Jamesway Corporation, more commonly known as Jamesway, was a chain of discount

department stores A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made ...

based in

Secaucus, New Jersey Secaucus ( ) is a Town (New Jersey), town in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 22,181, an increase of 5,917 (+36.4%) from the 2010 United St ...

. It was founded in 1961 with a single store in

Jamestown, New York Jamestown is a city in southern Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 28,712 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Situated between Lake Erie to the north and the Allegheny National Forest to the south, Jamesto ...

, ultimately growing into a chain that, at its peak, operated 138 stores throughout the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

and

mid-Atlantic Mid-Atlantic or Mid Atlantic can refer to: *The middle of the Atlantic Ocean *Mid-Atlantic English, any mix between British and American English *Mid-Atlantic Region (Little League World Series), one of the United States geographic divisions of the ...

regions. Despite its successes, Jamesway faced significant losses during its last years in business. This resulted in two bankruptcy filings, which ultimately put an end to the chain in 1995.

History

Jamesway began in 1961 with its first store by Herbert Fisher. The company got its name from the town in which the first store was located,

. At its peak in 1991, the company operated 138 stores throughout the

region of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and employed nearly 6,000. The company had locations in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

and other states. Jamesway's headquarters was in

. It expanded much in the 1960s, and continued to grow until the 1980s. During this period, it acquired many properties from then-defunct discount stores such as

Two Guys Two Guys was a discount store chain founded in 1946 by brothers Herbert and Sidney Hubschman in Harrison, New Jersey, originally selling major appliances such as televisions. The chain acquired the manufacturers of the Vornado appliance brand ...

Woolco Woolco was an American-based discount retail chain. It was founded in 1962 in Columbus, Ohio, by the F. W. Woolworth Company. It was a full-line discount department store unlike the five-and-dime Woolworth stores which operated at the time. At ...

, King's, and one from

Mays Mays is the surname of: * Al Mays (1865–1905), American baseball pitcher * Albert Mays (footballer) (1929–1973), Welsh professional footballer and amateur cricketer * Alvoid Mays (born 1966), American football cornerback * Aspen Mays (born ...

. They also acquired the Westons chain of discount stores in the late 1970s. The original store in Jamestown relocated to Chautauqua Mall in the late 1980s. Jamesway #20, located in

Monroe, New York Monroe is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Orange County, New York, Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 21,387 at the 2020 census, compared to 39,912 at the 2010 census; the significant fall in census ...

, was destroyed by a major fire on April 29, 1990.

Bankruptcy

Peter Hollis, former president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Ames AMES, short Air Ministry Experimental Station, was the name given to the British Air Ministry's radar development team at Bawdsey Manor (afterwards RAF Bawdsey) in the immediate pre-World War II era. The team was forced to move on three occasion ...

, joined Jamesway in 1991 and was named president in February of that year. In April 1991, in an effort to strengthen its financial position, the company secured a $40 million (~$ in ) refinancing agreement and closed 11 unprofitable stores. In December 1992, Jamesway closed 13 stores. In January 1993, Jamesway rolled out a new store format and planned to completely remodel the 127-store chain within the following three years. The remodel would include completely redoing 30 stores. The remodeling efforts included better lighting, store layouts, and signage improvements throughout the store. In June 1993, Joseph Ettore returned to Jamesway after a spell working for Stuart’s, having earlier been with the company during its 1980s. On July 19, 1993 the company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Before the filing, the chain had sales of $1.05 billion and 7,400 employees. In August 1993, the discounter said it cut 70 headquarters jobs and implemented a management realignment. "We want to stay in business," Ettore emphasized. In December 1993, Jamesway announced it would close 14 stores and remodel 11 stores as part of a plan to pull the company out of bankruptcy. The chain emerged from bankruptcy in January 1995 with 90 stores remaining. The company put itself up for sale in May 1995. Ames was viewed as the most likely suitor for the chain, although Hills and Caldor were also considered. At the time it put itself up for sale, the company had 5,900 employees. Jamesway filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

bankruptcy for the second time in October 1995 after it had emerged from its nearly two-year-long bankruptcy. Just days before its filing, the company laid off 3% of its workforce. The company decided it would close all of its remaining stores, and liquidation sales began immediately, running from October to December 1995. It was believed that its continued weak sales, along with operating losses and constricted trade credit, contributed to its

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

. During that time,

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

had begun to open new stores in the same areas as Jamesway stores, making Jamesway's fate inescapable.

purchased 11 former Jamesway stores and reopened them as Ames stores, but Ames would end up meeting the same fate as Jamesway, declaring bankruptcy in 2001 and then closing all of its stores in 2002.

References

External links

Jamesway Corporation profile
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041201141431/http://www.business.com/directory/retail_and_consumer_services/conglomerates/department_stores/jamesway_corporation/ , date=2004-12-01 Companies based in Hudson County, New Jersey Retail companies established in 1961 Retail companies disestablished in 1995 Defunct discount stores based in New Jersey Defunct companies based in New Jersey Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1993 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995 Secaucus, New Jersey 1961 establishments in New York (state) 1995 disestablishments in New Jersey