American Apparel
Made in USA basics, two bankruptcies, sold to Gildan
Retail — defunct brands
16Department stores, specialty shops, and mall icons that shuttered—browse timelines, fates, and what led to the downfall.
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Best Buy Mobile
Standalone mall stores closed in 2018; mobile departments continued inside full-line Best Buy stores.
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Borders
Capture 11 bankruptcy in February 2011, followed by liquidation and closure of all stores later that year
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Casual Corner
Dressed working women for decades, died with the mall
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Circuit City
Electronics giant with 700 stores, beaten by Best Buy
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Fry's Electronics
Silicon Valley's paradise for nerds, killed by Amazon
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Hollywood Video
Blockbuster's biggest 1990s rival that vanished in the streaming era.
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KB Toys
Holiday shopping nostalgia, couldn't compete with Walmart
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Kinney Shoes
A once-massive family shoe chain whose most important legacy was launching Foot Locker before the parent company shut the Kinney name down.
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Linens 'n Things
Bed Bath & Beyond's rival, died in the recession
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Ritz Camera
A chain of mall camera stores that developed your film in an hour, ran for 94 years, and closed in 2012 after digital cameras and smartphon…
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Sears (Canada)
A Canadian department store that started as a mail-order catalog business in 1952, grew into one of the country's biggest retail chains, an…
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Toys "R" Us
The biggest toy store in the world for kids growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, brought down by a massive debt load and competition from Ama…
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Tuesday Morning
A discount store for home goods that ran for nearly 50 years, selling leftover and overstock items at low prices before closing all its sto…
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Wet Seal
A mall clothing store for teenage girls that went from selling surf gear in California to running 500 stores across the country, then went…
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Woolworth (US)
The original American budget store, where a nickel or a dime could get you almost anything on the shelf.