Ira A. Watson Co., more commonly known as Watson's was a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...

chain based in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was founded in 1907 and grew to many locations throughout the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

. The company was purchased for $4.45 million (~$ in ) by

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

with the transaction closing June 29, 1998.Peebles Inc · 8-K/A · For 6/29/98 Filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
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History

Expanding from the original operation, the company opened a group of downtown stores in

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

towns. As shopping centers and malls developed, Watson's opened substantially larger stores in those locations. Operations grew from a single location in

, to numerous locations in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, and Illinois. The merchandise was purchased and distributed to all of the Watson's stores from the centralized warehouse located at the corporate offices in Knoxville. The company hit hard times in the late 1980s and eventually filed for

Chapter 11 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, w ...

Bankruptcy in February 1992 when they were unable to renew bank financing. At the time of the filing, the company operated 31 stores in nine states. The courts approved a reorganization plan for the company to emerge from Chapter 11 in 6 years. Profitability improved and Watson's emerged from Chapter 11 in about half of the anticipated time though the company never fully recovered. Through a series of ineffective upper management hires in the early to late 1990s, the company continued its downward spiral. In the end, the company that prospered by selling goods in remote areas of the southeast where competitors were few, could not compete with the new Walmart and Goodys Family Clothing stores as these companies began to build in markets that were once considered too small. Watson's business model was viable no longer. Watson's was purchased in June 1998 by

, a then privately held retailer based in

South Hill, Virginia South Hill is a town in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,709 at the 2020 census. Located on major Interstate and U.S. highways, it has a full-service hospital (serving patients from several rural counties), a t ...

. At that time, Watson's became a wholly owned subsidiary of Peebles. All Watson's stores were converted to Peebles a year later. The former Watson's Knoxville Distribution Center at 200 Hayfield Road continues to serve as one of two warehouses for the Peebles chain. Peebles was purchased by Houston, Texas-based Specialty Retailers in 2003.

References

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External links

Peebles Department Stores Stage Stores
American companies established in 1907 Retail companies established in 1907 Defunct department stores based in Tennessee Defunct companies based in Tennessee Companies disestablished in 1998 Retail companies disestablished in 1998