Globe Shopping City
Type | Discount department store chain |
---|---|
Fate | Liquidation |
Founded | 1960 Houston, Texas |
Founders | Stanley Danburg |
Defunct | 1978 (chain) 1999 (McAllen) |
Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. and Houston, Texas, U.S. |
Number of locations | 31 stores (1977) |
Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, housewares, groceries, auto service, pets |
Parent | Walgreens (owned from 1962 and discontinued in 1978) |
Globe Shopping City, also known as Globe Discount City, was a regional chain of discount department stores based in Houston, Texas. Stanley Danburg, the president of United Mercantile Inc., founded the chain in 1960. Globe stores were located in the Southwest United States and were operated as a "big-box store" retail arm of Walgreens for much of the chain's operational lifecycle. Massive financial losses led to the dispersal of the entire chain through a combination of liquidation sales and transferal of individual store locations in 1978 with the exception of the McAllen location, which was sold to Klinck Drug Inc., and continued to operate under the Globe name and logo until its closure in December 1999.
History
The first Globe Discount City opened in Houston on November 25, 1960 by United Mercantile Inc.[1] United had formed earlier in 1960 to operate the existing seven-store chain of Danburg's Department Stores which had existed since the 1930s and the forthcoming big-box Globe retail locations – the first three of which were each built with over 100,000 square feet of space.[2] All but one of the Danburg locations was in the Houston, Texas market as were the first four Globe Discount City locations. Unlike the smaller Danburg department stores, the Globe City concept featured a full grocery store, a Sun Cafeteria utilizing the store's sun logo, and an expanded variety of more than 80 departments including live pets, firearms, and a Globe Auto Center housed in an outparcel building.
With three Globe stores open in 1962, Walgreens acquired the United Mercantile portfolio on March 21, 1962.[3] Walgreens had seen F.W. Woolworth announce its new big-box retail concept of Woolco in 1961, S.S. Kresge opening its first Kmart in January 1962, and many others getting into large scale discount stores including the first Walmart store later in 1962 and W.T. Grant would create big-box Grant City stores. Walgreens would use Globe as its big-box brand while later creating a Walgreens Superstore line for its mid-sized pharmacy-centric stores while continuing its existing, smaller Walgreens stores.[4]
Walgreens would extend the Globe big-box locations to its peak of 31 stores primarily in Texas and Arizona with three locations in Louisiana and two locations each in Tennessee and New Mexico. Some locations were branded as Globe Discount City with others labeled as Globe Shopping City.[5] The stores' positioning statement remained consistent as, "Everything under the sun priced lower". To retain Globe's "multi-line customer appeal", Walgreens leased back certain departments of the store including the food market, fine jewelry (to Zales), the auto center, and the shoe department to third party vendors.[6] Annual Walgreens shareholders reports touted Globe's "per square foot" sales in the early 1970s that were over-trending and the chain's usage of computers to track inventory, sales, and other key performance indicators.[7] The 1973 shareholder report provided a note of warning that the big-box competition was getting "intense" and the chain would not be extending past its Southwest locations.[8]
Downturn and Closure
United Mercantile / Walgreens closed all of the Danburg locations in 1970 as its aging mid-sized department stores were under competition from shopping mall anchors and newer big-box stores. By 1976, Globe stores were underperforming and around 40% of sales were going to the leased areas of the stores.[9] Walgreens ended the Globe-branded check cashing card and internal credit system in favor of bank credit cards to help efficiency. The final three stores were opened in San Antonio on March 9, 1977 to double the number of stores from three to six in the city.[10] But later that same year, Walgreens reported lower earnings partly due to the financial downturn of its Globe store unit. Losses were at $10 million in 1977 when Walgreens decided to exit the big-box space in 1978 closing or transferring all of its Globe Discount City locations by July 1978.[11] Transactions were made to convert 14 locations to Kmarts and 8 locations became FedMart stores. FedMart would later end up selling some of the buildings to Target and Mervyn's shortly thereafter. A number of locations which weren't transferred hosted auction sales to dispense with fixtures and any remaining inventory. On August 1, 1978, the location in McAllen was sold to Klinck Drug Inc., who would continue to operate it under the Globe name and logo.[12] In October 1999, Klinck was acquired by H-E-B and announced in November that store would close in December 1999 due to stiff competition.[13]
Locations
References
- ↑ "Globe Discount City Opens Doors Friday", The Houston Chronicle, November 24, 1960, p. 2.
- ↑ "We Acquire Three 'Globe Discount' City Units and 7 Smaller 'Danburg' Units in Houston Area", Walgreens Annual Report to Stockholders: 1962, p. 9.
- ↑ Collins T., Albert. "Globe to Merge With Walgreen's: Discount Firm, Drug Chain In Multimillon-Dollar Deal", Houston Chronicle, March 21, 1962, p. 1 and p. 20.
- ↑ "Our Typical Walgreen Store... Even Bigger Walgreen Store... Our Biggest: Globe Department Stores", Walgreens Annual Report to Stockholders: 1967, p. 15-15.
- ↑ The launch of the Tucson Globe store was scheduled to be "Globe Discount City" and was changed to "Globe Shopping City" likely because the former name had been in use by another, unrelated store in the 1950s in Arizona. The name "Discount City" was considered to be "obsolete" for the new store. Turpin, Ted. "Sensory Systems Lab Ideal Type for Tucson." Tucson Daily Citizen, March 22, 1966, p. 26.
- ↑ "The Globe Division", Walgreens Annual Report to Stockholders: 1976, p. 23.
- ↑ It was reported in the trade publication, The Discount Merchandiser, (June 1973) that Globe stored delivered a 60% higher per square foot sales metric than the national average of mass merchandisers. "Globe Department Stores", Walgreens Annual Report to Stockholders: 1973, p. 8-9.
- ↑ "Globe Department Stores", Walgreens Annual Report to Stockholders: 1973, p. 8-9.
- ↑ "The Globe Division", Walgreens Annual Report to Stockholders: 1976, p. 23.
- ↑ "Three new Globe stores now open", San Antonio Express News, March 9, 1977, page 6-A.
- ↑ "Closing of Globe Stores to Bring Loss of 170 Jobs." Arizona Daily Star, March 15, 1978, p. 1B.
- ↑ "Klinck's Announces Purchase Of Globe Discount Center", The Monitor, August 1, 1978, p. 1 and p. 8A.
- ↑ Cannon, Steve. "Klinck, Globe stores going under", The Monitor, November 2, 1999, p.1.
- ↑ "Globe Discount City Opens Doors Friday", The Houston Chronicle, November 24, 1960, page 2, section 4.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Houston Chronicle, July 20, 1978, section 2, page 7.
- ↑ "Second Globe City Opening Here Thursday", The Houston Chronicle, July 26, 1961, page 2, section 5.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Houston Chronicle, July 20, 1978, section 2, page 7.
- ↑ "Globe Sharpstown Opening Wednesday", The Houston Chronicle, October 31, 1961, page 2, section 3.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Houston Chronicle, July 20, 1978, section 2, page 7.
- ↑ "New Globe Discount City Opens Tomorrow at 9:00 A.M.", The Houston Chronicle, October 29, 1963, section 1, page 15.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Houston Chronicle, July 20, 1978, section 2, page 7.
- ↑ "Globe Opens New 'Discount City' To Area Shoppers on Wednesday", State-Times, March 10, 1964, page 2-C.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, State-Times, July 19, 1978.
- ↑ "Globe Offers New Look In Shopping Experience", The Albuquerque Tribune, March 9, 1965, page C-2.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Albuquerque Journal, July 16, 1978, page A-3.
- ↑ "New Globe Discount City Opens To Public Tomorrow", The Phoenix Gazette, April 6, 1965, page 54.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Arizona Republic, December 28, 1977.
- ↑ "New Globe Store To Open", The Phoenix Gazette, April 27, 1965, page 35.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Arizona Republic, December 28, 1977.
- ↑ "Globe Discount City Opens in El Paso Tomorrow", El Paso Herald-Post, November 9, 1965, page C-1.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, El Paso Times, July 19, 1978, page 16-D.
- ↑ "Huge Discount House Opens Doors Wednesday", Tucson Citizen, March 29, 1966.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Arizona Daily Star, April 26, 1978.
- ↑ "Globe Discount City Opens At 9 A.M. Wednesday Here", Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, August 16, 1966, page 2-C.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, July, 19, 1978, page 16-D.
- ↑ "Globe Discount City Opens Wednesday, 9 AM", The Monitor, November 15, 1966.
- ↑ Advertisement, The Monitor, December 19, 1999, page 5D.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Houston Chronicle, November 29, 1966.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Houston Chronicle, July 20, 1978, section 2, page 7.
- ↑ "Globe Discount City Opens Wednesday", San Antonio Express, March 1, 1967, page 2-C.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, The News, July 18, 1978.
- ↑ "New Globe Opens Wednesday", San Antonio Express, May 22, 1968, page 2-D.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, The News, July 18, 1978.
- ↑ "Globe Shopping City Opens Unit At Katy Freeway and Gessner", Houston Chronicle, August 13, 1968, p. 2.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Houston Chronicle, July 20, 1978, section 2, page 7.
- ↑ "New Globe To Open Wednesday", The Baytown Sun, November 18, 1969, page 2.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, The Baytown Sun, July 16, 1978, page 6-B.
- ↑ "Globe Opens Wednesday", The Shreveport Journal, February 3, 1970, page 2C.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Shreveport Journal, June 30, 1978, page 13A.
- ↑ "Doors Open Tomorrow at New Globe Shopping City", Memphis Press-Scimitar, March 17, 1970, page A-2.
- ↑ Potter, Wendell. "Globe Store Leased To Competitor", Memphis Press-Scimitar, August 22, 1972, page 19X.
- ↑ "Globe Opens New San Antonio Store", San Antonio Express, April 15, 1970, page 2-D.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, The News, July 18, 1978.
- ↑ "Department store to open Wednesday", The Arizona Republic, April 27, 1970, page 31.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Arizona Republic, December 28, 1977.
- ↑ "Globe Opening Wednesday", The Galveston Daily News, February 21, 1971, front page.
- ↑ "Memphis’ Second Globe Sets Opening Wednesday", The Commercial Appeal, March 14, 1971.
- ↑ Klink, Cook. "Globe Shopping City Plans To Leave Memphis Market", The Commercial Appeal, December 7, 1972.
- ↑ "Second Globe Discount City Opens Wednesday", Albuquerque Journal, November 1, 1972.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Albuquerque Journal, July 16, 1978, page A-3.
- ↑ "Globe Discount City Opens Wednesday", Corpus Christi Caller-Times, May 16, 1973.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Corpus Christi Caller, July 16, 1978, page 14F.
- ↑ "New Globe Opens 9 A.M., July 4th", The Shreveport Journal, July 3, 1973.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Shreveport Journal, June 30, 1978, page 13A.
- ↑ "Globe Opens 10th Area Store", Houston Chronicle, November 19, 1974, page 14, section 6.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Houston Chronicle, July 20, 1978, section 2, page 7.
- ↑ "Globe Opens Second Valley Store", Valley Morning Star, April 30, 1975, page 10C.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, The Brownsville Herald, May 12, 1978, page 9A.
- ↑ "Globe Discount City Opens Second Store In Tucson", Arizona Daily Star, October 29, 1975, page 10.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, Arizona Daily Star, April 26, 1978.
- ↑ "Three new Globe stores now open", San Antonio Express News, March 9, 1977, page 6-A.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, The News, July 18, 1978.
- ↑ "Three new Globe stores now open", San Antonio Express News, March 9, 1977, page 6-A.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, The News, July 18, 1978.
- ↑ "Three new Globe stores now open", San Antonio Express News, March 9, 1977, page 6-A.
- ↑ Full-page advertisement, The News, July 18, 1978.