Department Stores

Bloomingdale’s Corporate Office

Bloomingdale’s is a luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by brothers Lyman and Joseph Bloomingdale in New York City, New York.

As of October 31, 2021, there are 56 stores (58 boxes) including 33 department stores (35 boxes, all full line), 1 Bloomies, 1 furniture/other store and 21 outlet stores with the Bloomingdale’s nameplate in operation throughout the United States.

The retail market boomed in the 1980s. New Bloomingdale locations opened along the East Coast, Florida, Chicago, and Dallas, Texas.

In 1996, Bloomingdale’s expanded to the west coast with the acquisition of The Broadway stores and Emporium locations.

In late 2015, Bloomingdale’s opened its first location in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In 2019, the company announced that none of its locations would sell fur starting in 2020.

In January 2021, Bloomingdale’s announced that its Santa Monica, California, location would be closing permanently.

In January 2022, Bloomingdale’s announced that it would open several pop-up stores that would offer the Chinese Year of the Tiger clothing, gifts, and household items.

Bloomingdale’s maintains a corporate office in New York, New York.

Schroeder’s Department Store Corporate Office

Brothers Peter and Joseph Schroeder opened Schroeder’s Department Store in 1891. The original building was across the street from where the store stands today. In 1899, the father of the brothers purchased the three-story building across the street and even paid to have bricks shipped in from the port of Sturgeon Bay and delivered via train.

The store has since survived two World Wars, the Great Depression, the recession in 2008, and nearly every other competing store in the area. One way in which the company has found a means of surviving is renting out the now unused portions on the upper floors. The company likens it to a shopping mall without walls.

The company published a book, including old photographs of the business, in June 2018.

Two sisters, AJ Schroeder-Ashenbrenner, and Teresa Kronforst, whose great-grandfather was Joseph Schroeder, are the last Schroeder’s to operate the business. Their father John, who ran the store virtually by himself, unexpectedly passed away from cancer in 2008.

Schroeder’s Department Store still has its corporate office in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.

Fred’s Corporate Office

IN 1947, Paul Baddour and his two brothers opened a small discount store in Coldwater, Mississippi. While the company was originally incorporated as Baddour, Inc., Paul later named one of the stores after his brother Fred, and the name stuck.

The company opened stores in small towns and offered deeply discounted prices on closeout items. Fred’s stores did quite well, even competing against the giant Walmart by expanding store sizes from the usual 5,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet or more.

Fred’s has diversified into other areas, including Fred’s Pharmacy, Dollar Stores, GetWell Drug and Dollar, and the Yazoo Trading Company. In 2018, the company sold its prescription patient information to competitor Walgreens from their 185 pharmacies. Walgreens paid $165 million for this information after Fred’s was unable to purchase hundreds of Rite Aid pharmacies.

Fred’s is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol FRED.

The company had annual revenue in 2016 of $2.125 billion but lost $66.5 million. This has caused the company to announce the closure of 159 stores in April 2019 which the company states were underperforming or whose leases were about to expire.

Fred’s company headquarters are located in Memphis, Tennessee.

Renys A Maine Adventure Corporate Office

Robert Reny opened his first store in his hometown of Damariscotta, Maine, in 1949. Business was so slow that winter that Robert took some merchandise and began selling door to door. Although this was difficult in a cold Maine winter, Reny made a great many friends, who began patronizing the store the following spring.

Robert’s son John began working for his father at 5 years of age, sweeping floors and stocking small items.

The company offers a bit of everything; from shoes to cleaning products, coffee cups to food.

Today, Renys has more than 500 employees and 17 locations, most of them in Maine. The company is still family owned and operated, with the third generation of Renys trying to find ways to compete with Walmart.

Headquarters are located in Newcastle, Maine.

Wakefield’s Corporate Office

Wakefield’s was founded in 1917 by James Wakefield. The company began by offering women’s clothing and accessories until James son, Martin, decided to expand the small store and add men’s and children’s shoes and clothing.

Today, the company has 10 locations in and around the greater Anniston, Alabama, area. The original Wakefield’s store remains and the remaining 9 locations are known as either Martin’s or Martin’s Family Clothing. Martin passed away in 2010.

Wakefield’s and Martin’s are still owned and operated by the Wakefield family, with the grandson of James, William, now acting as CEO. Company headquarters remain in Anniston, Alabama.