Carson's

Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (also known as Carson's) is an online retailer founded in 1854 as an American department store, which grew to over 50 locations, primarily in the Midwestern United States. Sold to the holding company of Bon-Ton in 2006, but still operated under the Carson name, the entire Bon-Ton collection of stores, including Carson's, went into bankruptcy and closed in 2018. BonTon's intellectual property was quickly sold while in bankruptcy, and the new owners reopened shortly afterwards as online retail.[2]

Carson Pirie Scott & Co.

Trade name	Carson's
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail
Fate	reorganized
Founded	1854 (1854) in Chicago, Illinois
Founders	Samuel Carson, John Pirie
Headquarters	Chicago  , United States of America
Number of locations	1 (at highest point, 51 stores)[1]
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, housewares
Parent	Bergner's (1989–1998) Saks, Inc. (1998–2006) The Bon-Ton (2006–present)
Website	www.carsons.com

The Carson Pirie Scott name is associated with the Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building designed by Louis Sullivan, built in 1899 for the retail firm Schlesinger & Mayer, and expanded and sold to Carson Pirie Scott in 1904, and occupied by them for more than a century.

History

Beginnings

Carson Pirie Scott logo used between 1946 through 1978.

Carson Pirie Scott Logo used from 1978 through the company's sale to Bergner in 1989. The box design and "& Co." suffix was dropped in 1986; this later variant of the logo could still be found on older store signage through the company's end.

Final Carson Pirie Scott logo before the name was shortened, which adopted the red insignia and font of Bergner's.

The chain began in 1854 when Scotsmen Samuel Carson and John Pirie first clerked in the Murray's dry goods store in Peru, Illinois - then opened their own store in LaSalle followed by one in Amboy. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed 60% of the store's stock. In 1961, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. greatly expanded in Illinois by purchasing the 20 unit Block & Kuhl chain headquartered in Peoria.[3]

John Edwin Scott operated a dry goods store in Ottawa, Illinois. He later moved up to Chicago and became the first partner of Samuel Carson and John T. Pirie in the ownership of a dry goods store, well known today as Carson Pirie Scott & Co. Two of John Scott's sons, Robert L. and Frederick H., were members of the department store firm.

In 1980, to diversify its business, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. borrowed $108 million to buy Dobbs Houses, Inc., an airline caterer and owner of the Toddle House and Steak 'n Egg Kitchen restaurant chains. These were sold in 1988, as was the County Seat clothing chain.

In 1989, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. was acquired by P.A. Bergner & Co. (founded in Peoria), who operated the Bergner's, Charles V. Weise, Myers Brothers and Boston Store chains.[4]

Bergner's bankruptcy

In 1991, P.A. Bergner & Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; upon emerging from bankruptcy in 1993, it became a NASDAQ publicly traded company, changing its operating name to Carson Pirie Scott & Co. One year later, the company commenced trading on the NYSE under the CRP symbol.

Acquisition by Proffitt's/Saks

By 1998, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. ownership was held by Proffitt's, Inc., (later renamed Saks Incorporated to reflect the acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenue). The Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, and Boston Store chains, along with Younkers and Herberger's nameplates, eventually operated as Saks' Northern Department Store Group (NDSG), based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In late 2005, however, the group was put up for sale as Saks Incorporated tried to refocus itself primarily on its core Saks Fifth Avenue stores.

Sale to The Bon-Ton and store closings

Carson's and its associated stores became part of The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. in a $1.1 billion deal completed on March 6, 2006.[5] The group's merchandising and marketing base remained in Milwaukee.

Bon-Ton converted Elder-Beerman stores in Indiana and Michigan to the newly shortened Carson's name in 2011 and 2012.[6][7] The chain expanded into Metro Detroit in 2013 with the conversion of three Parisian stores.[8]

Bon-Ton announced on April 17, 2018 that they would cease operations and began liquidating all 267 stores after two liquidators, Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group, won an auction for the company. The bid was estimated to be worth $775.5 million. This included all remaining Carson's stores after 164 years of operation. According to national retail reporter Mitch Nolen, stores closed within 10 to 12 weeks.[9][10]

Reopening

The intellectual property of Bon-Ton, including Carson's, was quickly sold in bankruptcy to CSC Generation, and online retail was reopened. The new owners, based in Merrillville, Indiana were also exploring opening new store locations.[2] On October 29, 2018; Under this new ownership and using the same company and stores' names, Bon-Ton started announcing it would reopen the Evergreen Park, Illinois Carson's store on November 24 (Black Friday)–one of Bon-Ton's first brick-and-mortar stores to reopen. Bon-Ton has also announced plans to open brick-and-mortar Carson's stores in Bloomingdale, Lombard and Orland Park.[11]

See also

• Chicago architecture

References

1. "The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. 2011 Annual Report" (PDF). Files.shareholder.com. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
2. Zumbach, Lauren (September 21, 2018). "Carson's joins retailers seeking life after liquidation with online revival and bricks-and-mortar aspirations". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
3. Wilson, Mark R. "Carson Pirie Scott & Co". Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
4. "Carson Pirie Scott & Company". Encyclopedia. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2006-03-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Charlotte: Search Results". nl.newsbank.com. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
7. "Elder-Beerman stores in Monroe swap name". Toledoblade.com. 2 October 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
9. "Bon-Ton Stores to close (report)". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2018-04-17.
10. "Liquidators to wind down US department store chain Bon-Ton". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
11. Lauren Zumbach (October 29, 2018). "Carson's reopening Evergreen Park store on Black Friday". Chicago Tribune.

Further reading

• Siry, Joseph M. Carson Pirie Scott: Louis Sullivan and the Chicago Department Store. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1988. ISBN 0-226-76136-3

External links

• website (Archive)
• The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc. investor relations home page