Bradlee's/Caldor

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dth1971
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Bradlee's/Caldor

Post by dth1971 »

Who remembers the now defunct mostly New England state based K-mart clones Bradlee's and Caldor?
MBZ321
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Post by MBZ321 »

I do..it wasnt too long ago when they were still around.

Caldor closed up around 1999---around the spring time if I remember correctly

Bradlees was able to hang on a little longer until the first few months in 2001 (I believe they announced their closure the day after christmas in 2000).

Out of the two stores, Caldor's were much nicer, almost Target-like, except their clothing was a little weaker. Bradlees were always filthy, mostly in old Woolco, JM Fields, and whatever old shells they could get their hands on. (They even took over a few of Caldor's old locations).

Both stores couldn't make it with Wal-Mart in the northeast (this was really before Target started expanding greatly in the area). Ironicly, Wal-Mart took over many old Bradlees locations in order to get into the suburbs.
dth1971
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Post by dth1971 »

Some Bradlees took over Washington, D.C. area Memco stores.
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Post by webcookie »

We had both a Caldor and a Bradlees here in Middletown, NY. Caldor is still sitting there vacant with nothing but Colandrea Pizza in the far end of the plaza and a dentist in the inside foyer (so you can actually go right up to where the store was). Bradlees was divided up into an Ashley Furniture and AJ Wright (which actually just randomly up & closed recently). A lot of longtime residents miss both stores, and I know that I do. There was also a Caldor at the Newburgh Mall which is now the Bon-Ton.
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Post by valleyankee »

At Bradlee's you buy what Mrs B buys...

and no one can buy like Mrs. B.....
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Re: Bradlee's/Caldor

Post by Groceteria »

dth1971 wrote:Who remembers the now defunct mostly New England state based K-mart clones Bradlee's and Caldor?
I think "clones" is the wrong word here. That's sort of like saying Safeway was an A&P clone just because they were both in the supermarket business. Bradlee's and Caldor were discount department stores, as is Kmart. That's pretty much where the similarity ends.

Bradlee's attempted an ill-fated expansion into the Carolinas in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It lasted about a week and a half as I recall, with the locations ultimately going to a variety of other retailers, including Best Buy and Kmart.
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Post by Ephrata1966 »

MBZ321 wrote:I do..it wasnt too long ago when they were still around.

Caldor closed up around 1999---around the spring time if I remember correctly

Bradlees was able to hang on a little longer until the first few months in 2001 (I believe they announced their closure the day after christmas in 2000).

Out of the two stores, Caldor's were much nicer, almost Target-like, except their clothing was a little weaker. Bradlees were always filthy, mostly in old Woolco, JM Fields, and whatever old shells they could get their hands on. (They even took over a few of Caldor's old locations).

Both stores couldn't make it with Wal-Mart in the northeast (this was really before Target started expanding greatly in the area). Ironicly, Wal-Mart took over many old Bradlees locations in order to get into the suburbs.
Most Bradlees in the Philadelphia area were in both former Two Guys and Jefferson Ward stores. Jefferson Ward was a division of Montgomery Ward, which was owned by Mobil at the time.
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Re: Bradlee's/Caldor

Post by nysw3636 »

In my area of the Hudson Valley of New York during the late 1990's to early 2000's, we had an Ames in New Paltz, Jamesway in Highland, and Caldor, Bradlees, Montgomery Ward, K-Mart in Poughkeepsie. Now they're all gone, except K-Mart, with little to choose from. Target and K-Mart/Sears do me fine. I will not shop at Walmart. Also, the Ames in New Paltz was originally a Barker's, then King's, then Ames. Now it is a Super Stop & Shop....

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Re: Bradlee's/Caldor

Post by umtrr-author »

Bradlees picked up the Two Guys in Woodbridge, New Jersey, at the intersection of US 9 and "old 440" (now NJ 184). Wal-Mart knocked down the building and built new at a right angle to the old building (facing "old 440" instead of US 9).

Caldor took over the EJ Korvettes also in Woodbridge, near the junction of US 1 and 9 and NJ 35. While Korvettes was a two story store, Caldor took only the first floor and some storage on the second floor. Caldor also had a location in Watchung on US 22, which I believe was a Two Guys, but the memory fades.

Caldor had a brief expansion into the Rochester NY area with four locations which were former Hills stores (that's the discounter, not the supermarket associated with Korvettes). They didn't last long in Rochester as I recall as the entire chain went away not long after.
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Re: Bradlee's/Caldor

Post by MikeRa »

Most Caldors in the Philadelphia area were brand new builds. The exception are the Caldor in Willingboro, NJ, and the Caldor in Cinnamisson, NJ. These two Caldors were in a former Woolco location.

Today, the Willingboro Caldor (as well as the Acme and the Village Mall) is a Flea Market building, and the Cinnamisson location has been demolished
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Re: Bradlee's/Caldor

Post by bobsjers »

I remember Memco in the Washington area. Bradlees took most of them over, but after that, it seems they went to a lot of other companies. I think the one on Richmond Highway in Alexandria was demolished and became a Target.

AJ Wright was owned by TJX. It was meant to be an Urban version of Marshalls and TJ Maxx, but they found out that urban people liked Marshalls and TJ Maxx just fine, and did not need a separate division. They converted as many as they could to Home Goods, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx. I think someone mentioned in another post that TJX was a spin off from the old Zayre Corporation. They sold the Zayre division to Ames, and kept BJs Wholesale Club and TJX.
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Re: Bradlee's/Caldor

Post by Ephrata1966 »

There is no WAY Bradlees or Caldor were Kmart clones. Those three in particular seemed to like ex-JM Fields stores (owned by Food Fair/Pantry Pride) found up and down the East Coast. Bradlees and Caldor were a lot like urban department stores, but not always in malls/downtowns. They were not unlike Target, Mervyns, and Kohl's.

TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods I thought already were in pretty urban areas, so I don't get why AJ Wright would be different.

But I seriously have wondered if Acme was a clone of A&P, or the other way around...
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Re: Bradlee's/Caldor

Post by rich »

Caldor and Bradlees were nothing like K-Mart or urban department stores. Caldor was very similar to the modern day Target stores although they carried more in the hard goods areas. It's Midwestern counterpart was Federated's Gold Circle. Bradlee's was a notch down from Caldor and closer to K-Mart.

Even low-end traditional department stores were different from Caldor, let alone Bradlee's. There were chains like S Klein built on close-outs and seconds, as well as cheap, comprehensive stores like Goldblatt's, Bailey's, and Raymonds. Stores like those emulated a traditional department store layout and service, but sold cheaper lines.
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Re: Bradlee's/Caldor

Post by Ephrata1966 »

This Bradlees looks like it used to be a Wanamaker's or something: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ5j3kMZfP0
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Re: Bradlee's/Caldor

Post by pseudo3d »

Strange--it seems like Caldor was more upscale than I thought it was. I was imagining basically Kmart clones for Caldor (the better Kmarts), and for Bradlees, the worse Kmarts. Since Caldor and Venture (a decidedly more Target-like retailer) were once under the same corporate umbrella, why didn't they merge? From what I read on PFS, I thought it was because Venture was a far nicer store than Caldor.
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