, which opened in 1948. The corporate later expanded into purchasing malls within the Nineteen Sixties. It struggled to compete with chains like KMart, nevertheless, and the corporate went bankrupt in 1976.
