Younkers

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Younkers, Inc.

Type	Department store
Founded	1856 Keokuk, Iowa
Headquarters	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Industry	Retail
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares.
Parent	The Bon-Ton
Website	http://www.younkers.com/

Younkers is a department store chain in the Midwestern United States. The chain concentrates on the middle and upper-class segments of the market.

[edit] History

[edit] Beginnings

The company was founded by Polish immigrant brothers Lipman, Samuel, and Marcus Younker, who opened a general store in Keokuk, Iowa in 1856. Herman Younker, the youngest of the brothers, opened a dry goods store in Des Moines, Iowa in 1874. Following Samuel's death in 1879, the Keokuk store was closed and the Des Moines location became the main store. In 1899 the Younker brothers' main store in downtown Des Moines was moved to 7th and Walnut Streets, and it operated at the same location for 106 years before closing on August 12, 2005. The downtown Des Moines store became known for its Tea Room restaurant, which opened in 1913 and closed shortly before the store did. It also installed Iowa's first escalator, known as the "electric stairs," in 1939.

[edit] Younkers Incorporated

The original Younkers store in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. The building has been vacant since the store closed on August 12, 2005.

A series of additions, enlargements, and mergers resulted in the company changing its name to Younkers Incorporated. The Grand Department Store in downtown Des Moines was purchased in 1912. The company started growing in the 1920s by acquiring other department stores throughout Iowa, including Wilkins Department Stores (1923), Harris-Emery (1927), and J. Mandelbaum and Sons (1928). The Iowa-based retailers Britnalls of Marshalltown and Davidson's of Sioux City were acquired in 1948 and Yetters of Iowa City was acquired in 1949. Younkers began expanding outside of Iowa during the 1950s and opened its first shopping mall store in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1955. (It acquired another Omaha department store, Kilpatrick's, in 1961.) By 1978 Younkers had 28 stores in five states.

[edit] Acquisitions of Brandeis and H.C. Prange

Younkers was operated by the Equitable of Iowa insurance company from 1979 to 1992 after being a publicly-traded company since 1948. Under Equitable's ownership, Younkers acquired all 11 locations of the Omaha-based Brandeis department store chain in 1987. After returning to public ownership on the NASDAQ on April 22, 1992, Younkers purchased the 22 stores of the H.C. Prange chain in Wisconsin and Michigan.

[edit] Acquisition by Proffitt's

After a hostile takeover bid by Carson Pirie Scott was rejected in 1995, Younkers' shareholders agreed to a friendly takeover by Proffitt's, Inc., of Knoxville, Tennessee. The acquisition was completed in October 1996; Proffitt's would later acquire Carson Pirie Scott, and in 1998 Proffitt's merged with Saks Fifth Avenue to form Saks Incorporated. In 2003, Saks closed Younkers' headquarters in Des Moines and merged its operations with those of Carson Pirie Scott in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

[edit] Sale to The Bon-Ton

Saks sold Younkers and its other Northern Department Store Group stores (Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Boston Store, and Herberger's) to Bon-Ton Stores in a $1.1 billion deal that was completed on March 6, 2006. [1]

[edit] Current locations

As of March 1, 2007, Younkers has 46 stores in Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Most of its stores are anchors of shopping malls.

[edit] Illinois

Moline - Southpark Mall (opened 1974)

[edit] Iowa

The exterior of the Younkers department store at Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines, Iowa.

Ames - North Grand Mall
Cedar Falls - College Square Mall
Cedar Rapids - Lindale Mall (opened 1960)
Cedar Rapids - Westdale Mall (opened 1980)
Coralville - Coral Ridge Mall (opened 1998)
Davenport - Northpark Mall (opened 1973)
Des Moines - Merle Hay Mall (opened 2004; originally Montgomery Ward, operated as Famous-Barr from 2000 to 2004)
Des Moines - Southridge Mall (opened 1975)
Dubuque - Kennedy Mall
- Main store
- Home store (occupies half of former Roshek's/Armstrong's space)
Fort Dodge - Crossroads Mall
Mason City - Southbridge Mall
- Main store
- Home store
Marshalltown - Marshall Town Center
Sioux City - Southern Hills Mall (opened 1980)
Waterloo - Crossroads Center (former Herberger's; store was originally one level of a two-story JCPenney store. JCPenney still operates on other level)
West Burlington - Westland Mall
- Main store
- Home store
West Des Moines - Jordan Creek Town Center (opened on site of cancelled Famous-Barr in 2004)
West Des Moines - Valley West Mall (opened 1975 as Brandeis; converted to Younkers 1987)

[edit] Michigan

Bay City - Bay City Mall (opened 1991 as Prange's, converted to Younkers in 1992)
Grandville - Rivertown Crossings (opened 1999)
Holland - Westshore Mall (opened 1988 as Prange's, converted to Younkers in 1992)
Lansing - Lansing Mall (opened 2003 in former Montgomery Ward)
Marquette - Westwood Mall (opened 1974 as Prange's, converted to Younkers in 1992)
Okemos - Meridian Mall
- Main store (opened 2003 on site of former Jacobson's; Jacobson's was formerly Service Merchandise, which was originally Woolco)
- Juniors' and Men's store (opened 2003)
Muskegon - The Lakes Mall (opened 2001)

The Muskegon, Michigan store
Port Huron - Birchwood Mall (opened 1990 as Prange's, converted to Younkers in 1992)
Traverse City - Cherryland Center (opened 1976 as Prange's, converted to Younkers in 1992)

[edit] Minnesota

Austin - Oak Park Mall (opened 1975)
Duluth - Miller Hill Mall (former Glass Block)

[edit] Nebraska

Grand Island - Conestoga Mall
Lincoln - Westfield Gateway
Omaha - Oak View Mall
Omaha - Westroads Mall (opened 2003 in former Jones Store)

[edit] South Dakota

Sioux Falls - Empire Mall

[edit] Wisconsin

Downtown Sheboygan, Wisconsin location

Appleton - Fox River Mall
Ashwaubenon - Bay Park Square (on site of former Montgomery Ward)
Eau Claire - Oakwood Mall (former Target)
Fond Du Lac - Forest Mall (opened 1966 as Prange's; converted to Younkers in 1992)
Manitowoc - Edgelake Plaza (former Prange's)
Marinette - Pine Tree Mall (former Prange's)
Marshfield - Shoppes at Wood Ridge (former Northway Mall) (former Prange's)
Sheboygan - Harbor Centre (former Prange's)
Sturgeon Bay - 58 North 3rd Ave.
Superior - Mariner Mall (former Prange's)
Wausau - Wausau Center Mall
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin - Rapids Mall