Retail No More

This short clip features several snapshots of two defunct retail chains, Phar Mor and Montgomery Ward. The Phar Mor was located on Elm Road in Warren, Ohio, and was one of the newer stores. Unfortunately, it was only open a few years before the entire chain folded. Montgomery Ward had a far longer life than Phar Mor, but it too closed all of its stores. Montgomery Ward still exists in some fashion as an online retailer.

The Montgomery Ward store featured here is in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Amazingly, it is still pretty intact, with signage and everything. The music track is something quick I wrote, forgive the minor chords...always so dramatic...!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• montgomery
• ward
• phar
• mor
• pharmor
• abandoned
• store
• retail
• closed
• defunct
• dead
• malls
• warren
• ohio
• cuyahoga
• falls
• ron
• flaviano
• elm
• road
• youngstown

[nforrester16]

How were you able to get access to that Montgomery Wards?

[Ian16545]

@Diskoboy1974 Yeah, I recall there being a Phar-Mor in the Dublin Village Center and in Northland Plaza, here in Columbus- both of which are now a dying breed.

Besides, you all probably remember that scandal in which its former president Mickey Monus was involved, resulting in $500,000,000 down the drain, don't you?

[breacat]

Worked at Pharmor in Erie for nearly 5 years. Nice place to work wish it was still in business.

[orping]

@ The196757- GE did own MW at the end and brought in a new CEO, but once GE really got into the books and did a total audit on the company they saw that Bernie Brennan had taken all the meat and marrow and left GE nothing but dry bones to work with. They flooded MW corporate offices in November of 2000 and decided to shut it down in December. There was nothing left to work with.

[The096757]

@orping

i thought GE owned wards and they didn't want to keep it alive?

my favorite MW  store's land is now occupied by a target.

i hate all these stores now so i don't go to them. same junk at every location.

[The096757]

i loved montgomery ward and pharmor.

wards was very good until the end but phar mor started getting the same old stock over and over before it closed.

i was told there was fraud at the top levels within phar mor and it led to pharmor's demise.

a store like phar mor should have survived the early 2000s.

[JPCrespo]

@Whiteboymdew If you took any time to research it you would learn that Phar Mor did it self in by perpetrating on of the largest inevtory frauds seen at that time. Nice try blaming others for a company own corrpution which led to its failure.

[SpongeStorm4000]

Thank goodness ShopKo is still around.

[Whiteboymdew]

Well this story is just as sad as Jamesway, Ames, Caldor, Hills, Clovers, and others that came to chapter 11. This stores all have something in common, they were taken out by other retailers, such as Walmart, Target, Kmart, or fought againist each other. It is very sad and just sad. I remember Phar-Mor when the candy on the one wall it is so cheap to buy and it was so good, and ames yes low prices and great items.

[RJxx0843]

I really miss this store :(