Лечмер: Американдық бөлшек сауда желісінің тарихы

Defunct American retail store chain
the retailer

Lechmere ('/l//iː//tʃ//m//ɪər/, LEECHmeer) was a Massachusetts based chain of retail stores that closed in 1997. At the time of its closing, it had 27 stores, including 20 in New England. The chain offered electronics, appliances, and various household goods. It also had locations in New York and the Southeastern United States.

The origins of the chain date to 1913, when Russian immigrant and founder Abraham Cohen purchased a harness shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The First Street building was expanded in 1962 to a store, to which office equipment, jewelry, hardware, and further goods were added. A second store later opened on November 1, 1965 in Dedham. In 1968, in order to capitalize further growth, the Cohens sold the chain to Dayton's, a department store based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The new parent company became Dayton Hudson Corporation soon after the purchase, and is now Target Corporation. Dayton maintained Lechmere as a separate subsidiary and mostly left its operations in the Cohens' hands. With Dayton Hudson's resources now behind it, Lechmere opened stores in Danvers and Springfield. The Cohens retained day to day control of the chain until the mid 1970s. With the Cohens' retirement, Lechmere's merchandise mix changed to a discount department store line. Due to declining sales, the chain began cutting prices as well. Stores in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Framingham, Massachusetts, were added in 1977 and 1978, respectively. Despite the opening of new stores, Lechmere's sales continued to decline, until when C. George Scala was named CEO in 1980. He changed the merchandise mix again to housewares, appliances, sporting goods, electronics, and music. In 1981, the company name was simplified to Lechmere, Inc. From 1983 to 1988, annual sales grew from $200 million to over $700 million, while operating profit grew from $19 million to $22 million, in approximate figures. Berkshire Partners and Boston based mall developers Steve Karp and Steve Wiener bought the chain from Dayton Hudson in 1989. As a condition of this sale, stores in the Southeastern United States were closed. In 1992, the company successfully went to the Supreme Court in Lechmere, Inc. v. NLRB to block union organizers from being on their property. Berkshire Partners sold Lechmere to Montgomery Ward Holdings in 1994, in a deal worth more than $200 million (~$ in ).

On August 1, 1997, Montgomery Ward announced that all Lechmere stores were to be closed as part of their bankruptcy reorganization. At the time of the chain's closing, 27 stores remained open, including 20 in New England, 12 of which were in Massachusetts. All six "Home Image by Lechmere" stores were also closed at that time. November 7, 1997, was the last day of business for all locations.