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41-445: Lakes Mall opened in 1972, anchored by discount stores Jefferson Ward and Britt's , with other major tenants including a Pantry Pride supermarket and a McCrory dime store. By the 1980s, the mall was losing business to larger shopping centers in town. Also, Britt's closed in 1981, Pantry Pride in 1984, and Jefferson Ward in 1985. By 1986, the center had more than 25 vacancies; a year later, 42 of its 83 storefronts were vacant. Despite

82-568: A 26-story office building in 1972, designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki , who also designed the former World Trade Center towers in New York City . After the bankruptcy of Montgomery Ward in 2001, the earliest buildings were converted into upscale condominiums. The project met the National Historic Landmark criteria for preservation, with the exception of balconies added to the administration building. In 2004,

123-434: A bend in the river, is almost 1,100 feet (340 m) long and a single floor covers 6 acres (24,000 m ). At one time the building had its own post office branch and a ground-floor shipping platform that could accommodate 24 railroad freight cars. The Catalog House was designated a Chicago Landmark on May 17, 2000. In later years, Montgomery Ward and Company added several warehouses and parking structures, followed by

164-716: A closed store in Panorama City , California, 2010 demolished In November 2024 /gallery> By the 1990s even its rivals began to lose ground to low-price competition from the likes of Target and Walmart , which eroded even more of Montgomery Ward's traditional customer base. In 1997, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy , emerging from protection by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois in August 1999 as

205-553: A mortgage on it, but the mortgage holder was charged in a foreclosure suit because it also owned space in the mall and could no longer afford to pay rent. The city building inspector declared the building unsafe in April 1990. Builders Square closed its store in July 1990 so that Sports Authority could expand both its retail floor space and headquarters. A month later, the last two tenants (an optician and dentist's office) moved out following

246-403: A new president, Sewell Avery , who cut staff levels and stores, changed lines, hired store rather than catalog managers, and refurbished stores. These actions caused the company to become profitable before the end of the 1930s. Ward was very successful in its retail business. "Green awning" stores dotted hundreds of small towns across the country. Larger stores were built in the major cities. By

287-464: A number of key new management people, including Edward Donnell, former manager of Sears' Los Angeles stores. The new management team achieved the turnaround reducing the number of suppliers from 15,000 to 7,000 and the number of brands being carried dropped from 168 to 16. Ward's private brands were given 95 percent of the volume compared with 40 percent in 1960. The results of these changes were lower handling costs and higher quality standards. Buying

328-469: A roof collapse, leaving only Sports Authority and Office Depot. In 1992, renovation plans were announced that called for demolition of the structure, except for those stores. The mall was finally torn down in 1996, with Linen Supermarket, Mac Frugal's (which converted to Big Lots in 2002) and Smart & Final opening on portions of the former lot. Sports Authority moved out in 2003, moving its headquarters to suburban Denver, Colorado , and Big Lots closed

369-494: A single room at 825 North Clark Street or in a loft above a livery stable on Kinzie Street, between Rush and State Streets. In 1883, the company's catalog had grown to 240 pages and 10,000 items. In 1896, Ward encountered its first serious competition in the mail order business, when Richard Warren Sears introduced his first general catalog. In 1900, Ward had total sales of $ 8.7 million, compared to $ 10 million for Sears , and both companies struggled for dominance during much of

410-561: A wholly owned subsidiary of GE Capital , which was by then its largest shareholder. As part of a last-ditch effort to remain competitive, the company closed over 100 retail locations in 30 U.S. states, abandoned the specialty store strategy, rebranded the chain as simply Wards , and spent millions of dollars to renovate its remaining outlets to be flashier and more consumer-friendly. GE Capital reneged on promises of further financial support of Montgomery Ward's restructuring plans. On December 28, 2000, after lower-than-expected sales during

451-474: Is the 2,000,000-square-foot (190,000 m ) Mail Order House, also known as the Catalog House, that was the heart of Montgomery Ward's operations. Completed in 1908, the eight-story building was painted white and capped with a flat roof, with an interior that contained miles of chutes, conveyors, and storage lofts within ceiling heights ranging from 12 to 17 feet (5.2 m). The west facade, following

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492-527: Is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001. The current Montgomery Ward Inc. is an online shopping and mail-order catalog retailer that started several years after the original Montgomery Ward shut down. Aaron Montgomery Ward started his business in Chicago; conflicting reports place his first office either in

533-680: The CyberVision 2001 in 1978, developed by the Authorship Resource, Inc., of Franklin, Ohio , and primarily manufactured by United Chem-Con. However, mounting competition from other computer companies as well as manufacturing problems compelled the three companies to pull the plug on the CyberVision product by the early 1980s. By 1980, Mobil realized that the Montgomery Ward stores were doing poorly in comparison to

574-600: The War Labor Disputes Act as well as his power under the Constitution as commander-in-chief . In 1945, Truman ended the seizure and the Supreme Court dismissed the pending appeal as moot. After World War II, Sewell Avery believed the country would fall back into a recession or even a depression. He decided to not open any new stores, and did not even permit expenditure for paint to freshen

615-515: The intellectual property assets of the former Wards, including the "Montgomery Ward" and "Wards" trademarks, for an undisclosed amount. DMSI applied the brand to a new online and catalog-based retailing operation, with no physical stores, headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa . DMSI then began operating under the Montgomery Ward branding in June 2004, selling many of the same kinds of products as

656-471: The 1970s. In 1973, its 102nd year in business, it purchased a small discount store chain, the Miami -based Jefferson Stores, renaming these locations Jefferson Ward. Mobil , flush with cash from the recent rise in oil prices and looking to diversify, bought a controlling share of MARCOR in 1974, only to acquire the company outright in 1976. The company was an early entrant in the home computer market with

697-566: The 20th century. By 1904, Ward had expanded such that it mailed three million catalogs, weighing 4 lb (1.8 kg) each, to customers. In 1908, the company opened a 1.25-million-square-foot (116,000 m ) building stretching along nearly one-quarter mile of the Chicago River , north of downtown Chicago. The building, known as the Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House , served as the company headquarters until 1974, when

738-623: The Christmas season, the company announced it would cease operating, close its remaining 250 retail outlets, and lay off its 37,000 employees. At its height, the original Montgomery Ward was one of the biggest retailers in the United States. After its demise, the familiarity of its brand meant its name, corporate logo, and advertising were considered valuable intangible assets. In 2004, catalog marketer Direct Marketing Services Inc. (DMSI), an Iowa direct marketing company, purchased much of

779-464: The Jefferson Ward model. The burden of servicing the new stores fell to the tiny Jefferson staff, who were overwhelmed by the increased store count, had no experience in dealing with some of the product lines they now carried, and were unfamiliar with buying for northern markets. Almost immediately, Jefferson had turned from a small moneymaker into a large drain on profits. The company sold

820-532: The Jefferson stores, and decided that high quality discount units, along the lines of Dayton Hudson Company's Target stores, would be the retailer's future. Within 18 months, management quintupled the size of the operation, now called Jefferson Ward, to more than 40 units in the Delaware Valley and Richmond metropolitan areas, and planned to convert one-third of Montgomery Ward's existing stores to

861-773: The United States' oldest mail order firm. The property is located along the North Branch of the Chicago River at 618 W. Chicago Avenue in Near North Side , Chicago , Illinois . It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historic Landmark on June 2, 1978. The two earliest buildings in the complex, the old Administration Building and the Mail Order House, are constructed of reinforced concrete and were designed by Richard E. Schmidt and Hugh Garden , members of

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902-400: The adverse effect on the delivery of goods in wartime. Avery had refused to comply with a War Labor Board order to recognize the unions and institute the terms of a collective bargaining agreement. Eight months later, with Montgomery Ward continuing to refuse to recognize the unions, President Roosevelt issued an executive order seizing all of Montgomery Ward's property nationwide, citing

943-400: The architectural firm of Schmidt, Garden and Martin . The 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m ), eight-story Administration Building served as the company's headquarters until 1974, and features sword and torch motifs on the base and vertical piers that rise uninterrupted, culminating in a parapet with motifs similar to the base. A four-story tower was added in 1929 on the northeast corner of

984-616: The building, with a pyramid roof. Crowning the roof of the Administration Building is a 22.5-foot (6.9 m) replica of the bronze statue that was originally placed on top of the old Montgomery Ward Building on Michigan Avenue . An adaption of an earlier statue that had topped both Madison Square Garden in New York and the Agriculture Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago

1025-536: The chain's 18-store northern division to Bradlees , a division of Stop & Shop , in 1985. The remaining stores closed. In 1985, the company closed its catalog business after 113 years and began an aggressive policy of renovating its remaining stores. It restructured many of the store layouts in the downtown areas of larger cities and affluent neighborhoods into boutique -like specialty stores, as these were drawing business from traditional department stores. In 1986, fellow MARCOR firm, Container Corporation of America,

1066-708: The company in the near future. In March 1988, the company management undertook a successful $ 3.8 billion (~$ 8.45 billion in 2023) leveraged buyout , making Montgomery Ward a privately held company. <gallery> File:Montgomery Ward Bluefield, WV.jpg|A Montgomery Ward Building in Bluefield, West Virginia File:Abandoned Montgomery Ward.jpg|A vacant Montgomery Ward store, Regency Mall , Augusta, Georgia File:Vacant Montgomery Ward Huntington Beach.JPG|A former Montgomery Ward store, Huntington Center , Huntington Beach, California , demolished in 2010 File:Electric Ave Logo - Montgomery Wards.JPG|An "Electric Avenue" logo on

1107-475: The end of the 1930s, Montgomery Ward had become the country's largest retailer, and Sewell Avery became the company's chief executive officer. In April 1944, four months into a nationwide strike by the company's 12,000 workers, U.S. Army troops seized the company's Chicago offices. The action was ordered due to Avery's refusal to settle the strike as requested by the Roosevelt administration, concerned about

1148-449: The existing stores. His plan was to bank profits to preserve liquidity when the recession or depression he anticipated hit, and then buy up his retail competition. Without new stores or any investment back into the business, Montgomery Ward declined in sales volume compared to Sears. Many have blamed the conservative decisions of Avery, who seemed not to understand the postwar years' changing economy. As new shopping centers were built after

1189-414: The first location of Sports Authority , a sports equipment store. Since Office Depot, The Sports Authority, and Builders Square did not open to the mall, traffic within the mall itself continued to decline. By 1989, the only other retailers inside were McCrory (which closed on December 31 that year), two restaurants, a men's clothing store, and some offices and service tenants. Also, the mall's owners filed

1230-536: The following month. On August 5, 2008, the catalog retailer Swiss Colony purchased DMSI. Swiss Colony—which changed its name to Colony Brands Inc. June 1, 2010—kept Montgomery Ward alive and relaunched the Wards website September 10, 2008, with new catalogs mailing in February 2009. A month before the catalog's launch, Swiss Colony President John Baumann told United Press International the retailer might also resurrect

1271-460: The increasing vacancies, the first Office Depot opened in the mall in 1986, and a flea market filled the former Britt's. Shortly after the Office Depot opened, the owners announced that they would begin renovating the mall with a "main street" theme. Kmart bought the former Jefferson Ward building, converting part of it to a Builders Square home improvement store, while the rest became

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1312-488: The largest industrial structures in their respective locations. The Baltimore Montgomery Ward Warehouse and Retail Store was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. In 1926, the company broke with its mail-order-only tradition when it opened its first retail outlet store in Plymouth, Indiana . It continued to operate its catalog business while pursuing an aggressive campaign to build retail outlets in

1353-586: The late 1920s. In 1928, two years after opening its first outlet, it had opened 244 stores. By 1929, it had more than doubled its number of outlets to 531. Its flagship retail store in Chicago was located on Michigan Avenue between Madison and Washington streets. In 1930, the company declined a merger offer from rival chain Sears. Losing money during the Great Depression , Ward alarmed its major investors, including J. P. Morgan, Jr . In 1931, Morgan hired

1394-555: The offices moved across the street to a new tower designed by Minoru Yamasaki . The catalog house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978 and a Chicago historic landmark in May 2000. In the decades before 1930, Montgomery Ward built a network of large distribution centers across the country in Baltimore , Fort Worth , Kansas City , Oakland , Portland , and St. Paul . In most cases, these reinforced concrete structures were

1435-430: The original Montgomery Ward's Signature and Powr-Kraft store brands . Among the new store brands Wards started under Colony was a home and kitchen brand called Chef Tested. By 2020, some Chef Tested and Montgomery Ward–brand home and kitchen items were being sold on Amazon.com . Montgomery Ward %26 Co. Catalog House The Montgomery Ward Company Complex is the former national headquarters of Montgomery Ward ,

1476-531: The original company. The new company does not honor its predecessor's obligations, such as gift cards and items sold with a lifetime guarantee. David Milgrom, then president of the DMSI-owned firm, told the Associated Press , "We're rebuilding the brand, and we want to do it right." Four years later, in July 2008, DMSI announced it was on the auction block, with the sale of its assets scheduled for

1517-454: The same year. Smart & Final also closed its Florida stores in 2003. The complex was purchased in 2008 by UrbanAmerica LP of New York City, and Florida Career College moved into a portion. In 2009, Ross Dress for Less opened on the north side of the mall, and Burlington Coat Factory opened at the south end in 2010. Yoram Izhak, also the owner of Lauderhill Mall , bought the property in May 2012. Jefferson Ward Montgomery Ward

1558-607: The war, Sears was perceived to have better locations than Ward. Nonetheless, for many years Ward was still the nation's third-largest department store chain. In 1955, investor Louis Wolfson waged a high-profile proxy fight to obtain control of the board of Montgomery Ward. The new board forced the resignation of Avery. This fight led to a state court decision that Illinois corporations were not entitled to stagger elections of board members." In 1961, company president John Barr hired Robert Elton Brooker to lead Montgomery Ward as president in its turnaround. Brooker brought with him

1599-426: Was centralized but store operations were decentralized, under a new territory system modeled after Sears. In 1966, Ed Donnell was named company president. Brooker continued as chairman and chief executive officer until 1976. In 1968, Brooker helped engineer a friendly merger with Container Corporation of America , the new parent company being named MARCOR. Despite the merger, the company continued to struggle into

1640-613: Was divested by Mobil. This effectively dissolved the MARCOR division and left Montgomery Ward as a direct subsidiary of Mobil. Analysts saw the CCA sale as an effort to go back on their diversification efforts, as the debts incurred since MARCOR’s acquisition began to weigh the oil giant down, and many predicted Montgomery Ward was next to be sold. These theories were confirmed in January 1987, when Mobil stated they would be looking into spinning off

1681-401: Was made for the building by the same creators, W. H. Mullins Manufacturing Company of Salem, Ohio and was sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens . The statue is called The Spirit of Progress, and depicts the goddess Diana , dressed in flowing robes, balancing on a globe, and holding a torch in her right hand and a caduceus in her left hand. Forty feet north of the Administration Building

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