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Harold's Stores, Inc. was a
Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...
- and later
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-based chain of traditional, high-end classic styled ladies and men's specialty apparel stores. The chain operated 43 stores in 19 southern, western, and mid-western states in the
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. Prior to its bankruptcy filing, the company employed 624 people. The company was granted
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...
on November 10, 2008.


History

Harold's was founded in 1948 in
Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...
by Harold G. Powell. The buying offices were later moved to
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
while distribution and operations were based out of Norman, Oklahoma. The chain operated high-end men's and women's clothing stores, usually located in upper-class areas and shopping centers in the southern, western, and mid-western parts of the United States, and targeted sales to customers between the ages of 30 and 50. Originally selling only menswear, Harold's added women's apparel in 1958. The chain issued its own credit card in 1977, became a
public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...
in 1987, and issued its first clothing catalog in 1990. In 1999 it had 53 stores in 22 states. At its peak, Harold's employed up to 1,800 people and its annual sales exceeded $150 million. Harold's locations in Houston were known as "Harold Powell", the result of a 1992
gentlemen's agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding wikt:agreement, agreement between two or more parties. It is typically Oral contract, oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspok ...
with Harold's Men's Wear founder Harold Wiesenthal, who had operated there since 1950. By 1996, however, Wiesenthal believed customer confusion had grown and filed a lawsuit blaming Powell's company. The two sides worked out a deal at the end of 1996, before the suit went to trial, with Powell agreeing to use a different cover on catalogs delivered to the Houston area, rather than just a sticker noting the differing store name.


Changes in leadership

Powell stepped down from leadership in May 1998 when his daughter, Rebecca Powell Casey, who joined the company in 1977 and was its CEO from 1992, became the company's board chairman. Casey had been president of the company from 1989 to 1992, preceded in that role by former
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president, Bernard H. Newburg. Clark Hinkley replaced Casey as Harold's CEO in February 2001, and in June 2001 the company stopped all of its catalog and Internet ordering activities, which had been losing money. After concentrating on their core business and accumulating seven consecutive months of store sales increases, Harold's reinstituted catalog sales in September 2003. Hugh Mullins, formerly of
Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...
, became the CEO in February 2004 and resigned in August 2005. Hinkley then re-assumed the role as interim CEO. Casey, serving as executive vice president, left the company for personal reasons in January 2006, expressing in her resignation letter a lost faith in the company's leadership. Ronald S. Staffieri, who had been president of
Michaels Stores Michaels Stores, Inc., doing business as Michaels, is an American privately held Handicraft, arts and crafts retail chain. It is North America's largest provider of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall décor, and merchandise for maker culture ...
, succeeded Hinkley as CEO in October 2006.


Decline and bankruptcy

By 2001, the company was under the control of
preferred stock Preferred stock (also called preferred shares, preference shares, or simply preferreds) is a component of share capital that may have any combination of features not possessed by common stock, including properties of both an equity and a debt ins ...
holders Howard Lester of
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and Ronald de Waal, formerly of Saks. Company headquarters moved that year to Dallas, and Casey stepped down as CEO. Lester and de Waal loaned the company millions of dollars over the next several years to keep it running. Harold's had added new clothing styles to attract more youthful buyers, but alienated its core customers in the process. Hurricanes in 2005 added to heavy losses for stores in three southern states, and the company lost $6 million that year and $11 million in 2006, the year Harold's stock was delisted from the
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. On November 10, 2008, Harold's Stores and six related companies were granted
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...
, stating, "Increased competition and a weak economy have left us no choice but to cease operations." The month before, it had hired consultants to look at alternatives, though only received interest from merchandise liquidators, of which it chose
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. The closure surprised some as the
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 ...
filing is usually to allow for financial restructuring, and the chain had received a $1.8 billion loan in the prior quarter; the filing was converted to
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in March 2009. Before bankruptcy, Harold's had 43 stores and 624 employees, about half of whom were part-time, across 19 states. Its assets (and liabilities) were listed as between $10 million and $50 million. Investors Lester and de Wall lost at least $15 million and $23.5 million, respectively.


Aftermath

Two years before he became mayor of
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,
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of
Saks Fifth Avenue Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...
was appointed in September 2001 as non-executive chairman of Harold's, a role he kept through the 2008 bankruptcy. In August 2009, the trustee of the bankruptcy filed a lawsuit against Haslam and the other directors and officers of Harold's, charging that the company had illegally paid nearly $6 million in dividends to preferred shareholders while in debt, and that Lester and de Waal's loans to the company were made in bad faith and without considering other options. Harold's leadership denied the claims and both sides ultimately settled out of court for $2 million in February 2014. Haslam said he was not influenced by de Waal and that he never had an operational role in the company, a claim also supported by Casey. Powell had sold most of his stock in the company before it went bankrupt. A large antique
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horse he bought and which was the basis for a longtime logo and mascot for Harold's, was still at Casey's vacation home in Texas as of September 2014. Cafe Plaid, a restaurant Powell had opened in 1996 next to the flagship store in Norman, was also still in business then, but with different ownership. In October 2010, the former flagship store in the city's Campus Corner district became an OU IT technology store run by
University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...
's
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department, with additional space made available for meetings. Powell died at the age of 92 in June 2016 from complications related to lung cancer.


References


External links


Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Harold's
(archived) {{Authority control Companies based in Dallas Companies disestablished in 2008 Defunct retail companies of the United States Norman, Oklahoma Retail companies established in 1948 1948 establishments in Oklahoma