Cook's was a chain of

discount department store A discount store or discounter offers a retail format in which products are sold at prices that are in principle lower than an actual or supposed "full retail price". Discounters rely on bulk purchasing and efficient distribution to keep down cost ...

s in the United States, from 1961 to 1987. Headquartered in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, the chain grew to a peak of 115 stores before filing for

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy 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, whe ...

first in 1984, then in 1987, before filing for

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor. ...

later that year.

History

Cook's began in 1961, with the purchase of 5 Uncle Bill's Discount Department Stores and three other small discount department store chains in the Midwest and East. The 47-store Rink's Discount Department Stores chain was purchased from Gray Drugs in 1981, at which point the chain reached its peak of 115 stores. In 1984, the chain closed a total of 41 stores in the Spring of 1984, shortly before declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 12 further stores were closed during bankruptcy, reducing the chain to 32 stores before exiting bankruptcy in late 1986. The chain filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy again in 1987, planning to close 26 of 29 stores and operate 3 stores, two in

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, T ...

and one in

Wauseon, Ohio Wauseon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County, Ohio, Fulton County, Ohio, approximately 31 mi (51 km) west of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo. The population was 7,332 at the time of the United States Census 2010, 2010 census. Histo ...

. It was announced in November 1987 that the final three stores were to liquidate, closing before the end of the year.{{Cite news, url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47432821/, title=Final three Cook United stores to fold, date=November 25, 1987, work=News-Journal, access-date=March 27, 2020

References

Retail companies established in 1961 Retail companies disestablished in 1987 Discount stores of the United States Discount stores Companies based in Cleveland Companies based in Ohio Companies that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1984 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1987 Companies that filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1987 Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Defunct department stores based in Cleveland Retail companies based in Ohio