Sprouse-Reitz is a defunct chain of five-and-dime stores based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

, United States. The Sprouse-Reitz Company was founded in 1909 in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

.Moscow-Pullman Daily News - Jan 11, 1989 - Sprouse-Reitz Changes Name, Unveils New Look - Google News
/ref> At its peak it had more than 470 stores in eleven states in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

. Around January 1989, the declining retailer tried to revive its business by

rebranding Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, invest ...

its stores "Sprouse!". In June 1990, with the store count at 287, CEO Robert Sprouse II, who controlled about 80 percent of the company's voting stock, said that chain would change its focus to six specific areas: toys, housewares, crafts, home furnishings, family apparel, greeting cards, wrapping paper, and other paper products. In late 1990, the chain was sold for $22.9 million to SR Partners, Inc., a joint venture among realtors TransAction Financial Corp., acquisition specialists First San Francisco Holdings, Ltd., and individual investors. In December 1993, Sprouse-Reitz Inc. liquidated and closed its remaining 84 stores after failing to find a buyer. The company estimated that the last stores would close in February. As of late February 1994, the last stores were scheduled to close on March 20.

Gallery

File:Sprouse Reitz Co storefront, Portland, Oregon, ca 1925 (WASTATE 2105).jpg, The Sprouse-Reits store in Portand, Oregon around 1925 File:Sprouse-Reitz Store (32600549994).jpg, The lunch counter at an unidentified store in 1947-48 File:Former Sprouse-Reitz store in Bisbee, Arizona.jpg, An early store still lettered for the company (as of 2008) long after its closure, in Bisbee, Arizona File:Sprouse Reitz Co. Building, 210 Main Street at North Kellner, Superior.jpg, A former store in Superior, Arizona (2021)

References

External links

Sprouse store in Red Bluff, California in 1947
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprouse-Reitz Defunct companies based in Oregon Five and dimes Retail companies established in 1909 Retail companies disestablished in 1994 Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Defunct retail companies of the United States History of Portland, Oregon 1909 establishments in Oregon 1994 disestablishments in Oregon Companies based in Portland, Oregon