Lechmere
Encyclopedia
Lechmere was a retail store chain in New England
, which closed in 1997.
. The company was founded in the early twentieth century and expanded during the postwar years as a family business offering an eclectic mix of products. Upon its sale to Dayton Hudson in the late 1960s, Lechmere underwent rapid expansion into five states in the Southeast. In the late 1980s, however, Lechmere's executives took the company private and closed some of its newer facilities in order to focus on the New England market. In early 1994, Lechmere was once again purchased by a national chain, as Montgomery Ward
acquired the business.
Lechmere traces its origins to 1913, when Abraham "Pop" Cohen, a Russian immigrant who had settled in Massachusetts, purchased the harness-making shop at which he worked. The A. Cohen Harness Maker shop was located in a district of Cambridge
known as Lechmere (around present-day Lechmere Square
), named after Lord Lechmere
, a British Tory who had helped to develop the area during the eighteenth century. Cohen soon changed the name of his business to Lechmere Harness Shop.
Over the next ten years, as automobiles began to replace horse-drawn carriages, the need for harnesses declined. In response, Cohen decided to shift the focus of his business to include tire sales. To reflect this new emphasis, the company's name was changed to the Lechmere Vulcanizing Company. In 1945, Cohen brought his three sons, Maurice, Norman, and Philip, into the Lechmere business, and the company became a partnership.
After World War II
, when demand for a wide variety of consumer goods increased dramatically, the Cohens moved to broaden their product line beyond tires. They began to offer small appliances, and, in 1948, the company's name was changed to Lechmere Tire & Sales Company. Also that year, the business was incorporated.
In the early 1950s, Lechmere expanded its operations further. The company began to offer a wider variety of household goods, devoting more display space to televisions and other popular appliances. Additional floors were added to the store, and the expanded showroom began to feature cameras, luggage, silver and other flatware, sewing machines, toys, and lawn and garden tools.
In an effort to distribute its wares more efficiently to customers, Lechmere introduced the concept of the "pick-up counter" in the early 1950s. Customers would examine models of the various products available on a showroom floor, and then go to another location in the store to pick up one of the items they had selected. In 1956, the Cohens bought an old bus garage at 88 First Street in Cambridge, around the corner from their store. This property was converted into the company's main retail store. With this additional space, Lechmere expanded its product line even further, offering records, jewelry, sporting goods, and additional appliances and household wares, along with its standard line of televisions and large appliances.
To draw the large client base needed to maintain its high-volume operation, Lechmere became one of the first local retailers to advertise extensively on television. In order to help people remember its address at 88 First Street, Lechmere adopted the gimmick of setting all of its prices at a dollar amount, plus 88 cents. This signature pricing policy was later adopted by other discount retailers.
Lechmere became known in the Boston area for its unusually diverse selection of merchandise as well as the visible involvement of the Cohens, who often walked about the store meeting customers and inviting their comments. By the early 1960s, the company was ready to expand its facilities again. In 1963, construction of a new, modern building at the 88 First Street location was completed. This steel-framed facility encompassed 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) and provided room for the Cohens to branch out into the retail of office equipment, hardware, accessories for the bath, books, greeting cards, and tobacco. Lechmere also opened a four-bay auto servicing garage in its new building.
Two years after this expansion, Lechmere opened its first store outside of Cambridge, in Dedham
. When this venture proved successful, the Cohens began to explore the possibility of further geographical expansion, and, by 1967, they had developed a plan to open three more stores over the next five years.
of Minneapolis.
Under the agreement, Dayton would hold Lechmere as a separate subsidiary, leaving much of the day-to-day operations under control of the Cohens and their store managers. On February 28, 1969, the sale was completed, and Lechmere became a subsidiary of the newly formed Dayton Hudson Corporation, after Dayton merged with the J.L. Hudson Company. With the financial resources of a much larger company behind it, Lechmere embarked upon a program of geographical expansion in the 1970s, and, by the end of 1971, the company had added two more stores, in Danvers
and Springfield, Massachusetts
.
During the 1970s, the Cohens gradually began ceding control of the firm's day-to-day operations, and Lechmere's product line began to change, focusing increasingly on traditional discount store fare, which was inexpensive and frequently of lower quality. As a result, the company's reputation for offering unique merchandise began to suffer, and sales began to decline. In an effort to counteract this trend, Lechmere embarked upon a program in the late 1970s to boost sales by cutting prices dramatically. With this strategy, sales at the chain's stores began to increase. In 1977, Lechmere opened a fifth store, in Manchester, New Hampshire
, and the following year a sixth store was opened in Framingham, Massachusetts
.
Lechmere was known for its Washington's Birthday
sale where they featured full-size Table Talk cherry pies for 10 cents.
Lechmere languished under Dayton Hudson's corporate guidance until 1980, when C. George Scala was named CEO. Scala revamped the stores' offerings, from an at times arcane and exotic selection of goods (from tires to snake
meat), to a core grouping which included housewares, appliances, sporting goods, electronics, and music. Lechmere offered a wide and deep selection of these products. The stores carried telephone
s for example, ranging from the inexpensive to the top of the line, but also offered customers choices in every price range.
Lechmere was almost a mall within a mall, with its home electronics department able to compete product for product with Tweeter
, its houseware department offering as much, if not more, than Lechter's (a retailer who has since closed its doors), its footwear department could compete with Foot Locker
, and its music department was as large and varied as Recordtown's (another retailing ghost). "Our customers don't want cheap steak, they want steak cheap!" was a familiar saying. While Lechmere did not offer "rock bottom" pricing, it did offer competitive pricing, a no hassle return policy, very knowledgeable sales associates, colorful and informative signing in store, as well as its famous Lechmere Sunday circular. The stores were large, clean, bright, and uncluttered. This was to be the heyday of the company, which also saw an increase in retailing excellence with the addition of Frank G. Fellicella as Executive Vice President of Stores, who would later become CEO of a large home improvement company named Builder's Square (this appointment took place in 1993).
, and the Boston
-based mall developers Steve Karp and Steve Wiener, bought the chain from Dayton Hudson. The sale was the second largest leveraged buyout
of the year. Lechmere's 29 stores fetched only book value of $234 million, much less than early estimates of $350 million.
A result of the sale was the closing of the southeast region, and the stores located there. The cost of running essentially two companies (one in New England, and one in the deep southeast) was too costly for the now privately owned venture.
Then, in the early 1990s, C. George Scala retired and was replaced by J. Kent Flummerfelt, a veteran Sears
merchant. Things started to turn sour—with several rounds of layoffs. The new management style implemented by Flummerfelt challenged merchandise assortments and product categories. The result was a lesser product offering in terms of depth and breath of product assortment which started to alienate customers and triggered the downward spiral of the company.
Holdings in a more than $200 million deal. Berkshire acquired the business in 1989 and according to Berkshire Partner Richard Lubin, the firm initially wanted to take the business public.
He said at the time, "As we learned about the Montgomery Ward strategy, we realized this was a buyer that could make a very attractive offer, an offer that we thought was above what we viewed our IPO offering would have been." In 1993, Lechmere had sales of more than $800 million, through 24 stores in the New England area.
At the time of purchase, Lechmere had 28 stores and grew to 33 with the introduction of HomeImage by Lechmere stores that opened in August 1996.
However, it wasn't long after that the business press was calling Montgomery Ward's purchase of Lechmere a disaster, and less than five years after the acquisition, the company was forced to liquidate Lechmere's assets. In 2000, Montgomery Ward itself was forced into bankruptcy protection amid competition from the likes of Wal-Mart
and Target, and the company eventually shuttered its stores and closed after 128 years in business.
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 HomeImage by Lechmere were also closed at that time. November 7, 1997 was the last day of business for all locations, and all remaining items, which had been increasingly discounted, were offered at 90% off.
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, which closed in 1997.
History
Lechmere Inc. was a retailer of electronics, appliances, and other goods, with 24 stores located throughout New England and New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The company was founded in the early twentieth century and expanded during the postwar years as a family business offering an eclectic mix of products. Upon its sale to Dayton Hudson in the late 1960s, Lechmere underwent rapid expansion into five states in the Southeast. In the late 1980s, however, Lechmere's executives took the company private and closed some of its newer facilities in order to focus on the New England market. In early 1994, Lechmere was once again purchased by a national chain, as Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is an online retailer that carries the same name as the former American department store chain, founded as the world's #1 mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, and which went out of business in 2001...
acquired the business.
Lechmere traces its origins to 1913, when Abraham "Pop" Cohen, a Russian immigrant who had settled in Massachusetts, purchased the harness-making shop at which he worked. The A. Cohen Harness Maker shop was located in a district of Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
known as Lechmere (around present-day Lechmere Square
Lechmere Square
Lechmere Square is located at the intersection of Cambridge Street and First Street in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was originally named for the Colonial-era landowner Richard Lechmere, a Loyalist who returned to England at the beginning of the American Revolution. His lands were later seized...
), named after Lord Lechmere
Nicholas Lechmere, 1st Baron Lechmere
Nicholas Lechmere, 1st Baron Lechmere was an English lawyer and politician who served as Attorney-General and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster....
, a British Tory who had helped to develop the area during the eighteenth century. Cohen soon changed the name of his business to Lechmere Harness Shop.
Over the next ten years, as automobiles began to replace horse-drawn carriages, the need for harnesses declined. In response, Cohen decided to shift the focus of his business to include tire sales. To reflect this new emphasis, the company's name was changed to the Lechmere Vulcanizing Company. In 1945, Cohen brought his three sons, Maurice, Norman, and Philip, into the Lechmere business, and the company became a partnership.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when demand for a wide variety of consumer goods increased dramatically, the Cohens moved to broaden their product line beyond tires. They began to offer small appliances, and, in 1948, the company's name was changed to Lechmere Tire & Sales Company. Also that year, the business was incorporated.
In the early 1950s, Lechmere expanded its operations further. The company began to offer a wider variety of household goods, devoting more display space to televisions and other popular appliances. Additional floors were added to the store, and the expanded showroom began to feature cameras, luggage, silver and other flatware, sewing machines, toys, and lawn and garden tools.
In an effort to distribute its wares more efficiently to customers, Lechmere introduced the concept of the "pick-up counter" in the early 1950s. Customers would examine models of the various products available on a showroom floor, and then go to another location in the store to pick up one of the items they had selected. In 1956, the Cohens bought an old bus garage at 88 First Street in Cambridge, around the corner from their store. This property was converted into the company's main retail store. With this additional space, Lechmere expanded its product line even further, offering records, jewelry, sporting goods, and additional appliances and household wares, along with its standard line of televisions and large appliances.
To draw the large client base needed to maintain its high-volume operation, Lechmere became one of the first local retailers to advertise extensively on television. In order to help people remember its address at 88 First Street, Lechmere adopted the gimmick of setting all of its prices at a dollar amount, plus 88 cents. This signature pricing policy was later adopted by other discount retailers.
Lechmere became known in the Boston area for its unusually diverse selection of merchandise as well as the visible involvement of the Cohens, who often walked about the store meeting customers and inviting their comments. By the early 1960s, the company was ready to expand its facilities again. In 1963, construction of a new, modern building at the 88 First Street location was completed. This steel-framed facility encompassed 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) and provided room for the Cohens to branch out into the retail of office equipment, hardware, accessories for the bath, books, greeting cards, and tobacco. Lechmere also opened a four-bay auto servicing garage in its new building.
Two years after this expansion, Lechmere opened its first store outside of Cambridge, in Dedham
Dedham, Massachusetts
Dedham is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,729 at the 2010 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest by Westwood and on the southeast by...
. When this venture proved successful, the Cohens began to explore the possibility of further geographical expansion, and, by 1967, they had developed a plan to open three more stores over the next five years.
Sale To Dayton Hudson
The Cohens soon recognized, however, that they would need a significant infusion of capital to pay for the construction of new stores. To gain access to the funds necessary for expansion, they decided to sell Lechmere to another department store chain, Dayton CorporationDayton's
Minneapolis-based Dayton's was among the leading department stores in the United States for nearly a century after its founding in 1902 by George Draper Dayton. In 1969, the Detroit-based J.L. Hudson Company merged with the Dayton Corporation to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation, adding 21...
of Minneapolis.
Under the agreement, Dayton would hold Lechmere as a separate subsidiary, leaving much of the day-to-day operations under control of the Cohens and their store managers. On February 28, 1969, the sale was completed, and Lechmere became a subsidiary of the newly formed Dayton Hudson Corporation, after Dayton merged with the J.L. Hudson Company. With the financial resources of a much larger company behind it, Lechmere embarked upon a program of geographical expansion in the 1970s, and, by the end of 1971, the company had added two more stores, in Danvers
Danvers, Massachusetts
Danvers is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts, Danvers is most widely known for its association with the 1692 Salem witch trials, and for its famous asylum, the Danvers State Hospital.-17th century:The land...
and Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
.
During the 1970s, the Cohens gradually began ceding control of the firm's day-to-day operations, and Lechmere's product line began to change, focusing increasingly on traditional discount store fare, which was inexpensive and frequently of lower quality. As a result, the company's reputation for offering unique merchandise began to suffer, and sales began to decline. In an effort to counteract this trend, Lechmere embarked upon a program in the late 1970s to boost sales by cutting prices dramatically. With this strategy, sales at the chain's stores began to increase. In 1977, Lechmere opened a fifth store, in Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester, New Hampshire
Manchester is the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, the tenth largest city in New England, and the largest city in northern New England, an area comprising the states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It is in Hillsborough County along the banks of the Merrimack River, which...
, and the following year a sixth store was opened in Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
.
Lechmere was known for its Washington's Birthday
Washington's Birthday
Washington's Birthday is a United States federal holiday celebrated on the third Monday of February in honor of George Washington, the first President of the United States. It is also commonly known as Presidents Day...
sale where they featured full-size Table Talk cherry pies for 10 cents.
Lechmere languished under Dayton Hudson's corporate guidance until 1980, when C. George Scala was named CEO. Scala revamped the stores' offerings, from an at times arcane and exotic selection of goods (from tires to snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
meat), to a core grouping which included housewares, appliances, sporting goods, electronics, and music. Lechmere offered a wide and deep selection of these products. The stores carried telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
s for example, ranging from the inexpensive to the top of the line, but also offered customers choices in every price range.
Lechmere was almost a mall within a mall, with its home electronics department able to compete product for product with Tweeter
Tweeter (store)
Tweeter Opco, LLC formerly Tweeter Etc. and Tweeter Home Entertainment, was a specialty consumer electronics retailer providing mid and high end electronic equipment, including flat panel TVs, plasma TVs, car radios, home theater systems, GPSs and more...
, its houseware department offering as much, if not more, than Lechter's (a retailer who has since closed its doors), its footwear department could compete with Foot Locker
Foot Locker
Foot Locker, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in approximately 20 countries worldwide. Formerly known as Venator Group, Inc., it is the successor corporation to the F.W. Woolworth Company , and many of...
, and its music department was as large and varied as Recordtown's (another retailing ghost). "Our customers don't want cheap steak, they want steak cheap!" was a familiar saying. While Lechmere did not offer "rock bottom" pricing, it did offer competitive pricing, a no hassle return policy, very knowledgeable sales associates, colorful and informative signing in store, as well as its famous Lechmere Sunday circular. The stores were large, clean, bright, and uncluttered. This was to be the heyday of the company, which also saw an increase in retailing excellence with the addition of Frank G. Fellicella as Executive Vice President of Stores, who would later become CEO of a large home improvement company named Builder's Square (this appointment took place in 1993).
Split From Dayton Hudson
In 1989, the company's management, with the help of a local investment firm, Berkshire PartnersBerkshire Partners
Berkshire Partners, the Boston-based private equity firm, has invested in leading mid-sized companies for over twenty-five years through eight investment funds with aggregate capital of $11 billion. Berkshire has developed specific industry experience in several areas including retailing, consumer...
, and the Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
-based mall developers Steve Karp and Steve Wiener, bought the chain from Dayton Hudson. The sale was the second largest leveraged buyout
Leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout occurs when an investor, typically financial sponsor, acquires a controlling interest in a company's equity and where a significant percentage of the purchase price is financed through leverage...
of the year. Lechmere's 29 stores fetched only book value of $234 million, much less than early estimates of $350 million.
A result of the sale was the closing of the southeast region, and the stores located there. The cost of running essentially two companies (one in New England, and one in the deep southeast) was too costly for the now privately owned venture.
Then, in the early 1990s, C. George Scala retired and was replaced by J. Kent Flummerfelt, a veteran Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
merchant. Things started to turn sour—with several rounds of layoffs. The new management style implemented by Flummerfelt challenged merchandise assortments and product categories. The result was a lesser product offering in terms of depth and breath of product assortment which started to alienate customers and triggered the downward spiral of the company.
Montgomery Ward
In March 1994 Berkshire Partners sold Lechmere to Montgomery WardMontgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is an online retailer that carries the same name as the former American department store chain, founded as the world's #1 mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, and which went out of business in 2001...
Holdings in a more than $200 million deal. Berkshire acquired the business in 1989 and according to Berkshire Partner Richard Lubin, the firm initially wanted to take the business public.
He said at the time, "As we learned about the Montgomery Ward strategy, we realized this was a buyer that could make a very attractive offer, an offer that we thought was above what we viewed our IPO offering would have been." In 1993, Lechmere had sales of more than $800 million, through 24 stores in the New England area.
At the time of purchase, Lechmere had 28 stores and grew to 33 with the introduction of HomeImage by Lechmere stores that opened in August 1996.
However, it wasn't long after that the business press was calling Montgomery Ward's purchase of Lechmere a disaster, and less than five years after the acquisition, the company was forced to liquidate Lechmere's assets. In 2000, Montgomery Ward itself was forced into bankruptcy protection amid competition from the likes of Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
and Target, and the company eventually shuttered its stores and closed after 128 years in business.
Closure
On August 1, 1997, Montgomery Ward announced that all Lechmere stores were to be closed as part of their bankruptcyBankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
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 HomeImage by Lechmere were also closed at that time. November 7, 1997 was the last day of business for all locations, and all remaining items, which had been increasingly discounted, were offered at 90% off.