BRADLEES

'Bradlees' was a chain of discount department stores which operated primarily in the Northeastern United States. The chain went bankrupt in 2000 and all of its stores were closed by March 2001.

Contents

History

Beginnings

Bankruptcy and Closure

Locations

See also

External links

History

Beginnings

The first store was opened in New London, Connecticut in 1958. The company was acquired by grocery chain Stop & Shop in 1961, which owned the chain until 1992.
Bradlees was also the site of many former Two Guys department store locations. Two Guys (stores had a discount dept. store and a grocery store together) was the Wal-Mart Supercenter of its day. This chain reigned extremly popular throughout New York and New Jersey in the 1960s and 1970s.
In the New York/New Jersey area, nearly all shopping centers that had Bradlees stores would also have a Stop & Shop in the same plaza, but this was abandoned when Stop & Shop decided to pull out of the New York/New Jersey market in the 1980s (And wouldn't return until the chain took over all the remaining Edwards stores in 2000-2001).
During the 1970s and early 1980s (and again in the late 1990s), Bradlees was known for its TV and print ads featuring the character "Mrs. B." (played by actress Cynthia Harris), depicted as the chain's buyer, who constantly searched for bargains to pass onto her customers.

Bankruptcy and Closure

Bradlees had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 1995 and closed down some underperforming stores in 1996. Some of those locations were turned into Ames. The company successfully exited from bankruptcy in February 1999 after making a decent profit through 1998 and early 1999. On December 26, 2000, the company announced that they once again filed for bankruptcy protection, with this just coming days before Montgomery Ward filed for Chapter 11. This time, executives of Bradlees said they were liquidating the entire company. Executives of Bradlees said it filed for bankruptcy protection because of a general economic downturn, including rising interest rates and higher gas and heating oil prices that have left customers with less disposable income. The executives also said new competition, unseasonable weather in the first half of 2000, and the tightening of trade credit contributed to its inability to operate profitably.
In an interview just before the chain closed, analyst Eric Beder of Ladenburg, Thalmann & Co. said "They really needed a perfect economy to get this thing moved", referring to the attempt at recovery after the restructuring of the company. "But the recent consumer spending slow down did not facilitate that environment", he said.
In early January 2001, the chain started closing all their stores and the final store closed in March 2001. At the time of its liquidation, the company had 10,000 employees and 105 stores in 7 states. Many of its former store locations were purchased by Wal-Mart, although other locations became The Home Depot, Kohl's or Stop & Shop. One location in Broomall, Pennsylvania became a Giant Food, which, like Stop & Shop, is owned by Ahold.
When the Nasdaq Stock Market suspended trading in Bradlees stock, it closed at just under 22 cents.

Locations

'Connecticut'

★ Bridgeport - 156 Boston Avenue

★ Bristol - 603 Farmington Avenue, now Marshalls

★ Danbury - 69 New Town Road

★ East Hartford - Charter Oak Mall - now Aaron Rents and Burlington Coat Factory

★ Enfield - Enfield Commons - opened as Woolco, later Channel Home Center; now Marshalls and Barnes & Noble

★ Enfield - became Gold's Gym

★ Fairfield - 766 Villa Avenue

★ Guilford - 900 Boston Post Road

★ Hamden - 2300 Dixwell Avenue

★ Hartford - 1250 Park Street

★ Manchester - Manchester Parkade - vacant

★ Middletown - 400 East Main Street

★ New Milford - Route 7 and Dobbs Road

★ New London - New London Mall - opened as Two Guys; store and mall torn down

★ Norwalk - 680 Connecticut Avenue - Now Wal-Mart

★ Orange - Bull Hill Lane

★ Shelton - 862 Bridgeport Avenue

★ Simsbury - Farmington Valley Mall - was an Ames, now TJ Maxx and HomeGoods

★ Stratford - 955 Ferry Boulevard

★ Waterbury - 410 Reidville Drive

★ Waterbury - 300 Chase Avenue
'Maine'

★ Westbrook - 25 Main Street

★ Lewiston - The Promenade Mall - now a movie theater

★ Topsham - Topsham Fair Mall - now Village Candles

★ Windham - Windham Mall - now Big Lots and a movie theater
'Massachusetts'

★ Boston - 500 Geneva Avenue

★ Brockton - 715 Crescent Street

★ Brockton - Westgate Mall - demolished for Filene's, now Macy's

★ Burlington - 150 Lexington Street

★ Chelmsford - Chelmsford Mall - opened as Kings; now Kohl's

★ Chelsea - 1100 Revere Beach Parkway

★ Chicopee - Fairfield Mall - opened as Forbes & Wallace; mall and store torn down

★ Dedham - Dedham Mall - mall and store torn down

★ Dennisport - 260 Upper County Road

★ Dorchester - 725 Morrissey Boulevard

★ Fall River - New Harbour Mall - now Wal-Mart

★ Falmouth - Falmouth Mall - now Wal-Mart

★ Foxboro - 30 Commercial Street, Foxboro Plaza

★ Framingham - Shoppers World

★ Hingham - 100 Derby Street

★ Hyannis - Route 132 and Independence Way

★ Kingston - Independence Mall - now Target

★ Leominster - Searstown Mall (now Mall at Whitney Field) - demolished, site vacant

★ Medford - Meadow Glen Mall - now Kohl's

★ Milford - Medway Street, Route 109

★ North Andover - Route 114, 350 Winthrop Avenue

★ Orleans - Cranberry Cove Plaza

★ Pittsfield - Merrill Road

★ Quincy - Presidents Plaza

★ Roslindale - 950 American Legion Highway

★ Somerset - Route 6 and Brayton Point Road

★ Somerville - 180 Somerville Avenue

★ Springfield - Springfield Mall - now Stop & Shop

★ Taunton
:
★ Taunton Mall (now Mill River Place) - later Stuart's, now Save-a-Lot
:
★ Silver City Galleria - now Dick's Sporting Goods

★ Walpole - Walpole Mall - now Kohl's

★ Watertown - Watertown Mall - now Target

★ West Springfield - 935 Riverdale Street, Route 5

★ Woburn - 425 Washington Street

★ Worcester
:
★ 130 Gold Star Boulevard
:
★ The Fair Shopping Plaza
'New Hampshire'

★ Concord - Fort Eddy Road

★ Keene - 350 Winchester Street

★ Manchester - 777 South Willow Street

★ Nashua
:
★ Nashua Mall - opened as Woolco; now Kohl's
:
★ 308 Main Street

★ Newington - Spaulding Turnpike and Gosling Road

★ Plaistow - Route 125, 30 Plaistow Road

★ Portsmouth - Newington Mall (now The Crossing at Fox Run) - now Kohl's

★ Salem - Rockingham Mall - now Kohl's
'New Jersey'

★ Audubon - Black Horse Pike Shopping Center

★ Bordentown - 622 Route 206 and Martin Avenue

★ Bridgewater - 300 Commons Way

★ Cedar Knolls - Ridgedale and Hanover Avenue

★ Cherry Hill - Route 38 and Cuthbert Boulevard - now Wal-Mart

★ Clark - 45 Central Avenue

★ Clifton - Main Avenue

★ Colonia - 1555 St. George Avenue

★ East Brunswick - 333 Route 18 and Tice's Lane

★ Hackensack - 450 Hackensack Avenue

★ Hamilton - Suburban Plaza

★ Hanover - Morris County Mall - now Wal-Mart

★ Hazlet - Route 36 and Poole Avenue

★ Jersey City - Route 440, Communipaw Avenue

★ Manalapan - Route 9 and Craig Road

★ Middletown - Route 35 and Twin Brooks Road

★ Parsippany - Arlington Plaza

★ Phillipsburg - Phillipsburg Mall - store never opened; became Kmart, now Kohl's

★ Pleasantville - 6718 Black Horse Turnpike, Route 1

★ Ramsey - Route 17 and Ramsey Square

★ Saddlebrook - 189 Route 46

★ South Plainfield - 686 Oak Tree Avenue

★ Stratford - 222 South White Horse Pike, Route 30 and Laurel Avenue

★ Toms River - Routes 37 and 9

★ Totowa - Route 46 and River View Drive

★ Turnersville - Route 42 and Black Horse Pike

★ Union - 1721 Morris Avenue and Route 22

★ Ventnor - Ventnor Shopping Center

★ Vineland - Cumberland Mall - now Bed Bath & Beyond, Marshalls and Michaels

★ Wayne - Route 23 and Ratzer Road

★ Woodbridge - Routes 9 and 440

★ Woodbury - Route 45 and Parkville Station Road
'New York'

★ Elmira - Arnot Mall - now Burlington Coat Factory

★ Johnson City - Oakdale Mall - opened 1980; now Burlington Coat Factory

★ Middletown - Wallkill Plaza

★ New City - Calvary Road and North Main Street

★ New Hartford - Sangertown Square - now Target

★ Schenectady - Mohawk Mall - store and mall demolished and rebuilt

★ Staten Island - West Shore Plaza

★ Union Square - 40 East 14th Street

★ Utica - Riverside Mall - now subdivided into smaller stores

★ Yonkers - 2500 Central Park Avenue
'Pennsylvania'

★ Bethlehem - Bethlehem Square Shopping Center

★ Broomall - Springfield Road and West Chester Pike

★ Glenolden - 50 McDade Boulevard

★ Horsham - Village Mall - originally Woolco, became Bradlees 1982; later Wal-Mart, now vacant

★ Norristown - 53 West Germantown Pike

★ Philadelphia - Snyder Plaza

★ Pottstown - Coventry Mall - originally Jefferson Ward; now Ross Dress For Less and Dick's Sporting Goods

See also

★ Caldor

★ Ames

External links

★ First Bradlees Website--April 1998

★ Bradlees Locations before Bankruptcy

★ Story on the closing of all 105 Bradlees Stores