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Century 21 (department store)

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Century 21 Department Stores LLC
Company typePrivate
IndustryRetail
Founded1961 (63 years ago) (1961)
Founder
DefunctDecember 6, 2020; 3 years ago (2020-12-06)
FateChapter 11 bankruptcy liquidation
Headquarters
New York City, United States
Number of locations
13 (Manhattan, NY,[1] Brooklyn, NY, Westbury, NY, Morristown, NJ, Paramus, NJ, Queens, NY, Upper West Side, Elizabeth, NJ, Pittsburgh, PA, Philadelphia, PA, Sunrise, FL, Staten Island, NY and Yonkers, NY)
Key people
Raymond Gindi, CEO
ProductsClothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics and housewares.
Revenue≈$747 million[2] (2019)
OwnerGindi family
Websitec21stores.com

Century 21 Department Stores LLC was an American chain of department stores with 13 locations in the northeastern United States, headquartered in New York City.

History

Inside Century 21

The company was founded in 1961, by Sonny Gindi, Ralph Gindi, and Al Gindi.[3] The original store is located at 472 86th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Founder Al Gindi's son, Raymond Gindi, currently serves as Century 21's chief operating officer.[4]

The Century 21 flagship location is at 22 Cortlandt Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America. It occupies the base of a 34-story office tower, and it has recently added a Financier Patisserie coffee shop to its third floor.[5] The store became an emotional flashpoint during and after the September 11 attacks. The store was evacuated after the first plane hit the World Trade Center, and the interior was significantly damaged from the collapse of the Twin Towers. Initially, it was not certain that the store would be rebuilt, but the owners opted to remain at the same site and the store was renovated and reopened on February 28, 2002, five months after the attacks. Thousands of people waited hours on the morning of the reopening so they could have a sales receipt from that day.[6][7]

The firm opened its first location outside of the greater New York metropolitan area in October 2014. Housed on two floors of the former Strawbridge's flagship on Market Street in Center City, Philadelphia.[8][9]

The company expanded in 2016, opening at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida and a Pittsburgh-based two-level flagship store in Downtown area of Pittsburgh.[10]

In March 2016, Century 21 announced that it would open a flagship location at American Dream, that was scheduled to open on Thursday, March 19th, 2020 but got pushed all the way back to Thursday, October 1 2020 due to New Jersey State government restrictions that closed all non-essential retail.[11][12] Due to Century 21 filling for bankruptcy in September 2020 and liquidating all assets, this location never opened and is now abandoned.[13] Other Century 21 locations that were supposed to open if the COVID-19 pandemic did not hit the United States included Roosevelt Field in Garden City, New York in the former Bloomingdale's Furniture store and the new location at the Staten Island Mall in New Springville, Staten Island on the lower level of the former Sears store both locations including American Dream were supposed to open between 2020 and 2021 but are now abandoned due to Century 21 filing for bankruptcy.

In March 2020 it was announced that due to municipal and state government orders, Century 21 stores were forced to close by the government and did not begin to reopen stores again until in May with the Sawgrass Mills store being the first in the 13-store fleet to reopen. Next would be the Philadelphia store and stores outside of New York City such as The Mills at Jersey Gardens, Bergen Town Center, Morristown, Westbury, Green Acres, and Cross County all opened on June 15. The remaining stores such as Downtown Manhattan, Brooklyn 86th Street, Rego Park Brooklyn City Point and Lincoln Square would all follow on June 22. However, the amount of time these stores that were closed for in person shopping was not enough for Century 21 to stay afloat for much longer because in September 2020 Century 21 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as a result of insurance companies failing to financially support the chain during the COVID-19 pandemic. It plans to close all of its stores.[2][14][15]

Century 21 first permanently closed Lincoln Center in New York City, The Mills at Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida in October 2020

Due to new COVID-19 restrictions in certain areas of New York City Century 21 closed its Rego Park Store in Queens, New York. But then reopened the store about 2 weeks later after the infection rate went back down.

In November 2020 it was announced that Century 21's last day in business would be December 6. Century 21's location at Bergen Town Center in Paramus, New Jersey closed down one day earlier due to Bergen County's blue laws which prevents all non-essential retail from operating on Sundays.

On December 7, Century 21 updated its website for the final time with a picture showing their Cortland Street Flagship Store, on the bottom of the photo it says, "Thank You To Our Loyal Customers, Thank You For Your Continued Support And Patronage. Please Check Back Soon For Website Updates."

On February 2, Century 21's website was official shutdown with a message saying "Goops.. Something went wrong." There is a button at the bottom to refresh and each time you hit the button nothing happen marking the official end for Century 21's website

Former locations

Sawgrass Mills, Sunrise, Florida[16] (Closed October 2020)

The Mills At Jersey Gardens, Elizabeth, New Jersey[17] (Closed October 2020)

700 6th Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA[18](Closed December 2020)

1 North Park Place, Morristown, New Jersey[19] (Closed December 2020)

Bergen Town Center, Paramus, New Jersey[20] (Closed December 2020)

22 Cortlandt Street, New York City[21] This location was featured on one episode of Sex and the City.[22] (Closed December 2020)

21 Dey Street, New York City, NY[23] (Closed December 2020)

1972 Broadway, New York City, NY[24] (Closed October 2020)

Rego Center in Rego Park, Queens[25] (Closed October 2020 due to new COVID Restrictions in that area but then reopened and closed permanently on December 2020)

Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York[26] (Closed December 2020)

Old Country Road in Westbury, New York [27] (Closed December 2020)

Cross County Shopping Center in Yonkers, New York (Closed December 2020)

821 Market Street, Philadelphia (Closed December 2020)

Century 21 Sign
Inside Century 21
This is the Former Century 21 located at The Mills At Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, NJ. This location closed on Monday, October 5th, 2020.

References

  1. ^ The New York Times articles linking Century 21 to the World Trade Center
  2. ^ a b Fickenscher, Lisa (2020-09-10). "Fashion retailer Century 21 files for bankruptcy, to shut all stores by Monday, November 30th, 2020". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  3. ^ Jewish Voice New York: "Sonny Gindi, Founder of Century 21 Department Store, Dies at 88" By Fern Sidman Archived June 20, 2012
  4. ^ Will buyers flock to Philadelphia's Century 21? Archived Elizabeth Wellington. Philadelphia Inquirer. April 30, 2014.
  5. ^ "Tribeca Citizen | Century 21 adds a Financier coffee shop". Tribeca Citizen. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
  6. ^ The New York Times "A Beloved Store Was a Casualty Too" October 14, 2001
  7. ^ The New York Times "Century 21, A Downtown Fixture, Reopens to Cheers" March 1, 2002
  8. ^ Shoppers check out Century 21, new Center City department store Archived. Erin Arvedlund. Philadelphia Inquirer. October 25, 2014.
  9. ^ "Around 450 stores, restaurants and places to play will (eventually) fill this massive N.J. mall: What are they?". pennlive. 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  10. ^ "Century 21 Department Store Brings Designer Brands At Amazing Prices To The Sunshine State". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Century 21 Department Store.
  11. ^ Hargrove, Channing (2016-03-02). "Century 21 Is the Newest American Dream Mall Confirmed Tenant". Racked NY. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  12. ^ NJ.com, Allison Pries | NJ Advance Media for (2020-08-29). "When American Dream reopens, these 17 stores will be ready to debut". nj. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  13. ^ Fickenscher, Lisa (2020-09-10). "Fashion retailer Century 21 files for bankruptcy, to shut all stores". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2010-09-11. Retrieved 2020-10-06. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2020-09-11 suggested (help)
  14. ^ Department Store Century 21 Files Bankruptcy, Will Shut Down Archived Bloomberg. 10 September 2020.
  15. ^ "New York says goodbye to Century 21". Financial Times. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  16. ^ "Century 21 Stores in Sawgrass Mills". www.c21stores.com. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  17. ^ "Century 21 Stores Jersey Gardens". www.c21stores.com. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  18. ^ "Century 21 Stores Pittsburgh". www.c21stores.com. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  19. ^ "Century 21 Stores in Morristown". www.c21stores.com. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  20. ^ "Century 21 Stores in Paramus". www.c21stores.com. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  21. ^ "Century 21 Stores in Downtown NYC". www.c21stores.com. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  22. ^ "7 NYC Spots Made Famous By Sex & The City". 2011-09-13. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  23. ^ amNewYork (2020-09-10). "Century 21 files for bankruptcy and will close all stores, including New York City locations". amNewYork. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  24. ^ "Century 21 Stores in Lincoln Square". www.c21stores.com. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  25. ^ "Century 21 Stores in Rego Park". www.c21stores.com. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  26. ^ "Century 21 Stores in Green Acres". www.c21stores.com. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  27. ^ "Century 21 Stores in Westbury". www.c21stores.com. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
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