Жабық сауда желісі ALCO Stores тарихы

Defunct retail store

ALCO Stores, Inc. (formerly Duckwall ALCO Stores) was a retail chain operating 198 stores in 23 states, primarily in the United States Midwest. The company was founded in 1901 in Kansas by Alva Lease Duckwall. It had its headquarters in Coppell, Texas. The company's distribution center was located in Abilene, Kansas, where it was previously headquartered. In October 2014, ALCO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; subsequently, the chain was sold to a liquidation firm and closed all of its stores by March 2015.

In its early years the company operated five and dime (or "variety") stores called Duckwall's. In 1968 it began to move into the discount retail business and opened stores that were bigger than their five and dime counterparts called ALCO. ALCO stores (somewhat smaller than a non supercenter Walmart) provided the full selection of merchandise offered by the company, while the Duckwall stores provided a limited selection. In 1985, after three acquisitions, the company went through a management led leveraged buy out. The company had 127 ALCO stores, and 33 Duckwalls in 14 states at that time.

In May 1989, Duckwall ALCO filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, emerging in 1991 after securing financing from GE Capital, its primary creditor. At least 52 stores were closed during this period. After 1989 they switched to the business strategy of targeting communities where no direct retail competitor existed (such as Walmart, Target or Kmart). The strategy initially proved to be successful for the chain, and there were 205 ALCO stores and 59 Duckwall stores as of June 2008. The company previously experimented with a combination discount and food store called C. O. L. A. (Cost of Living Adjusters) in Mineral Wells, Texas, which was discontinued. On November 17, bidding on the company through bankruptcy court ended with a liquidation firm joint venture, which provided a "stalking horse bid" and the only bid received by the court, being approved as the new owner. Going out of business sales at all locations started on November 21, 2014. The last ALCO store closed in March 2015. 20 locations were acquired by Shopko, and were converted into Shopko Hometown stores. Those locations closed permanently after Shopko filed for bankruptcy in 2019. Bomgaars took over 12 former locations. Orscheln Farm & Home acquired ALCO's former distribution center in Abilene, Kansas. Other locations were acquired by various entities, either before closure or afterwards (for example, Brookshire Brothers acquired the ALCO location in Pilot Point, Texas).