Rickel

Infobox_Company
company_name = Rickel
company_
company_type = Private 1953-1969 Stock Corporation 1969-1994 Private 1994-1997 Originally, "Do It Yourself" Home Center Then, Home Improvement
foundation = 1953, defunct: October, 1997
location = South Plainfield, NJ
key_people = Al Rickel, Mort Rickel, Bob Rickel
industry = Retail Home Improvement
products = Plumbing, heating, electrical supplies & hardware.
parent = Supermarkets General Corporation (now Pathmark)
company_slogan = Do It Better With Rickel|

Rickel (also known as "Rickel Brothers" in its early years and "Rickel Home Centers" in later years) was a home improvement store chain, but also featured diverse items such as discount clothing, electronics, and patio furniture. The business was established in the early 1950's and for three decades was the leading hardware, plumbing, heating and electrical retailer in its region.

The origins of the company date back to 1948 when brothers Al, Mort, and Bob Rickel founded a heating contracting business in Newark, NJ. An anecdotal story says that a couple years later, the brothers purchased a warehouse full of plumbing supplies for 'next to nothing', but- as they didn't know much about the plumbing business- they weren't sure exactly what they had purchased. A friend contacted a local plumber, Bill Ryan, of Summit (NJ) who inventoried the stock, sorted and priced it. Realizing it would take years to sell the product at wholesale to local plumbers in the area, the brothers hit on the idea of selling direct to the public at retail. And, if they hired Ryan, he could explain to the customers what they needed to do to repair their own toilets, sinks and drains and make sure the correct parts were sold. Throughout his 35-odd years working for the Rickels, Ryan was warmly referred to as "employee number 1".

In 1953, the brothers opened their first retail store in Union, NJ that sold direct to the public and became one of the earliest "Do It Yourself" plumbing, heating, electrical and hardware retailers in the United States. The Rickels expanded to other towns and by the early 60's had opened stores in Succasunna, Paramus and East Brunswick (all in NJ) as well as moving to a larger store in Union. During the 1960's and 70's Rickels (as it was called locally) growth continued, adding more stores in Menlo Park (Sept. '66) and Wayne (July '67) NJ. Over the next few years the company began expanding into nearby New York and Pennsylvania as well as opening additional stores in NJ. During this period, Rickel also built a corporate office and primary distribution center in South Plainfield, NJ.

Rickel was purchased by Supermarkets General Corp. (SGC), the parent company of Pathmark in 1969. In 1975, the Rickel division of SGC recorded $80M in sales and was the dominant home improvement retailer in the region. The subsequent decade was a time of continued expansion as the Rickel chain grew to over 30 stores by the mid-eighties. In 1987, the Dart Group made a hostile takeover bid to acquire SGC. In a move to avoid the takeover, management took the company private by engineering a $2.1 billion leveraged buyout. Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Inc. received 55 percent of the shares, Equitable Life Assurance received 30 percent and SGC management retained ten percent. The company's debt grew to $1.6 billion by early 1990, half of it in junk bonds, primarily as a result of the buy out. Servicing the debt became SGC's primary objective and largest problem.

In 1989, Home Depot began opening locations in NJ, often in close proximity to Rickel stores. It was the beginning of the end.By 1994 it became apparent that Rickel in its present form would not be able to withstand the Home Depot onslaught and SGC was not in a financial position to fund the division with improvements needed to keep pace. SGC sold the Rickel Division to [http://www.eospartners.com| Eos Partners L.P.] , an investment group based in New York City. The company was merged with Channel Home Centers, a competing home improvement chain. Most of the Channel stores converted to Rickel, except in areas where a Channel and a Rickel were in close proximity to each other- in which case the Channel stores were closed. At its peak (before the closing of the Channel stores), Rickel employed 5,900 people in its 93 stores located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. In 1993, Rickel had recorded $344 million in sales and Channel had recorded $301 million.

Unable to compete with the 'big box' stores, Rickel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and began to close its stores in 1996. Management at Rickel had attempted to change its image from that of a direct competitor with the Home Depot warehouse style to that of a smaller neighborhood hardware store. The makeover didn't work and after a 44 year run, Rickel shut down its remaining stores and went out of business in October, 1997.

Al Rickel, one of the three original brothers, died on January 15, 2008, residing in Inglemoor nursing home in Livingston, New Jersey, aged 90.

See also

* List of defunct store chains of the United States