Montgomery Ward & Company
 Montgomery Ward retailer logo, also the store's 1982–1995 and 2004–present logo |
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Private – Original incarnation, mail order and department store Current incarnation, online retailer and catalog merchant |
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| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Bankruptcy in 2000; Full liquidation in 2001 namesake retailer launched in 2004 after purchase of trademarks |
| Founded | 1872 (as mail order company and later department store, defunct 2001) 2004 (as current online retailer) |
| Defunct | June 2001 (original company) |
| Headquarters | Original company in Chicago, Illinois, United States 2004 to 2008: namesake company Monroe, Wisconsin, United States |
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Key people
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Original company: 1872 founder, Aaron Montgomery Ward namesake company: John Baumann, president of parent company Swiss Colony |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, appliances, housewares, tools, and electronics. |
| Brands |
Riverside Airline Powr-Kraft |
| Divisions | Electric Avenue Wards Kids Montgomery Ward Catalog Montgomery Wards Auto Express |
| Website | www |
Montgomery Ward is the name of two historically distinct American retail enterprises. It can refer either to the defunct mail order and department store retailer, which operated between 1872 and 2001, or to the current catalog and online retailer also known as Wards.
Montgomery Ward was founded by Aaron Montgomery Ward in 1872. Ward had conceived of the idea of a dry goods mail-order business in Chicago, Illinois, after several years of working as a traveling salesman among rural customers. He observed that rural customers often wanted "city" goods, but their only access to them was through rural retailers who had little competition and did not offer any guarantee of quality. Ward also believed that by eliminating intermediaries, he could cut costs and make a wide variety of goods available to rural customers, who could purchase goods by mail and pick them up at the nearest train station.
Ward started his business at his first office, either in a single room at 825 North Clark Street, or in a loft above a livery stable on Kinzie Street between Rush and State Streets. He and two partners used $1,600 they had raised in capital and issued their first catalog in August 1872. It consisted of an 8 in × 12 in (20 cm × 30 cm) single-sheet price list, listing 163 items for sale with ordering instructions for which Ward had written the copy. His two partners left the following year, but he continued the struggling business and was joined by his future brother-in-law, George Robinson Thorne.
In the first few years, the business was not well received by rural retailers. Considering Ward a threat, they sometimes publicly burned his catalog. Despite the opposition, however, the business grew at a fast pace over the next several decades, fueled by demand primarily from rural customers who were inspired by the wide selection of items that were unavailable to them locally. Customers were also inspired by the innovative company policy of "satisfaction guaranteed or your money back", which Ward began in 1875. Ward turned the copy writing over to department heads, but he continued poring over every detail in the catalog for accuracy.
In 1883, the company's catalog, which became popularly known as the "Wish Book", had grown to 240 pages and 10,000 items. In 1896, Wards encountered its first serious competition in the mail order business, when Richard Warren Sears introduced his first general catalog. In 1900, Wards had total sales of $8.7 million, compared to $10 million for Sears, and both companies would struggle for dominance during much of the 20th century. By 1904, the company had expanded such that it mailed three million catalogs, weighing 4 lb (1.8 kg) each, to customers.
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Wikipedia