Mammoth Mart
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| Type | Discount store |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1956 |
| Headquarters | Framingham, Massachusetts |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, toys and housewares. |
| Website | None |
Mammoth Mart was a discount department store chain, located in the northeastern United States, primarily in the New England area. The chain was founded by Max Coffman in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1956,[1] and was something of a prototype for the large, downscale department store, selling housewares, hardware and clothing in stark, unfussy buildings, usually in suburban shopping center locations. Other discount department store retailers like K-Mart, Zayre, and Bradlees would subsequently expand on this concept.
Their advertising mascot was Marty the elephant, a smiling, blazer-wearing mammoth.
By 1969 the chain had 35 stores, though they filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter XI of the Bankruptcy Act of 1898--one of the precursors (along with Chapter X of the 1898 Bankruptcy Act) of today's Chapter 11--in 1974. The chain was acquired by now-defunct King's Department Stores in 1978.
Locations(partial list):
- Guilford, Connecticut (Route 1), now Wal-Mart
- North Haven, Connecticut (Middletown Avenue/Quinnipiac Avenue), later Mars Dept. Stores, now Covideon Factory
- Brunswick, Maine (Old Bath Road), now home to BIW-related administrative offices
- Presque Isle, Maine
- Lexington Park, Maryland (St. Mary's Square), now a Rose's
- Waldorf, Maryland (Shoppers World)
- Canton, Massachusetts (Tri-Town Mall, at Cobbs Corner), later a King's
- Franklin, Massachusetts (Route 140 - East Central Street, Horace Mann Plaza), now Bob's Store
- Marlborough, Massachusetts, Boston Post Road (Route 20)
- New Bedford, Massachusetts (Kings Highway Plaza), later a King's, THB Home Center, Ames and presently AJ Wright
- Raynham, Massachusetts (Rt. 44?), later a King's
- Salisbury, Massachusetts (Rte. 110, Crossroads Plaza)
- Detroit, Michigan (Old Federal Department Store at SW corner of Grand River and Greenfield)
- Dover, New Hampshire (Tri-City Plaza), now home to a craft store
- Plaistow, New Hampshire
- Statesville, North Carolina, turned into Kmart, now Fred's
- Newport, Vermont, later an Ames store
[edit] References
- ^ Drew-Bear, Robert (1970). Mass Merchandising; Revolution & Evolution. Fairchild Publications. pp. 86. http://books.google.ca/books?id=5GFCAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Mammoth+Mart%22+%22Max+coffman%22&dq=%22Mammoth+Mart%22+%22Max+coffman%22&client=firefox-a&pgis=1. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
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