- Melville Corporation
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Melville Corporation, formerly based in Rye, New York, was a large retail holding corporation incorporated in 1922 as the Melville Shoe company by Ward Melville. It changed its name to CVS Corporation in 1996. The company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker MES, before changing its ticker to CVS.
At its peak, Melville operated over 7,282 retail stores in approximately 3,500 unique locations, providing a wide range of products.
Melville was one of the first companies in the world to develop a shared-services satellite communications network, consolidating the infrastructure of all of its discrete divisions, resulting in significant cost savings for the corporation.
Beginning in the early 1990s, Melville was under pressure to reorganize and shed its diverse portfolio. Many of the chains the company operated were underperforming.
The chain shed all of its retail chains, except for CVS, which accounted for 40% of Melville's revenue. Its Peoples, Standard Drug, and Austin Drug pharmacies were converted to the CVS identity. Most of the company's units that were unrelated to its pharmacy business were shed in 1996.
Many of the retail divisions that Melville once owned still operate either as independent companies or as subsidiaries of other companies.
Contents
Divisions
During the height of Melville's success, the company operated the following retailing divisions.
Pharmacies
- CVS Pharmacy
- Peoples Drug
- Standard Drug
- Austin Drug
- Freddy's Drug
Apparel
- Marshalls (sold to T.J. Maxx in 1995)
- Wilsons The Leather Experts
- Bermans
- Pelle Cuir
- Tannery West
- Snyder Leather Outlets
- Georgetown Leather Design
- Bob's
- Accessory Lady
- Chess King
- Chess King Garage
- Foxmoor
- Free Fall
- Putnam Stores
Footwear
- FootAction USA
- FootAction For Kids
- Fan Club
- Thom McAn
- B.O.Q.
- Open Country
- Smart Step
- Vanguard
- Melco
- Woodbridge Shoes
Toys
- KB Toys (sold to Big Lots, defunct as of 2010)
- Circus World
- K & K Toys
- Toy Works
- Play Things
Domestics
- Linens 'n Things (sold to JCPenney in 1996, defunct as of 2008)
- Prints Plus
Furniture
- This End Up
- Wood's End
- Prism
References
Categories:- Companies established in 1922
- Defunct retail companies of the United States
- Companies based in Westchester County, New York
- Companies disestablished in 1996
- Defunct companies based in New York
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