Retail chains that have gone out of business

With a number of retailers currently in danger of going out of business, Boston.com looked back at some chains that have already gone belly up. Some are fondly remembered, others largely forgotten, but all were once major players that are now no more.

Caldor

Caldor was once one of the dominant department store brands in the Northeast. That changed in 1995 when the company declared bankruptcy. It was not a quick death for the chain, though, as it sputtered along before closing its last store in 1999. A number of Caldor leases were eventually bought by Kohl’s as that company entered the Northeast.

Bradlees

Like Caldor, Bradlees was a chain of department stores operating mostly in the Northeast. The company survived a 1995 bankruptcy, but it did not make it through a second one in late 2000 leading to its closing in 2001. Several Bradlees locations that closed in the 1995 bankruptcy actually became Ames stores. When Caldor closed in 1995, Bradlees took over a few of its locations.

Filene’s

Headquartered in Boston, Filene’s was originally a family business. It was operated by Federated Department Stores from 1928 through 1988 when the brand was acquired by The May Department Store Co. In 2005, Federated bought May – reuniting Filene’s with its former owner. Unfortunately, Federated had no interest in the brand and rebranded Filene’s stores as Macy’s with the brand being officially killed in 2006.

Borders

The Ann Arbor. Michigan-based bookstore chain liquidated its remaining 399 stores after 40 years of business in 2011. A Globe editorial from August 2011 said the Borders location on lower Washingto Street in downtown Boston should be filled with something that pays homage to the city’s rich tradition of readers and writers.

Ames

Based in Rocky Hill, Conn., Ames, like Caldor or Bradlees, was a department store that specialized in discounting. At its apex, the company had 700 stores, but that number was nearly halved by the time of its bankruptcy and dissolution in 2002.

Tweeter

Electronics chain Tweeter shut down in late 2008. The Globe reported that 600 employees at 70 stores nationwide were fired and all stores were shut down days before the company was set to shut down for good. The chain did not reopen to complete its liquidation sales, leaving the remaining merchandise to be sold online.

Syms

An off-price chain that specialized in men’s suits, Syms had over 50 stores and used the father-daughter team of Sy and Marcy Syms in its ads. The company fell victim to the downturn in the economy and costs associated with its ill-fated purchase of Filene’s Basement. The brand disappeared from the face of the retail planet in late 2011.

Circuit City

When the electronics retailer closed its brick and mortar stores in 2009, it was the second largest electronics retailer in the United States. Systemax Inc. bought the chain at the time of liquidation, and continued to run it as an e-commerce chain – circuitcity.com – until late 2012 when it merged with TigerDirect.

Filene’s Basement

The outlet/discount stores were originally affiliated with its namesake chain, but the Basement Brand was spun off and outlived its parent. After losing much of its luster as a chain in 2009, the brand was sold to Syms, which added “Basements’’ to many of its stores. That, however, was not enough to save Filene’s Basement or Syms as the joint company was liquidated in bankruptcy in late 2011.

Linens ‘n Things

After declaring bankruptcy in 2008, the home goods supplier closed all of its North American storefronts and launched LNT.com, an e-commerce version of what its storefronts used to be.

Purity Supreme

Launched by the late Staples co-founder Leo Kahn, Purity Supreme was once a leader in the New England grocery market. After it was acquired by Stop & Shop in 1995, the Purity Supreme name disappeared altogether in 1997 with the closing of its Brookline, Cambridge, and Roslindale stores, according to Globe archives.

Movie Gallery

Netflix and the Internet have left many video game and movie rental chains in shambles, and Movie Gallery is no exception. Once the second largest video rental company in the United States, the Oregon-based chain bought Hollywood Video for $1.25 billion in 2005 before it was liquidated in 2010.

KB toys

The toy retailer closed shop in 2009 following a bankruptcy filing. Once the largest mall-based toy store chain in the United States, it was acquired by Toys R Us Inc., once its main competitor, in August of that same year.