Jefferson Ward

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Montgomery Ward Inc.

File:Montgomery Ward logo 2004.svg
File:Montgomery Ward Company Complex 4-1-22.jpg Former headquarters of Montgomery Ward Company Complex in Chicago
Company type	Template:Plain list
Industry	Retail
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Defunct	Template:End date and age (original business)
Fate	Declared Bankruptcy in 2000; complete liquidation finalized in 2001; brand revived in 2004 following trademark acquisition
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Products	Apparel, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, cosmetics, appliances, household goods, tools, electronics
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Website	{{URL|example.com|optional display text}}

Montgomery Ward refers to two successive retail enterprises based in the United States. The original Montgomery Ward & Co., established as a mail-order company and later evolving into a department store chain, operated from 1872 until its closure in 2001; it was popularly known by the nickname "Monkey Wards". The present-day Montgomery Ward Inc. functions as an online shopping and mail-order catalog retailer, having been launched several years after the original company's dissolution.

Company beginnings

Aaron Montgomery Ward founded his enterprise in Chicago. Sources vary on whether his initial office was a single room at 825 North Clark Street or a loft located above a livery stable on Kinzie Street between Rush and State Streets.

By 1883, the catalog had expanded to include 240 pages featuring approximately 10,000 products. In 1896, the company faced its first notable competitor in the mail order sector when Richard Warren Sears released his inaugural general catalog. By the year 1900, Montgomery Ward's sales reached $8.7 million while competitor Sears reported $10 million. Throughout much of the twentieth century, both companies competed vigorously for market leadership. By 1904, Montgomery Ward distributed three million catalogs annually, each weighing around 4 lb (1.8 kg).

In 1908, the company inaugurated a 1.25-million-square-foot (116,000 m²) facility extending nearly one-quarter mile along the north bank of the Chicago River, just north of downtown Chicago. This building—known as the Montgomery Ward & Co. Catalog House—served as corporate headquarters until 1974 when operations relocated across the street to a new tower designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki. The Catalog House was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978 and later recognized as a Chicago historic landmark in May 2000.

Prior to 1930, Montgomery Ward established a series of major distribution centers nationwide including locations in Baltimore, Maryland; Fort Worth, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Oakland, California; Portland, Oregon; and St. Paul, Minnesota. These reinforced concrete facilities were often the largest industrial buildings within their respective cities. The Baltimore site known as the Montgomery Ward Warehouse and Retail Store was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Growth into physical stores

In 1926, the company departed from its exclusive mail-order model by launching its inaugural retail store in Plymouth, Indiana. While maintaining its catalog operations, it aggressively expanded its brick-and-mortar presence throughout the late 1920s. Just two years after inaugurating its first shop, the chain had established 244 locations by 1928. This number more than doubled within a year, reaching 531 stores by 1929. The company's premier retail location in Chicago was situated on Michigan Avenue, nestled between Madison and Washington streets.

In 1930, the firm turned down a merger proposal from competitor Sears. Experiencing financial losses during the Great Depression, Montgomery Ward caused concern among key stakeholders, including J. P. Morgan, Jr. To address these challenges, Morgan appointed Sewell Avery as president in 1931. Avery implemented staff reductions, closed underperforming outlets, revamped product lines, recruited managers with retail expertise rather than catalog backgrounds, and renovated stores. These strategic changes enabled the company to return to profitability before the decade concluded.

Montgomery Ward achieved significant success with its retail operations. The recognizable "green awning" stores became fixtures in numerous small towns nationwide, while larger-format stores were constructed in metropolitan areas. By the late 1930s, Montgomery Ward had ascended to become the nation's largest retailer, with Sewell Avery serving as chief executive officer.

Federal government intervention

In April 1944, amidst a strike involving 12,000 employees spanning the country for four months, U.S. Army forces took control of Montgomery Ward’s Chicago headquarters. This intervention was prompted by Avery’s refusal to resolve the labor dispute as urged by the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, which was concerned about disruptions to wartime goods distribution.

Avery had declined to adhere to a directive from the War Labor Board demanding union recognition and implementation of a collective bargaining agreement. After eight months of continued noncompliance with union demands, President Roosevelt issued an executive order seizing all Montgomery Ward assets nationwide. This action was justified under the War Labor Disputes Act and Roosevelt’s constitutional authority as commander-in-chief. The seizure was terminated in 1945 by President Harry S. Truman, and subsequently, the Supreme Court dismissed a related appeal on grounds of mootness.

Post War

File:182 Main Street Brattleboro detail.jpg

Progress Lighting the Way for Commerce, a medallion created by sculptor J. Massey Rhind for Montgomery Ward, was displayed at numerous Ward locations. This example is located in Brattleboro, Vermont.

File:Montgomery Ward - 1968 (color).svg

Montgomery Ward emblem used from May 1968 through July 1982

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Montgomery Ward logo used between 1995 and 1997

Following World War II, Sewell Avery predicted an impending economic downturn, potentially a recession or depression. Consequently, he refrained from opening new stores and even withheld funds for repainting existing locations. His strategy focused on conserving profits to maintain cash reserves for acquiring competitors once the anticipated economic slump arrived.

Due to the absence of expansion and reinvestment, Montgomery Ward experienced a decline in sales relative to Sears. Critics have attributed this downturn to Avery’s cautious approach, which appeared disconnected from the evolving postwar market dynamics. As new shopping centers emerged after the war, Sears secured more favorable sites than Ward. Nevertheless, Montgomery Ward remained the third-largest department store chain nationwide for many years.

In 1955, investor Louis Wolfson launched a highly publicized proxy fight to gain control of Montgomery Ward’s board. The newly established board compelled Avery to step down. This conflict resulted in a state court ruling that corporations in Illinois were not permitted to implement staggered board member elections.

By 1961, company president John Barr appointed Robert Elton Brooker as president to spearhead Montgomery Ward's recovery. Brooker introduced several key executives, including Edward Donnell, formerly responsible for managing Sears’ Los Angeles stores.

The revitalization effort involved reducing suppliers from 15,000 to 7,000 and cutting the number of brands carried from 168 to just 16. Private label products increased their share dramatically, accounting for 95 percent of sales volume compared to only 40 percent in 1960.

These measures led to decreased handling expenses and improved quality standards. Purchasing operations were centralized, whereas store management was decentralized under a new territorial system inspired by Sears’ model.

In 1966, Ed Donnell succeeded as company president while Brooker remained chairman and CEO until 1976. In 1968, Brooker played a pivotal role in facilitating a friendly merger with Container Corporation of America, resulting in the formation of MARCOR as the parent company.

Despite this merger, challenges persisted throughout the 1970s. In its 102nd year of operation (1973), Montgomery Ward acquired Jefferson Stores, a modest discount chain based in Miami, rebranding these outlets as Jefferson Ward. Following the surge in oil prices during the 1973 crisis, Mobil—seeking diversification—acquired a controlling interest in MARCOR in 1974 and completed full ownership by 1976.

Montgomery Ward ventured early into the home computer market with the CyberVision 2001 in 1978, developed by Authorship Resource, Inc., located in Franklin, Ohio, and primarily produced by United Chem-Con. However, intense competition and production difficulties led all three companies involved to discontinue the CyberVision line by the early 1980s.

By 1980, Mobil recognized that Montgomery Ward stores underperformed compared to Jefferson stores and decided to position Jefferson Ward as a high-quality discount retailer akin to Dayton Hudson Company’s Target.

Within eighteen months, management expanded Jefferson Ward fivefold to over forty locations across the Delaware Valley and Richmond areas, intending to convert about one-third of Montgomery Ward’s existing outlets to this format.

This rapid expansion overwhelmed Jefferson’s small staff, who lacked experience managing certain product categories and were unfamiliar with northern market demands.

As a result, Jefferson transformed from a modest profit contributor into a significant financial liability. In 1985, the company sold Jefferson Ward’s eighteen northern stores to Bradlees, a division of Stop & Shop, while closing the remaining locations.

That same year marked the closure of Montgomery Ward’s catalog business after more than a century of operation. The company then embarked on an extensive renovation campaign for its remaining stores. Many urban downtown and upscale neighborhood locations were redesigned into boutique-style specialty shops aimed at attracting customers away from traditional department stores.

In 1986, Mobil divested Container Corporation of America—a fellow MARCOR entity—effectively dissolving MARCOR and making Montgomery Ward a direct Mobil subsidiary. Analysts interpreted this move as Mobil retreating from diversification efforts due to mounting debt pressures following MARCOR’s acquisition; speculation arose that Montgomery Ward itself might be sold next. These suspicions were confirmed in January 1987 when Mobil announced plans to explore spinning off Montgomery Ward.

In March 1988, management executed a successful $3.8 billion (~$Template:Format price in Template:Inflation/year) leveraged buyout, transitioning Montgomery Ward into private ownership.

• Montgomery Ward building located in Bluefield, West Virginia
  Montgomery Ward building located in Bluefield, West Virginia
• Vacant Montgomery Ward store at Regency Mall, Augusta, Georgia
  Vacant Montgomery Ward store at Regency Mall, Augusta, Georgia
• Former Montgomery Ward location at Huntington Center, Huntington Beach, California, demolished in 2010
  Former Montgomery Ward location at Huntington Center, Huntington Beach, California, demolished in 2010
• “Electric Avenue” signage on a closed store in Panorama City, California (2010)
  “Electric Avenue” signage on a closed store in Panorama City, California (2010)

Bankruptcy, restructuring, and liquidation

File:Wards - 1997.svg

In 1997, the company simplified its logo to "Wards," a design that persisted until the chain's closure in 2001.

During the 1990s, even competitors began to falter under intense price competition from retailers such as Target and Walmart, which further diminished Montgomery Ward's established customer base. In 1997, the company sought protection by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It emerged from bankruptcy in August 1999 as a fully owned subsidiary of GE Capital, which had become its principal shareholder by that time.

In a final attempt to regain market relevance, Montgomery Ward shuttered over 100 stores across 30 states, discontinued its specialty store approach, rebranded itself as simply Wards, and invested millions in upgrading its remaining locations to create a more modern and appealing shopping environment. However, GE Capital withdrew its commitment to provide additional financial backing for Montgomery Ward's restructuring efforts.

Following disappointing holiday sales in December 2000, the company announced on December 28 that it would terminate operations, close its remaining approximately 250 stores, and lay off all 37,000 employees.

As online retailer

At its peak, Montgomery Ward ranked among the largest retail chains in the United States. After the company's closure, the brand's recognition rendered its name, logo, and marketing materials valuable intangible assets. In 2004, Direct Marketing Services Inc. (DMSI), an Iowa-based direct marketing firm, acquired significant intellectual property rights of the former Montgomery Ward, including the "Montgomery Ward" and "Wards" trademarks, for an undisclosed sum.

DMSI launched a new retail operation focusing exclusively on online and catalog sales without any physical storefronts. Based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this venture began using the Montgomery Ward brand in June 2004 and offered many product categories similar to those once sold by the original company. The new entity did not assume responsibility for prior commitments such as gift certificates or lifetime guarantees on products. David Milgrom, then president of DMSI’s Montgomery Ward division, stated to the Associated Press, "We're rebuilding the brand, and we want to do it right."

In July 2008, DMSI revealed plans to sell its assets at auction scheduled for August. On August 5 of that year, Swiss Colony acquired DMSI. Swiss Colony later rebranded itself as Colony Brands Inc. on June 1, 2010. The company maintained the Montgomery Ward brand by relaunching its website on September 10, 2008, with new catalogs distributed starting February 2009. Prior to the catalog’s reintroduction, Swiss Colony President John Baumann told United Press International that there was potential to revive legacy store brands such as Signature and Powr-Kraft originally associated with Montgomery Ward. Under Colony’s ownership, Wards introduced new private labels including a home and kitchen line called Chef Tested. By the year 2020, some products bearing the Chef Tested and Montgomery Ward brands were available for purchase through Amazon.com.

See also

• Montgomery Ward Building (disambiguation)
• Montgomery Ward Company Complex

Further reading

• Boorstin, Daniel J. "A. Montgomery Ward's Mail-Order Business." Chicago History, vol. 2, no. 3, Spring–Summer 1973, pp. 142–152. Available online at the Chicago History Museum's digital collection.
• Latham, Frank B. 1872–1972: A Century of Serving Consumers: The Story of Montgomery Ward. 2nd ed., Montgomery Ward & Co., Chicago, 1972.

External links

• Official website
• Christmas Catalogs and Holiday Wishbooks – A collection featuring numerous Montgomery Ward holiday catalogs