 | |
| Carson's | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1854 (171 years ago) (1854) inChicago, Illinois |
| Founders | Samuel Carson, John Pirie |
| Defunct | 2018 (7 years ago) (2018) (original company) |
| Fate | Filed for bankruptcy, reorganized |
Number of locations | 0 (at peak, 51 stores)[1] |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, housewares |
| Parent |
|
| Website | carsons |
Carson Pirie Scott & Co. (also known asCarson's) is an Americandepartment store that was founded in 1854, which grew to over 50 locations, primarily in theMidwestern United States. It was sold to the holding company ofBon-Ton in 2006, but still operated under the Carson name. The entire Bon-Ton collection of stores, including Carson's, went into bankruptcy and closed in 2018. Bon-Ton'sintellectual property was quickly sold while in bankruptcy, and the new owners reopened shortly afterwards as a BrandX virtual retailer.[2]
The chain began in 1854 when Samuel Carson and John Thomas Pirie first clerked in the Murray's dry goods store inPeru, Illinois, then opened their own store inLaSalle, followed by one inAmboy. In 1871, theGreat Chicago Fire destroyed 60% of the store's stock.[citation needed]
John Edwin Scott operated a dry goods store inOttawa, Illinois. He later moved up to Chicago and became the first partner of Carson and Pirie in the ownership of a dry goods store which became known as Carson Pirie Scott & Co. Two of Scott's sons, Robert L. and Frederick H., were members of the department store firm.
The flagship store onState Street in the DowntownChicago Loop is still known as theCarson, Pirie, Scott and Company Building.Louis Sullivan designed it for department storeSchlesinger & Mayer, who added to it over the years. When that company went bankrupt in 1904, they sold the building to Carson Pirie Scott in 1904, and it would remain Carson's flagship store until it was announced in August 2006 that after the 2006 Christmas season, the department store in the building would close. After holding clearance sales, Carson's closed in February 2007.
In 1961, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. greatly expanded inIllinois by purchasing the 20 unitBlock & Kuhl chain headquartered inPeoria.[3]
In 1980, to diversify its business, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. borrowed $108 million to buy Dobbs Houses, Inc., an airline caterer and owner of theToddle House and Steak 'n Egg Kitchen restaurant chains. These were sold in 1988, as was theCounty Seat clothing chain.
In 1989, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. was acquired by P.A. Bergner & Co. (founded in Peoria), who operated theBergner's, Charles V. Weise, Myers Brothers andBoston Store chains.[4]
| Year | Description |
|---|---|
| 1961 | Block & Kuhl stores rebranded Carson Pirie Scott |
| 1987 |
|
| 1989 | Carson Pirie Scott acquired by P.A. Bergner & Co. who operated theBergner's, Charles V. Weise, Myers Brothers andBoston Store chains |
| 1998 | Proffitt's Inc., now Saks Incorporated, buys P. A. Bergner & Co. |
| 2005 | Saks sells Carson Pirie Scott as well as Bergner's, Younkers, Boston Store, and Herberger's to Bon-Ton Stores |
| 2018 | Bon-Ton liquidates its department stores |
In 1991,P.A. Bergner & Co. filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy;[5] upon emerging from bankruptcy in 1993, it became aNASDAQ publicly traded company, changing its operating name to Carson Pirie Scott & Co.[6][7] One year later, the company commenced trading on theNYSE under the CRP symbol.
By 1998, Carson Pirie Scott & Co. ownership was held byProffitt's, Inc., (later renamedSaks Incorporated to reflect the acquisition ofSaks Fifth Avenue). The Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, and Boston Store chains, along withYounkers andHerberger's nameplates, eventually operated as Saks' Northern Department Store Group (NDSG), based inMilwaukee, Wisconsin. In late 2005, however, the group was put up for sale as Saks Incorporated tried to refocus itself primarily on its coreSaks Fifth Avenue stores.
Carson's and its associated stores became part ofThe Bon-Ton Stores Inc. in a $1.1 billion deal completed on March 6, 2006.[8] The group's merchandising and marketing base remained in Milwaukee.
Bon-Ton convertedElder-Beerman stores in Indiana and Michigan to the newly shortened Carson's name in 2011 and 2012.[9][10] The chain expanded intoMetro Detroit in 2013 with the conversion of threeParisian stores.[11]
Bon-Ton announced on April 17, 2018 that they would cease operations and began liquidating all 267 stores after two liquidators, Great American Group and Tiger Capital Group, won an auction for the company. The bid was estimated to be worth $775.5 million. This included all remaining Carson's stores after 164 years of operation. According to national retail reporter Mitch Nolen, stores closed within 10 to 12 weeks.[12][13]
Theintellectual property ofBon-Ton, including Carson's, was quickly sold in bankruptcy toCSC Generation, and online retail was reopened. The new owners, based inMerrillville, Indiana, were also exploring opening new store locations.[2] On October 29, 2018; Under this new ownership and using the same company and stores' names, Bon-Ton started announcing it would reopen theEvergreen Park, Illinois Carson's store on November 24 (Black Friday)–one of Bon-Ton's first brick-and-mortar stores to reopen. Bon-Ton has also announced plans to open brick-and-mortar Carson's stores inBloomingdale,Lombard andOrland Park.[14] The sole location to return to operation was in Evergreen Park; the company never followed through in Orland Park and Lombard. The Evergreen Park location closed in October 2020 as a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[15] Carson's currently has no brick and mortar stores and exists only as on online retailer. As of November 2021, Carson's website was preparing for another relaunch by BrandX who has also acquired the Stage Store trademarks; however, as of November 2024, the site remained in limbo, showing only a message of "coming soon."
 | Carson Pirie Scott logo used between 1946 through 1978. |
.jpg) | Carson Pirie Scott Logo used from 1978 through the company's sale to Bergner in 1989. The box design and "& Co." suffix was dropped in 1986; this later variant of the logo could still be found on older store signage through the company's end. |
 | Final Carson Pirie Scott logo before the name was shortened, which adopted the red insignia and font of Bergner's. |
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Department stores in the United States | |
|---|---|
| Current | |
| Defunct | |
| Online only | |
