Fishers Big Wheel, sometimes known as just Big Wheel, 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 based in

New Castle, Pennsylvania New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is northwest of Pittsburgh, and near the Pennsylvania–Ohio border, just southeast of Youngstown, Ohio. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The company operated stores under the Fisher's Big Wheel and Buy Smart names. At its peak, the chain comprised more than 100 stores in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. The chain declared bankruptcy in 1993, selling some stores to

Pamida Pamida was a chain of department stores with more than 175 locations in 16 Midwestern and West Central U.S. states. Founded by D.J. Witherspoon and Lee Wegener in 1963, Pamida stores were generally located in smaller, rural communities that rang ...

and closing others. The chain closed in 1994.

History

Fisher's Big Wheel consolidated in 1939 following the consolidation of the Fisher Dry Goods company of

and a hardware store called Big Wheel. While based in the New Castle area, its headquarters were actually in Neshannock Township just north of the city. The company's flagship store was located next door, and was used as a prototype store. After the company's liquidation, the headquarters became various medical offices, while supermarket chain

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 ...

consolidated two nearby locations and moved into the former flagship store. Fishers Big Wheel primarily located in smaller towns which were not already served by other discount retailers, while in other markets, it competed directly with such discounters as

Zayre Zayre () was a chain of discount stores that operated in the eastern half of the United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters was in Framingham, Massachusetts. In October 1988, Zayre's parent company, Zayre Corp., sold the stores ...

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 ...

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 from the United States, headquarter ...

, and Hills Department Store. Several locations of Tempo and Buckeye Mart, two discount chains operated by

Gamble-Skogmo Gamble-Skogmo Inc. was a conglomerate of retail chains and other businesses that was headquartered in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Business operated or franchised by Gamble-Skogmo included Gambles hardware and auto supply stores, Woman's World an ...

, were also acquired by Fisher's in 1978. The stores were operated under the Fisher's Buckeye-Tempo nameplate. In 1986, the company's president, Peter H. Hollis, left the chain and became the CEO of

Ames Department Stores Ames Department Stores Inc. was an American chain of discount stores based in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, United States. The company was founded in 1958 with a store in Southbridge, Massachusetts, and at its peak operated 700 stores in 20 states, ...

, where he served for four years before becoming executive vice president of

Jamesway Jamesway Corporation, more commonly known as Jamesway, was a chain of Discount store, discount department stores based in Secaucus, New Jersey. It was founded in 1961 with a single store in Jamestown, New York, ultimately growing into a chain tha ...

. Big Wheel acquired ten former locations in 1989 from two discount chains in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

: eight from Danner's and two from Heck's Department Store. Fisher's Big Wheel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1993, closing ten of its stores. Fifty-five more stores were later closed in 1994 as a means of liquidation. Several locations were also sold to

, a discount chain based in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. On January 6, 1994 it began layoffs and liquidation under bankruptcy and closed the last of its operations by the end of the year.

References

{{Pittsburgh Corporations Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania American companies established in 1939 Retail companies established in 1939 Defunct discount stores of the United States Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Retail companies disestablished in 1994 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1993 1939 establishments in Pennsylvania 1994 disestablishments in Pennsylvania