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Elder-Beerman

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The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp.
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail
Predecessor
  • Boston Dry Goods Store (1883–1896)
  • Elder & Johnston Company (1896–1945)
  • Beerman Stores (1945–1962)
Founded1883 (141 years ago) (1883) in Dayton, Ohio
FoundersArthur Beerman
Thomas Elder
William Hunter Jr.
Russell Johnston
FateBankruptcy
HeadquartersDayton, Ohio, United States
Number of locations
31 (2018)[1]
ProductsClothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares.
ParentThe Bon-Ton (2003–2018)

CSC Generation (2018-2021)

BrandX.com (2021-Present)
Websiteelder-beerman.com
Former Elder-Beerman location in Centerville, Ohio. Demolished in 2011 for a Kroger Marketplace.

The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., commonly known as Elder-Beerman, was an American chain of department stores founded in 1883 and whose last stores closed in 2018. The chain, based primarily in the Midwestern United States, was composed of 31 stores in eight states at the time of its liquidation in 2018, and peaked around 2003 with 68 stores and $670 million in annual sales.

History

In 1883, Elder-Beerman history began when the Boston Dry Goods Store was opened on East Third Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio by Thomas Elder, William Hunter, Jr. and Russell Johnston, selling textiles, clothing and groceries. In 1896, the store moved to a new 11-story skyscraper, the Reibold Building, at the corner of Fourth and Main streets; it operated there as the Elder & Johnston Company department store for over 60 years.[2] For most of its later history, its headquarters was located at 3155 El-Bee Road, Moraine, Ohio and from 1976 to 2015 it operated a flagship 6-floor location in Downtown Dayton, located at Courthouse Plaza, 40 N. Ludlow St., Dayton.

Beerman and Gutmann

In 1930, after a short career with Elder & Johnston, Arthur Beerman, founder of the Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., branched out on his own and by 1945, Beerman Stores was incorporated. In 1950, he opened "Beermans for Bargains" junior department stores in the McCook Shopping Center in north Dayton and in the Northtown Shopping Center just north of Dayton in Harrison Township, Montgomery County.[3]

In 1953, Beerman formed a partnership with Max Gutmann and together they established the Bee Gee Shoe Corporation, which later operated stores branded as El-Bee Shoe Outlets and Shoebilee! for many years. They also operated Margo's specialty clothing stores.[4][5]

Former Elder-Beerman logo used until 2006

In 1956, Beerman purchased the Home Store, a department store in downtown Dayton. Throughout the 1950s, Beerman and Gutmann expanded Beerman Stores throughout Dayton's suburbs; in 1961, Gutmann became executive vice president and general manager of the chain.

In 1962, Beerman Stores merged with the Elder & Johnston Company to form Elder-Beerman;[3] at this time, the Elder & Johnston Company's Reibold Building location was closed in favor of the Home Store location. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. expanded throughout western Ohio and surrounding states, including standalone furniture stores, competing with its Dayton-based rival, Rike's (now Macy's).

After Beerman

After Beerman's death in 1970, Gutmann was promoted to chairman and chief executive officer. In 1976, the downtown Dayton store was relocated to a new building on Courthouse Square, which had five stories, including the basement.[3] In 1978, Elder-Beerman expanded into the Cincinnati area, purchasing Mabley & Carew's four stores, one in downtown Cincinnati and three in its suburbs.[6]

In 1985, Herb Glaser was named president and CEO of the department store division. With Herb Glaser as president, Gutmann and Glaser developed the Elder-Beerman franchise through the 1980s and early 1990s. When the company was forced to file for Chapter 11 reorganization in 1995, Max Gutmann and Herb Glaser returned from retirement to turn the company around. During the bankruptcy, Frederick J. Mershad asked to replace Gutmann as chairman and chief executive officer. As a result of the bankruptcy, Elder-Beerman closed all of their Margo's LaMode stores in early 1996.[7]

Elder-Beerman acquired three chains throughout its history: Cincinnati-based Mabley & Carew in 1978;[6] Terre Haute, Indiana-based Meis in 1989;[8][9] and Wheeling, West Virginia-based Stone & Thomas in 1998.[10][11]

1999 and 2003 prototypes

In late 1999, Elder-Beerman opened prototype stores in Jasper, Indiana;[12] Warsaw, Indiana; and Frankfort, Kentucky. These stores included service centers, open-stock cosmetic and shoe departments, and courtesy telephones. Four years later, the chain opened smaller-scale prototypes in DeKalb, Illinois and Muscatine, Iowa, the latter being their first Iowa location. These stores represented a new marketing strategy of operating smaller-format stores in mid-sized markets.

The Bon-Ton and liquidation

Elder-Beerman was acquired by The Bon-Ton in 2003. At that point, Elder-Beerman was the ninth largest independent department store chain, and had exited bankruptcy and was in discussions to go private when Bon-Ton stepped in, offering more cash for outstanding stock.[13] Elder-Beerman's brand was kept active on its 68 stores in eight states after the merger, and Elder-Beerman CEO Bud Bergren would become CEO of Bon-Ton in 2004.[14]

In 2012, The Bon-Ton began re-branding several Elder-Beerman stores to some of its other nameplates. Several in Michigan and Indiana were converted to Carson's or Younkers.[15] This re-branding reduced the number of Elder-Beerman stores to 37, primarily in Ohio.[16]

In March 2017, Elder-Beerman opened in-store "Close to Home" shops selling locally-made and themed products, an initiative being rolled out throughout Bon-Ton's nameplates, in its Dayton Mall, The Mall at Fairfield Commons, Huber Heights and Kettering stores in the Dayton area.[17][18] In April 2017, a "Close to Home" shop was opened at the Eclipse Center store in Beloit, Wisconsin.[19]

On April 17, 2018, The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., as a part of its own Chapter 11 bankruptcy, was purchased by a joint venture composed of the holders of the company's 8.0% Second Lien Secured Notes due 2021 and Great American Group, LLC and Tiger Capital Group, LLC.,[20] with the intention of liquidating The Bon-Ton and its subsidiaries, including Elder-Beerman, which had operated for 135 years.

In the Dayton area, the Elder-Beerman stores in Kettering and in the Miami Valley Centre Mall in Piqua closed on August 26, 2018.[21] All remaining Elder-Beerman stores in the chain, as well as all other Bon-Ton-owned department stores, closed on August 29, 2018.[22][23]

An At Home home decor store is scheduled to open in the former Huber Heights location in early 2019.[24]

On August 31, 2018, Elder-Beerman's website, along with all other Bon-Ton-owned retail websites, were updated with "stay tuned" messages, indicating that the company's respective brands would come back in some form; the liquidator stated that the company's intellectual property was being sold.[25] On September 6, it was reported that the purchaser was CSC Generation, which agreed to purchase Bon-Ton's customer database as well as its trademarks and websites. While the retailer would become a smaller, more agile e-commerce business focused on its website, there are plans to reopen some physical stores in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. On September 14, the new owner relaunched websites for all of its department store brands. In addition to apparel and home goods, the websites also sell televisions and major kitchen appliances; they also offer a lease-to-own program where consumers pay a portion of the merchandise cost monthly rather than paying the entire price upfront. There has been no indication that any former Elder-Beerman locations would be reopened.[26][27][28]

References

  1. ^ 2011 Annual Report (PDF) (Report). The Bon-Ton Stores. January 28, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  2. ^ Powell, Lisa (September 13, 2017). "Elder-Beerman history: A journey from simple downtown dry goods store". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Driscoll, Kara (April 23, 2018). "With Elder-Beerman closings, can local malls survive?". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  4. ^ "B-N El-Bee Store on Chain's Closing List". Bloomington Pantagraph. December 1, 1995. p. D1. A judge Thursday gave Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. permission to close 102 stores, including one in Normal's College Hills Mall, as part of the company's reorganization. The company will close all 68 of its Margo's specialty apparel shops, 32 of its 106 El Bee Shoes stores and two outlet stores. The closings affect stores in 12 states.
  5. ^ "Elder-Beerman can close stores: court". Park City Daily News. December 1, 1995. pp. 8A – via Google News.
  6. ^ a b "Elder-Beerman Agrees To Acquire Four Stores Of Allied Stores Corp". The Wall Street Journal. March 21, 1978. p. 41. Archived from the original on September 19, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2017. Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. said it agreed in principle to acquire four stores of Allied Stores Corp.'s Mabley & Carew division in Cincinnati. Terms weren't disclosed. Alternate Link via ProQuest.
  7. ^ "Bankruptcy judge OKs closing of Margo's stores". San Antonio Express-News. December 2, 1995. The judge said Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. could close 102 stores as part of its reorganization. In addition to those owned by its Dallas-based Margo's LaMode subsidiary, the stores include 32 of its 106 El-Bee Shoes stores in the Midwest and two outlet stores in Ohio. Elder-Beerman, a privately held company based in Dayton, filed for Chapter 11 protection last month.
  8. ^ "Brown Group Sells Department Stores". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 29, 1989. p. 13a. Brown Group Inc. said Friday that as part of its restructuring effort it has sold its Meis department store unit to an Ohio retailing chain. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Meis, which is based in Terre Haute, Ind., operates 10 department stores in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. It has annual sales of about $75 million. Brown bought the chain in 1972. Meis' buyer, Elder-Beerman Stores Corp. of Dayton, Ohio, has 33 department stores, primarily in Ohio.
  9. ^ The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp | Further Reading: International Directory of Company Histories
  10. ^ "Ten Stone & Thomas stores to reopen as Elder-Beerman". Dayton Business Journal. October 19, 1998.
  11. ^ "Elder-Beerman Buying Stone & Thomas". Daily News Record. Archived from the original on 2008-06-08. Retrieved 2006-10-14 – via FindArticles.
  12. ^ "Elder-Beerman Announces a New Concept Store in Jasper, Indiana". May 24, 2000. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  13. ^ News, Bloomberg (13 September 2003). "Company News; Wright Holdings Increases Bid for Elder-Beerman". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  14. ^ "Bon-Ton CEO Bergren to Retire". Home Furnishings News. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  15. ^ http://www.fwbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10955 [dead link‍]
  16. ^ Jackson, Tarryl (September 10, 2012). "Elder-Beerman department store at Jackson's Westwood Mall is now Younkers". Booth Newspapers.
  17. ^ Driscoll, Kara (February 7, 2017). "New Elder-Beerman shops opening in Dayton". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  18. ^ Driscoll, Kara (July 20, 2017). "Elder-Beerman: What's next for Bon Ton-owned stores?". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  19. ^ "Elder-Beerman Launches In-Store 'Close to Home' Shops". Beloit Daily News. April 5, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  20. ^ The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc (April 17, 2018). "The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. Announces Winning Bid in Bankruptcy Court-Supervised Auction" (PDF). Archived from the original on April 18, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  21. ^ Warwick, Gabi (August 27, 2018). "Two Elder-Beerman stores close for good; three more set to close this week". WKEF/WRGT-TV. Archived from the original on August 27, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  22. ^ Shively, Holly (August 15, 2018). "Most Elder-Beerman stores to close within next two weeks; deep discounts continue". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  23. ^ Shively, Holly (August 30, 2018). "Elder-Beerman's closure Wednesday marks end of an era". Dayton Daily News. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  24. ^ Shively, Holly (September 18, 2018). "JUST IN: Local vacant Elder-Beerman attracts new At Home store". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  25. ^ Shively, Holly (September 4, 2018). "Elder-Beerman hints at comeback following bankruptcy". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  26. ^ Shively, Holly (September 7, 2018). "Tech company to revive Elder-Beerman, Bon-Ton websites". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  27. ^ Shively, Holly (September 11, 2018). "Judge approves sale of Elder-Beerman's ecommerce sites: What's really going on". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
  28. ^ Shively, Holly (September 17, 2018). "Elder-Beerman's website relaunched with similar brands". Dayton Daily News. Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
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