Weiner's Stores, Inc., was a clothing retailer with its headquarters in Spring Branch and in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

.Boundary Map
" ''Spring Branch Management District''. Retrieved on December 8, 2009.

History

Weiner's was founded by Isidore Weiner in 1926.
" Weiner's. October 26, 2000. Retrieved on February 25, 2010. Weiner was an immigrant from

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.Hassell, Greg and Deidra M. Lemons.
Liquidation ahead / Weiner's chain goes under; 33 stores in area will close
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

''. Wednesday June 27, 2001. Business 1. Retrieved on February 25, 2010. The first shop was located on what was then the outskirts of Houston. In 1932 the firm filed for bankruptcy during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Greg Hassell and Deidra M. Lemons of the ''

'' said that Weiner's achieved "its zenith" in 1994, when it had 158 locations. Its locations were in Texas and Louisiana. In 1995 the company received a lot of debt and began cutting locations. It 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 April 1995, ended 27 locations, and unloaded $40 million worth of old merchandise that was in its warehouses. In August 1997 the company emerged from bankruptcy protection. The store chain itself had a hard time competing against big box retailers that were rapidly expanding into the area like

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

and

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, and also with the advent of

online shopping Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of th ...

and the rise of household

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use, Weiner's also suffered as they were slow to adopt online retail. In October 2000 the company declared bankruptcy again. The company announced that it was closing 44 of the 141 stores that it was operating at the time. The bankruptcy protection filing was due to decreasing sales of name brand products. According to Weiner's spokesperson Lee Butler, since 1995, Weiner's had not achieved profitability at all. The ''

Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

'' said in an editorial that Weiner's "struggled to emerge from the shadows of big-box competitors like Wal-Mart and Target, which attracted customers with one-stop retail shopping." In 2001 Weiner's announced that it was changing its name to Weiner's Plus. The clothing line was always competitive with its lower quality peers. Trying to extract value from essentially rather mediocre product lines. This began to be more and more apparent as the store became squeezed by competitors. The veil of substandard and in many ways outright cheap quality was exposed during this period. Bankruptcy became the obvious alternative as those with an appetite for higher quality and an appreciation for the manufacturing origin and sales of such products became more evident. On Tuesday June 26, 2001, after 75 years of operation, the company announced that it was liquidating; all 97 of its stores would close, and all 2,900 employees would be laid off. Tropical Storm Allison, which had flooded seven of its stores, was the final factor that caused the liquidation, since the company did not have

flood insurance Flood insurance is the specific insurance coverage issued against property loss from flooding. To determine risk factors for specific properties, insurers will often refer to topographical maps that denote lowlands, floodplains and other areas th ...

. At the time of liquidation the company had 97 stores in four states, including 24 stores in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and 9 stores in other places in

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. Some of the 200 people working at the company headquarters and distribution center were laid off on the Tuesday that the announcement was made. After Weiner's closed, National Stores (Fallas Paredes) took over many of the store locations that were held by Weiner's.Wollam, Allison. "California retailer picks up Weiner's pieces." ''

''. Friday August 17, 2001
1
Retrieved on February 25, 2010.Wollam, Allison "Fallas Paredes to close first store in local market." ''

''. Friday April 25, 2003
1
Retrieved on February 25, 2010. National Stores acquired 31 of the 97 Houston-area Weiner's leases.

References

External links

Weiner's
(Archive){{Dead link, date=June 2011 Companies based in Houston 2001 disestablishments in Texas Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2000