Fedco
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| Federal Employees' Distributing Company | |
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| Type | Defunct |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1948 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | clothing, footwear, housewares, jewelry, garden, appliances, sporting goods, produce, hardware, toys, electronics |
| Website | None |
Fedco (Federal Employees' Distributing Company) was a membership-based department store chain that operated in Southern California from 1948 to 1999.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Beginning
Unusually, the chain was a nonprofit consumers' cooperative; it had been founded by 800 U.S. Post Office workers who had wanted to leverage their buying power by purchasing goods directly from wholesalers. Trade lines included grocery, and in some locations, auto services and furniture. A lifetime membership was available for under five dollars if the prospective member was an employee of the U.S. government or a student, or family of the same. Fedco's lifetime membership cost $10 in 1998 [1].
At its peak, Fedco had ten department stores plus three appliance-only stores, and served 4 million members.
[edit] Business Model
Once inside the store, via the membership card, the customer/member was presented with a wide variety of consumer products. Everything from a well stocked camera department, garden department, clothing, jewelry and even food. The stores were tightly managed and offered many young people their first real jobs. Not widely known by many customer/members was that some of the departments around the edge of the building were not Fedco businesses but in fact concessions run by outside companies. As an example, the Stereo Components department was run by a small company called Coastron, the main seller for the Soundcraftsmen line of stereo equipment. Coastron would pay rent to Fedco to operate within their building. Other concessions within Fedco were the Optical Dept (later bought out by Fedco), the Shaver Shop, Key & Lock Shop, etc.
The membership model was quite successful for Fedco, for decades. The parking lots were often quite full. It was very common to have the store jammed with many members, with long lines at checkout. Once the customer paid, their shopping bags would be stapled shut with the receipt placed on the top of the bag with a single staple. As the store had only one main entrance, it had only one main exit. These entrance and exit portals were favorite locations for poeple pushing political agendas. That illustrates how much of a draw Fedco was in it's day - it was a busy place.
[edit] Bankruptcy
Fedco predated the giant chains Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, and fellow membership chain Costco, but remained a regional chain and eventually was unable to compete with the national retail titans. Fedco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1999, at which point it had been the longest-operating membership-based store in the country. Most of its locations were sold to the Target chain. The proceeds of the bankruptcy sale were placed in a trust fund intended to charitably serve communities that had hosted Fedco stores.
[edit] Locations
- MAIN DEPARTMENT STORES
- Buena Park, CA (opened 1993 in former May Company store. Second and last multi-level location with 3 floors. Torn down for Wal-Mart)
- Cerritos, CA (Torn down for Target Greatland)
- Costa Mesa, CA (torn down and replaced by a Target Greatland, Henry's Marketplace, and other small stores)
- Escondido, CA (former Sears store, opened early 80's, first multi-level Fedco - torn down for Home Depot)
- Los Angeles, CA - La Cienega (Torn down for Target)
- National City, CA (torn down for Wal Mart)
- Ontario, CA (now home to Ontario Police Department)
- Pasadena, CA (Torn down for Target)
- San Bernardino, CA (Torn down for Target)
- Van Nuys, CA (Torn down for a Target)
[edit] References
- "New format positions Fedco for future growth" by Robert Scally, Discount Store News, November 23, 1998, retrieved September 18, 2006
