A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand , central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many parts of the world. A franchise retail establishment is one form of a chain store. In 2005, the world's largest retail chain, Walmart , became the world's largest corporation based on gross sales.
26-466: Belle Foods, LLC was a family-owned chain of American supermarkets headquartered in Birmingham , Alabama . The company had a relatively short lifespan. It began operating its rebranded Bruno's and Food World and Piggly Wiggly Stores on July 1, 2012, but filed for bankruptcy just one year later. Before owners Bill White and Jeff White purchased the stores from Southern Family Markets in mid-2012,
52-447: A chain but it generally does. Nevertheless, most codified municipal regulation relies on definitions of formula restaurant or formula retail (although non-codified restrictions will sometimes target "chains"). Some chain restaurants are not considered formula restaurants because the chain does not maintain a formulaic or monolithic character at different locations, or has few enough locations that they are substantially dissimilar to what
78-540: A chain of teashops which became a staple of the High Street in the UK, and at its peak, the firm numbered around 200 cafes. The displacement of independent businesses by chains has sparked increased collaboration among independent businesses and communities to prevent chain proliferation. These efforts include community-based organizing through Independent Business Alliances (in the U.S. and Canada) and "buy local" campaigns. In
104-517: A tea distributor based in New York, into a grocery chain that operated almost 200 stores. Dozens of other grocery, drug, tobacco, and variety stores opened additional locations, around the same time, so that retail chains were common in the United States by 1910. Several state legislatures considered measures to restrict the growth of chains, and in 1914 concern about chain stores contributed to passage of
130-456: Is a type of formula retail business. It is characterized as a restaurant regulated by contractual or other arrangements to standardize menus, ingredients, food preparation, interior and exterior design and/or uniforms. The term refers to the characteristics of the restaurant rather than its ownership, following a business model controlled by an overseeing corporation. Most formula restaurants are chain restaurants , though this does not have to be
156-451: Is commonly considered to be a formula restaurant. In addition, the term "chain restaurants" generically describes a business arrangement, whereas formula restaurants describe the aesthetic characteristics and customer experience. In some cases, a chain may establish a set of formula restaurants but attempt to present each venue as unique. This is common with hotel chains, which rely on centralized meal planning and management, but want to avoid
182-453: Is the last remaining music chain store in the United States and has shrunk from over 1,000 at its height to 270 locations in 2018. In 2019, Payless ShoeSource stated that it would be closing all remaining 2,100 stores in the US. A restaurant chain is a set of related restaurants in many different locations that are either under shared corporate ownership or franchising agreements. Typically,
208-443: The 57-store grocery chain employed approximately 3,000 people. Belle Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 1, 2013, exactly one year after its founding. The company cited increased competition and higher payroll taxes as factors in its bankruptcy filing. In September 2013, Associated Wholesale Grocers was the only bidder (in a stalking horse bid ) for Belle Foods stores being auctioned and offered $ 16.1 million. Belle Foods
234-794: The Federal Trade Commission Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act. Isidore, Benjamin and Modeste Dewachter originated the idea of the chain department store in Belgium in 1868, ten years before A&P began offering more than coffee and tea. They started with four locations for Maisons Dewachter (Houses of Dewachter): La Louvière , Mons , Namur and Leuze . They later incorporated as Dewachter frères (Dewachter Brothers) on January 1, 1875. The brothers offered ready-to-wear clothing for men and children and specialty clothing such as riding apparel and beachwear. Isidore owned 51% of
260-492: The U.S. Supreme Court in 1931. Between then and 1933, 525 chain-store tax bills were introduced in state legislatures, and by the end of 1933 special taxes on retail chains were in force in 17 states. A chain store is characterised by the ownership or franchise relationship between the local business or outlet and a controlling business. While chains are typically "formula retail", a chain refers to ownership or franchise, whereas "formula retail" or "formula business" refers to
286-653: The U.S., trade organizations such as the American Booksellers Association and American Specialty Toy Retailers do national promotion and advocacy. NGOs like the New Rules Project and New Economics Foundation provide research and tools for pro-independent business education and policy while the American Independent Business Alliance provides direct assistance for community-level organizing. A variety of towns and cities in
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#1733085313345312-676: The US), or as exceeding municipal zoning authority (i.e., regulating "who owns it" rather than the characteristics of the business). Non-codified restrictions will sometimes target "chains". A municipal ordinance may seek to prohibit "formula businesses" in order to maintain the character of a community and support local businesses that serve the surrounding neighborhood. Brick-and-mortar chain stores have been in decline as retail has shifted to online shopping , leading to historically high retail vacancy rates. The hundred-year-old Radio Shack chain went from 7,400 stores in 2001 to 400 stores in 2018. FYE
338-415: The United States whose residents wish to retain their distinctive character—such as San Francisco ; Provincetown, Massachusetts and other Cape Cod villages; Bristol, RI ; McCall, Idaho ; Port Townsend, Washington ; Ogunquit, Maine ; Windermere, Florida and Carmel-by-the-Sea, California —closely regulate, even exclude, chain stores. They don't exclude the chain itself, only the standardized formula
364-457: The appearance of their in-house dining facilities being formulaic. Generally, the local manager is encouraged to modify the corporate menu so as to present the appearance of a unique character, while still building the menu around a corporate model (e.g., several entrees based on frozen chicken breast in accordance with a corporate formula). Disguised formula restaurants may be recognized by marketing indicators: intense use of staged photographs on
390-422: The case. In legal definitions, there may be a minimum number of "substantially identical" restaurants for them to be considered formula restaurants. This number varies across jurisdictions. Formula retail is a type of sales activity required by contractual or other arrangements to offer a standardized array of services and/or merchandise, trademark, interior or exterior design and/or uniforms. This applies to
416-524: The chain uses, described as " formula businesses ". For example, there could often be a restaurant owned by McDonald's that sells hamburgers, but not the formula franchise operation with the golden arches and standardized menu, uniforms, and procedures. The reason these towns regulate chain stores is aesthetics and tourism. Proponents of formula restaurants and formula retail allege the restrictions are used to protect independent businesses from competition. Formula restaurant A formula restaurant
442-466: The characteristics of the business. There is considerable overlap because key characteristic of a formula retail business is that it is controlled as a part of a business relationship, and is generally part of a chain. Nevertheless, most codified municipal regulation relies on definitions of formula retail (e.g., formula restaurants ), in part because a restriction directed to "chains" may be deemed an impermissible restriction on interstate commerce (in
468-420: The company, while his brothers split the remaining 49%. Under Isidore's (and later his son Louis') leadership, Maisons Dewachter would become one of the most recognized names in Belgium and France with stores in 20 cities and towns. Some cities had multiple stores, such as Bordeaux, France . Louis Dewachter also became an internationally known landscape artist, painting under the pseudonym Louis Dewis . By
494-487: The early 1920s, chain retailing was well established in the United States, with A&P, Woolworth's , American Stores, and United Cigar Stores being the largest. By the 1930s, chain stores had come of age, and stopped increasing their total market share. Court decisions against the chains' price-cutting appeared as early as 1906, and laws against chain stores began in the 1920s, along with legal countermeasures by chain-store groups. State taxes on chain stores were upheld by
520-580: The firm took advantage of the railway boom during the Industrial Revolution by opening news-stands at railway stations beginning in 1848. The firm, now called WHSmith, had more than 1,400 locations as of 2017. In the U.S., chain stores likely began with J. Stiner & Company, which operated several tea shops in New York City around 1860. By 1900, George Huntington Hartford had built The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company , originally
546-650: The first fish and chips restaurant (as opposed to a take-away) in London, and its instant popularity led to a chain comprising 22 restaurants with locations around London and seaside resorts in southern England including Brighton , Ramsgate and Margate . In 1864, the Aerated Bread Company (ABC) began operating a chain of teashops in Britain. ABC would be overtaken as the leader in the field by Lyons , co-founded by Joseph Lyons in 1884. From 1909 Lyons began operating
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#1733085313345572-596: The menu, frequent use of marketing buzzwords (or marketing terms ) such as "add" listed under multiple menu items. Concerns have been expressed that formula restaurants detract from the unique characteristics of cities and towns. The standardization of menus can mean fewer choices for consumers. Formula restaurants tend to be marketing centric or based on perception. Formula restaurants can harm local independent businesses. Formula restaurants accelerate gentrification but deteriorate quality of life. Formula restaurants often rely on an economic model that encourages
598-419: The restaurant industry where menus, ingredients and food preparation may be standardized according to the overseeing corporation's business model, intended to maximize marketing potential. Although there is considerable financial overlap, " chain restaurant " refers to ownership or franchise while "formula restaurant" refers to the characteristics of the business. A formula restaurant does not need to belong to
624-430: The restaurants within a chain are built to a standard format through architectural prototype development and offer a standard menu and/or services. Fast food restaurants are the most common, but sit-down restaurant chains also exist. Restaurant chains locations are often found near highways , shopping malls and densely populated urban or tourist areas . In 1896, Samuel Isaacs from Whitechapel , east London opened
650-483: The use of disposable tableware. This can create a negative economy in waste and food distribution, in part to support the business model of the controlling corporation. In the United States, legal restrictions on formula restaurants (and formula retail in general) have been challenged as an impermissible restriction on interstate commerce , and as exceeding municipal zoning authority. Restrictions are generally held permissible if they are not arbitrary, and directed to
676-780: Was named "Retailer of the Year" in late 2012 by the Birmingham Business Journal . Its CEO, Bill White, was elected to the National Grocers Association's Board of Directors in February 2013. Chain store In 1792, Henry Walton Smith and his wife Anna established W.H. Smith as a news vending business in London that would become a national concern in the mid-19th century under the management of their grandson William Henry Smith . The world's oldest national retail chain,
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