Chess King

In 1967, traveling salespeople from Melville's Thom McAn shoe business noted a "wide open market" for young men's clothing, which gave birth to the idea of starting a young men's clothing and shoe store. Market research reportedly found that chess and auto racing were popular interests of young men.

The first Chess King branch opened in the Dedham Mall in Dedham, Massachusetts (just outside Boston), in March 1968.{{cite news | url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30E1FF7385C1B7493C6A91783D85F448785F9&scp=2&sq=%22chess%20king%22%20mall&st=cse | title= Catering to Affluent Youth Market Found Profitable | author= Hammer, Alexander R. | newspaper=The New York Times | date= August 4, 1970 | access-date=March 25, 2010}} In 1970, The New York Times described the store's concept as "teen-male apparel dress shops whose stores are highly identifiable, with bold coloring and designs aimed at appealing to the 12-to-20 male market." Five additional locations were opened in 1968, and 21 more in 1969. By late 1972, it had already grown to about 150 locations.{{cite news | url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60C16F83F5A137A93C5A8178BD95F468785F9&scp=4&sq=%22chess%20king%22%20mall&st=cse | title= Spreading Suburban Menace: Shoplifting, Mainly Among Young | author= Backalenick, Hirene | newspaper=The New York Times | date= October 17, 1972 | access-date=March 25, 2010}} By 1978, it had 300 locations.{{cite news | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/647743522.html?dids=647743522:647743522&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+13%2C+1978&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=How+It+All+Started+at+Chess+King&pqatl=google | title=How It All Started at Chess King | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | date=July 13, 1978 | access-date=March 25, 2010 | archive-date=June 4, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604235900/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/647743522.html?dids=647743522:647743522&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+13,+1978&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=How+It+All+Started+at+Chess+King&pqatl=google | url-status=dead }} And by 1984, it had grown to over 500 stores.{{cite news | url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-3392950.html | title= Marshalls expanding young men's business | publisher=Daily News Record | date= August 16, 1984 | access-date=March 26, 2010}}("Marshalls is a division of Melville Corp., which also owns Chess King, an operator of more than 500 young men's specialty stores.")

Chess King also experimented with three spin-off specialty stores in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The first, named "FreeFall", carried designer labels for men and women and was geared toward higher-end, designer, brand names. The second, named "The B Club", carried activewear for both men and women. The third, named "Garage", had a 1950s inspired decor along with a Nash Metropolitan automobile in most locations. The retailer was successful through the 1980s as a purveyor of wild 1980s fads and fashion,{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/03/business/bankrupt-merry-go-round-decides-to-go-out-of-business.html?pagewanted=1 | title= Bankrupt Merry-Go-Round Decides to Go Out of Business | author= Steinhauer, Jennifer | newspaper=The New York Times | date= February 3, 1996 | access-date=March 25, 2010}}("Chess King, the mall store for young men in need of flashy shirts"){{cite news | url= http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2000/07/10/smallb1.html | title= Well Suited | author= Sykes, Laura | publisher=Triad Business Journal | date= July 7, 2000 | access-date=March 25, 2010}}("At that time, he worked for Chess King, a mall-based staple of faddish clothes for young people. 'You remember the horrible clothes?' he said laughing.") but changing fashion trends contributed to the chain falling on hard times at the beginning of the 1990s.

Melville agreed to sell Chess King in March 1993 to Maryland-based Merry Go Round Enterprises (MGRE),{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/18/business/company-news-melville-to-sell-chess-king-to-merry-go-round-chain.html?pagewanted=1 | title= Melville to Sell Chess King To Merry-Go-Round Chain | author= Strom, Stephanie | newspaper=The New York Times | date= March 18, 1993 | access-date=March 25, 2010}} with the sale being finalized in May of that year.{{Cite news|last=Strom|first=Stephanie|date=1993-03-18|title=COMPANY NEWS; Melville to Sell Chess King To Merry-Go-Round Chain (Published 1993)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/18/business/company-news-melville-to-sell-chess-king-to-merry-go-round-chain.html|access-date=2020-11-29|issn=0362-4331}} In January 1994, MGRE filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/12/business/merry-go-round-files-for-bankruptcy-protection.html?scp=3&sq=%22chess%20king%22%20and%20melville&st=cse | title= Merry-Go-Round Files for Bankruptcy Protection | author= Strom, Stephanie | newspaper=The New York Times | date= January 12, 1994 | access-date=March 25, 2010}} In November 1995, the Chess King chain closed.{{cite news | url= http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D614B5442EE4&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM | title= Merry-Go-Round to close third of its stores, including Chess King | newspaper=The Dallas Morning News | date= November 14, 1995 | access-date=March 25, 2010 | first=Bloomberg | last=Business}}("Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc. said it will close more than a third of its stores, including the entire Chess King men's clothing chain, as it struggles to emerge from bankruptcy court.")

{{Reflist}}

{{portal|1980s}}

{{Dedham}}

Category:Clothing retailers of the United States

Category:Defunct retail companies of the United States

Category:1980s fashion

Category:Retail companies established in 1968

Category:Retail companies disestablished in 1995

Category:1968 establishments in Massachusetts

Category:1995 disestablishments in Maryland

Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1994

Category:Companies based in Dedham, Massachusetts

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