King's Department Stores Luggage Tag

2.4'' × 4''

$16.99

1/6

King's Department Stores Luggage Tag

$16.99

	2.4'' × 4''
Width, in	2.40
Height, in	4.00
Depth, in	0.20

GhostCorp Apparel - resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Carry a piece of American discount-store history on your next trip. King's Department Stores began in Brockton, Massachusetts, in 1956, then grew into an Eastern chain with 187 locations, including stores near Buffalo. Its story includes major acquisitions, a canceled 1978 merger proposal, and a 1982 Chapter 11 filing. After Ames purchased the chain in 1984, most King's locations became Ames stores. This luggage tag celebrates a regional retail name shaped by expansion and change.

King's Department Stores was an Eastern United States discount-store chain that began in Brockton, Massachusetts, in 1956. The business expanded to 187 stores, including three in the Buffalo, New York, area. Its growth included acquisitions of other retail chains: Miracle Mart in 1968, Sandy's Discount Stores in 1966, Welles in 1973, and Barker's Discount Department Stores in 1980. The supplied article gives two dates for its purchase of Mammoth Mart: its narrative says 1978, while its acquisition list says 1977. In 1978, King's also proposed a merger with W.R. Grace, which was projected to add $325 million in sales revenue to Grace. The merger was called off in June that year. Economic downturn and debt associated with the Mammoth purchase preceded King's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 1982. In 1984, Ames Department Stores purchased the chain and converted most King's locations into Ames stores. Ames later went out of business in 2002. King's history connects regional discount retail growth, acquisitions, financial strain, bankruptcy, and the conversion of stores under a successor company.