Gordmans

Gordmans
Subsidiary
Industry Retail
Founded 1915
Headquarters Houston, Texas
Number of locations
 68[1] (2018)
Products Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares
Owner Stage Stores, Inc.
Number of employees
 1,630
Website gordmans.com
Footnotes / references
[2]

Gordmans is a chain of Midwestern off-price department stores founded and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The retailer operates 68 locations in 22 states in the United States.

History

Richman-Gordman

A Gordmans store in Nampa, Idaho

The company's origins date back to the early 20th century when Sam Richman opened a small clothing store in Omaha in 1915. Richman's Outfitters to the Family occupied a small storefront at 16th and Chicago in downtown Omaha. Dan Gordman joined Richman as a full partner in the business and married his daughter Esther. After several years, the business grew to occupy the entire building at 16th and Chicago. In 1948, a second store was opened in South Omaha, Nebraska and Gordman purchased Richman's remaining interest in the company, and changed the name to Richman Gordman.[3]

During the 1960s, Gordman's sons and nephew joined the business and positioned the company for more aggressive expansion. In the early 1970s, the company expanded beyond Nebraska. Richman Gordman opened two stores in Des Moines, Iowa followed by another location in Topeka, Kansas. Its 10th store opened in Grand Island, Nebraska in 1974. Gordman was among the first to incorporate central checkouts, shopping carts, and self-service shoes to Omaha and was also one of the first stores to be open on Sundays.

1/2 Price Store and Gordmans

1/2 Price Store location in Independence, Missouri, now a Gordmans location.

In 1975, Gordman opened a small test store in South Omaha at 25th and L Streets named the 1/2 Price Store. The concept was to sell Richman Gordman merchandise at half price. This led to the opening of six more 1/2 Price Stores in the 1970s; a separate corporate structure was built to accommodate the growing business. By the company's 75th anniversary in 1990, it operated 16 1/2 Price Store off-price department stores and 16 Richman Gordman department stores. In 1992, however, Richman Gordman filed for bankruptcy protection, and all of its department stores closed. The off-price department store division became the company's sole focus after it emerged from bankruptcy under the Richman Gordman 1/2 Price Stores name in 1993.

By 1996, all 1/2 Price Stores were converted into the Gordmans brand. The company decided to develop a new prototype store and attempted to improve the store's presentation. The first two Gordmans stores opened in Tulsa, Oklahoma in August 1999.

Sun Capital Partners bought the company in 2008. It was taken public again in 2010 with Sun continuing to hold a majority stake.

Bankruptcy

On March 6, 2017, Bloomberg reported that Gordmans was reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy.[4] On March 13, 2017 Bloomberg announced that Gordmans had indeed filed for bankruptcy in Nebraska (In re Gordmans Stores Inc., 17-80304, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Nebraska (Omaha).) with a liquidation deal struck with Tiger and Great American.[5] Stage Stores bought 48 of the stores as well as 1 of the distribution centers. The purchase also included the Gordmans name along with all of the intellectual property.[6]

Gordmans Under Stage Stores

Following the acquisition by Stage Stores Gordmans began to transition away from the specialty department store business model. Stage plans for the new direction for the Gordmans Brand to be in the thriving, off-price retail sector and more resemble stores like T.J. Maxx, Ross, and Burlington. Stage Stores intends to expand the Gordmans Brand and began by openeing their first new Gordmans Store in Rosenberg, Texas in March of 2018[7].

References

  1. ↑ https://stores.gordmans.com/
  2. ↑ "Gordmans Stores, Inc". Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  3. ↑ "Gordmans". Gordmans. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  4. ↑ "Terms of Service Violation". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  5. ↑ "Gordmans Stores Files for Bankruptcy With Plan to Liquidate". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  6. ↑ "Some Gordmans department stores bought by rival, will remain open". The Denver Post. 2017-03-30. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  7. ↑ "Stage Stores shopping for bargain hunters in Rosenberg". HoustonChronicle.com. 22 March 2018.
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