Here’s a Flashback for You, Shopping at Montgomery Ward in Tyler on a Friday Night

(Tyler, Texas) - I don't know how or why but the thought of shopping at Montgomery Ward on a Friday night as a kid popped into my head. I decided to just start writing and man did I go down a deep rabbit hole about the store. It's not in Tyler anymore, obviously, but it is a store that I do miss.

There are some of reading this that have no idea what I'm talking about when Montgomery Ward is mentioned. Think of a store that was like a Walmart but without the groceries. You could buy clothes, electronics, home goods and I think even appliances there.

Friday Nights with the Family

I remember heading out as a family to eat at Bonanza (remember that cheap steakhouse) on a Friday night then heading to Montgomery Ward. It was like a lot of retail stores then; clothes, electronics, household items and more were available. I remember saving my money for Super Mario Bros. 3 and buying it there.

But whatever happened to this store? Searching for it on Wikipedia (not the most reliable source, I know) resulted in some good information. The company started in 1872 in Chicago as a mail order business. They didn't open their first physical store until 1926 in Plymouth, Indiana.

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Montgomery Ward's Interesting History

From there, the company grew but had its share of ups and downs. Rival Sears wanted to buy them in 1930 but they declined. Throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, Montgomery Ward was the largest retailer in the United States. After WWII, though, the decline began.

The company was seized by the government in 1944 because they would not resolve a worker's strike. In the 1950s, they began to lose ground to retailers such as Sears, Macy's and Dillards. The decline continued from there into the 1990s.

The End of Montgomery Ward

In 1997, the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and the employee's pension was terminated in 1999. The company still had distribution centers, including one in Fort Worth that was later turned into Montgomery Plaza. A group thought the name was still viable and bought the intellectual property rights and turned Montgomery Ward into an online catalog store.

Probably explains why I got this catalog in the mail many years ago.

I remember it because it was a favorite store for my mom and dad, and if I recall, I liked playing on the escalator when we were there.

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