Gold Circle was a

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 ...

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

based in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Founded in 1967, it was a division of

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito ...

with 76 stores when the chain was sold and dismantled in 1988.

History

Covering mostly

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and Western

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, the chain was founded in 1967 in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, with its corporate headquarters and distribution center located in

Worthington, Ohio Worthington is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, and is a northern suburb of Columbus. The population in the 2020 Census was 14,786. The city was founded in 1803 by the Scioto Company led by James Kilbourne, who was later elected to ...

, a northern Columbus suburb. In 1984, Gold Circle was notable as the first major discounter to implement chain-wide UPC barcode scanning in an effort to reduce checkout time for shoppers and improve inventory accuracy and speed store merchandise replenishment.

Merger with Richway

In 1986, Federated merged its Gold Circle division with its Richway Department Stores, another Federated discount division. While the chains each continued to operate under their original names (though several Richways were converted to Gold Circles), buying and other administrative functions for both were consolidated into Gold Circle's Worthington, Ohio headquarters.

Liquidation

After

Campeau Corporation Campeau Corporation was a Canadian real estate development and investment company founded by entrepreneur Robert Campeau. It was infamous from its ultimately unsuccessful acquisitions of American department store holding companies Allied Stor ...

acquired Federated Department Stores in 1988, Gold Circle was liquidated along with Richway (in addition to the sale or liquidation of several other under-performing Federated divisions). The chain was dismantled in late 1988 with Kimco Development acquiring all of the store locations while the corporate office and distribution center were sold off in separate transactions. Hills leased 35 Gold Circle stores in Ohio, New York, and Kentucky and immediately converted them into Hills stores following the liquidation sales, reopening early in 1989. Some of the Gold Circle stores became Hills Department Stores or

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

, while

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

and

Elyria, Ohio Elyria ( ) is a city in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan statistical area and the county seat of Lorain County, Ohio, United States, located at the forks of the Black River in Northeast Ohio 23 miles southwest of Cleveland. As of the 2020 cen ...

, became

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

. One in

New Kensington, Pennsylvania New Kensington, known locally as New Ken, is a city in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It is situated along the Allegheny River, northeast of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Penns ...

, had previously been converted to a

Giant Eagle Giant Eagle, Inc. (Western Pennsylvania English: ) and stylized as giant eagle) is an American supermarket chain with stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Maryland. The company was founded in 1918 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...

Gallery

References

{{reflist Retail companies established in 1967 Defunct discount stores of the United States Retail companies disestablished in 1988 1967 establishments in Ohio 1988 disestablishments in Ohio

History

Merger with Richway

Liquidation

Gallery

See also

References