Robert Hall Clothes

Infobox Defunct Company
company_name = Robert Hall Clothes
company_
slogan =
fate = Bankrupt
successor =
foundation = 1937
defunct = 1977cite book |last=Michman |first=Ronald D. |coauthors=Alan James Greco |title=Retailing triumphs and blunders : victims of competition in the new age of marketing management |year=1995 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=0899308694 |pages=pp. 135-136 ( [http://books.google.com/books?id=JS_Ee8dvo48C&pg=PA136&dq=%22Robert+Hall%22+clothing&sig=FvEr3d6bkbaotc48u4MpzAcKgNg#PPA136,M1] )]
location =
industry = Retail
key_people =
products = Clothing
num_employees =
parent = United Merchants and Manufacturers Inc.
subsid =

Robert Hall Clothes, Inc., popularly known simply as Robert Hall, was an American retailer that flourished circa 1938-1966. Although based in Connecticut, its warehouse-like stores were mostly concentrated in the New York and Los Angeles basins. According to a "Time" magazine story of 1949, the corporate name was a complete invention; the actual founder and head was a garment merchant by the name of Jacob Schwab, who "plucked the name out of the air."cite news |title=Up in the Loft |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,856259,00.html |work=TIME |date=April 25 1949 |accessdate=2008-03-26]

The retail chain was a pioneer of the low-overhead, large-facility ("big-box") merchandising technique, which combined cheaply made goods with extensive radio and television advertising. Many Americans who grew up in the 1950s and 60s recall the commercial jingles of the time, which generally began,

"When the values go up, up, up
And the prices go down, down, down.
Robert Hall this season
Will show you the reason
High quality! Economy!"

which ran until the early 1960s, when the discounter focused heavily on "Back-to-School" jingles:

[Mature male voice:] " School bells ring and children sing"
[Raucous, annoyed-sounding children:] "It's back to Robert Hall again."
"Mother knows for better clothes"
"It's back to Robert Hall again."
"You'll save more on clothes for school Shop at Robert Hall!"Source needed|date=March 2008

In July 1977, Robert Hall's parent company, United Merchants and Manufacturers, filed for bankruptcy citing losses from the Robert Hall chain. All Robert Hall stores were closed and inventory was auctioned off.cite news |last=Barmash |first=Isadore |title=United Merchants, Citing Losses, Files Voluntary Bankruptcy Action |work=The New York Times |date=July 13 1977 |pages=D1]

References