Clover was a discount chain of 26 stores operated by

Strawbridge & Clothier Strawbridge's, formerly Strawbridge & Clothier, was a department store in the northeastern United States, with stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The Center City Philadelphia flagship store was, in its day, a gracious urban emporiu ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

. Clover stores averaged , but the first five stores it opened ran about to .

History

The first Clover store opened in 1971 in

Cherry Hill, New Jersey Cherry Hill is a township within Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a population of 74,553, which reflected an increase of 3,508 (+4.94%) from the 71,045 counted in the 2010 census. ...

. The management of

based their Clover store format on Dayton Hudson's

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

store chain and Federated's Gold Circle Discount store. The name was taken from S&C's periodic sale days, ''Clover Days''. The similarities to Target were evident throughout the life of Clover. The earliest locations included a

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...

store (Clovermarket) adjacent to the main store. S&C did not operate the food stores for long and they were converted to

Acme Acme is Ancient Greek (ακμή; English transliteration: ''akmē'') for "the peak", "zenith" or "prime". It may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Acme'' (album), an album by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion * Acme and Septimius, a fictional ...

or P.L.U.S. (an A&P no-frills format). In 1978, Strawbridge & Clothier partnered with the

Rouse Company The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. Beginnings - Moss-Rouse Company T ...

developing two mini-malls next to their Cinnaminson and Center Square stores, that were called Clover Square. These had a mixture of national and regional chains and independent stores. The malls opened with a food court in one corner of the square-shaped corridor. These malls later became Outlet Square. Now, they are both supermarkets. In 1995,

May Department Stores The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many c ...

purchased Strawbridge's. Kimco Realty Corporation paid $35.5 million for 23 Clover stores, leaving Strawbridge with three Clover sites.

Kohl's Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawa ...

subsequently purchased 5 Clover stores. Kimco liquidated the Clover stores and sold the buildings. Due to unfavorable lease agreements, the Clover stores located in Shore Mall in

Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey Egg Harbor Township is a township in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 census reported the population as 47,842, an increase of 4,519 over the 43,323 counted in the previous decade in the 2 ...

and Penrose Plaza in

Southwest Philadelphia Southwest Philadelphia (formerly Kingsessing Township) is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The section can be described as extending from the western side of the Schuylkill River to the city line, with the SEPTA. The nort ...

were unable to be divested along with the rest of the chain. Gordon Brothers Partners, Inc. of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

was retained to liquidate the 23 stores that were sold and to operate the remaining three stores through December 31, 1996. Strawbridge's parent,

, was sold to

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shilli ...

in 2006 and the Strawbridge's name was rebranded in favor of

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

. Clover was far ahead of its time with innovation, having one of the first automated push button customer service call systems in the early 1970s. Built by a long time Clover employee named Thomas Atkinson, customers in need of help pressed a button in the area they required assistance, triggering an alarm at the Customer Service Desk. The customer service associate then issued a store-wide page, summoning an associate to the location. If, by the third alarm, the system hadn't been reset by a responding associate, the service desk associate paged the store manager-on-duty, thereby guaranteeing the customer was assisted. Clover used full PLU lookup for both sale and regular merchandise and hand scanners before any other non-food retailer in the nation. Additionally, just before they closed, they began using a store management, receiving and distribution system that is the model for all big box chains in America today. When Clover closed many of its stores were purchased by

, with its first major expansion to the east coast.

References

{{Reflist Defunct discount stores based in New Jersey American companies established in 1971 Retail companies established in 1971 Retail companies disestablished in 1995