Heck's Department Store
| Former type | Discount department store |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Defunct | 1990 |
| Number of locations | 70+ (at peak) |
| Area served | West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Kentucky |
| Products | Clothing, garden/seasonal, sporting goods, hardware, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics and housewares. |
Heck's Department Store was a chain of West Virginia based discount department stores owned by business entrepreneur Fred Haddad that existed in West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Kentucky until dissolved in September, 1990. It was founded by Fred Haddad in Charleston, West Virginia.[1]
[edit] History
Heck's, Inc. was established in 1959 by Fred Haddad and between 1959 and 1990 served as a retail arm of automotive supplier Steel City Products, Inc.
Heck's stores were discount, stand alone department stores found in small cities throughout West Virginia, western Maryland, the Ohio Valley, and parts of Indiana & Kentucky. Its structure and product lines were similar to its competitors, Fisher's Big Wheel, Hills Department Stores, and G.C. Murphy's Mart and Walmart. Walmart was a lot smaller chain back then not like the super centers of today, the locations were comparable to Hecks.
Part of Heck's expansion into the Midwest came after acquiring a smaller discounter, T-Way Stores.
By the mid-1980s the chain was losing money and market share. In February 1987 a $125 million merger agreement with New York-Based Toussie-Viner Group was terminated due to weak performance by Heck's in the final months of 1986, and the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At the time of the filing, Heck's operated 140 stores.[2]
In 1989 the company emerged from Chapter 11 with 55 stores and under a new name, as Take 10 Discount Club; a membership club costing $10 to join.[3]
In September 1990 all of the assets of the Retail Division were sold to Retail Acquisition Corporation, Inc., and became L.A. Joe Department Stores. Two locations were sold to, and became, Fisher's Big Wheel. One Location was sold to Gabriel Brothers.
