Draft:Value Village
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| Company type | Defunct |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail (Department & Discount) |
| Founded | 1961 Dalton, Illinois |
| Defunct | 1989 |
| Fate | Liquidated |
| Headquarters | Dolton, Illinois |
Key people | Henry Horney |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, and housewares. |
Number of employees | 400 |
Value Village Stores, Inc. was a chain of retail stores aimed at the discount department-store market. Henry Horney, formerly of F.W. Woolworth Company founded a small, regional chain of discount stores located in the three states of Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois that opened in 1961 and operated into 1989. [1] Horney also had a real estate company and often built small shopping malls adjoining the discount stores.[2] The chain had no relation to the Savers Value Village chain of thrift stores.
History
The Value Village chain was founded in 1961 when founder Henry Horney decided to convert six of his 8-year old chain of smaller, five and dime variety store locations called both Horney Dime Stores and Horney Variety Stores into much larger “big-box store” locations.[3] The former Woolworth employee had seen his former company open its first big box Woolco store in 1961 and S.S. Kresge and W.T. Grant were readying their Kmart and Grant City equivalents which would both launch in 1962.
The first two Value Village stores opened in Illinois in Harvey and Homewood, Illinois in August and November of 1961.[4] Both were established in Kroger grocery stores that closed in 1960. A third location in Dolton had replaced a Horney Variety Store and, because it was the first designed and constructed from the ground up, it would serve as the flagship location and blueprint for the chain.
The architectural style was self-described as Swiss influenced with thatched wood fronts. All new-build stores created after the Dolton flagship had the same basic blueprint. Specific departments were leased out including the pharmaceutical and hardware areas. The hardware was contracted to HWI (a chain later renamed Do It Best).[5]
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the chain had expanded into Wisconsin and Indiana. Converted and new build stores were located in Portage, Indiana, Monroe, Watertown, Sun Prairie, Elkhorn and Muskego in Wisconsin along with Watseka and Macomb in Illinois. Small malls were built adjoining the Watseka, Portage, Dolton and Macomb locations.[6] Store sizes within the malls were diminutive ranging from just 600 square feet to around 3,500 square feet.[7]
Downturn and Closure
The first of the Value Village stores to close was in Harvey, Illinois. Though later rebuilt, the flagship store in Dolton burned down in 1977.[8] The chain's final store opening was the March 1980 Muskego location.[9] By the 1980s, the chain found that it was unable to compete against other retail chains, such as Kmart, Target and Walmart.[10] The Sun Prairie location was closed by the local sheriff due to lack of “unpaid bills.”[11] The last of the smaller Horney Variety Store locations appears to have closed in 1985.
Store liquidations reduced the Value Village chain one store at a time until the entire chain was defunct. The final store to close in the 11-store chain's history was the rebuilt Dolton flagship store in 1989.[12] A number of the adjoining malls were repurposed, as well. The Macomb Value Village Mall became a co-location of Spoon River College. The Dolton Value Village Mall was the last of the branded malls to close in 1998.[13]
References
- ^ Obituaries: Henry J. Horney. Chicago Tribune, 31 January 2001, p. 2, Sec. 2.
- ^ Value Village Business nearly “at Par:” Manager. Portage Daily Register, 28 August 1977, p. 21.
- ^ "Clinton Variety Store Sold." Daily Clintonian, 22 October 1953, p. 1 & 3 and “Value Village in Dolton.” The Pointer (Riverdale, Illinois), 15 November 1962, p. 7..
- ^ "Value Village Grand Opening: Homewood Store," 26 November 1961, p. S-12.
- ^ Value Village Business Nearly "at Par": Manager, p.21.
- ^ Thornton, Dennis. "Work Begins on Shopping Center." Portage Daily Register, 30 April 1976, p. 1.
- ^ Thonton, p. 1.
- ^ “$1 Million Damage in Fire,” Daily Leader (Pontiac, Illinois), 13 July 1977, p.1.
- ^ "Grand Opening Sale," Waukesha County Freeman, 31 March 1980, p. 33.
- ^ Figi, Matt. "Back in the Day: The Rise of Monroe Variety Stores." Monroe Times, 28 May 2023.
- ^ Hesselberg, George. “Sun Prairie Value Village Forced to Close.” Wisconsin State Journal, 12 November 1983, p. 4.
- ^ Spelbring, Bill. "Dolton Site of Largest Expo Center." Southtown Star, 23 June 1991, p. C2.
- ^ ”Expo Center’s Fate in Judge’s Hands,” The Times (Munster, Indiana), 13 October 1998, p. B3.