Hills Department Store was a Canton, Massachusetts, based discount department store chain. It was founded in 1957 in Youngstown, OH, and existed until 1999 when it was acquired by Ames. Most stores were located in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, though the company had made a push into the South and had several stores in Tennessee, Alabama and in the West Michigan area through the late 1980s.

History

Beginning

In the late 1950s, Hill's stores were full-fledged department stores (as opposed to the discount department stores the chain later became known for).

Herbert H. Goldberger, the founder of Hills, sold the chain to SCOA Industries, (Shoe Company of America), of Columbus, Ohio, in 1964. He remained as president of Hills until 1981, when his son succeeded him. Goldberger was the vice president and director of SCOA when, in 1985, he led a management buyout of Hills.

Hills went public in 1987, becoming the nation's eighth-largest discount retailer. In November 1990, Goldberger's son resigned, according to a Hills statement, and was replaced by Jack Brouillard. Goldberger's resignation from his family business surprised some observers. He had been the chain's president and CEO since 1981, and assumed the role of board chairman when his father died in 1987. Stephen Goldberger also introduced several other changes, including acceptance of credit cards and rollout of UPC scanning.

In 1989, Hills bought 33 Gold Circle locations. In the Buffalo, New York, area, many of these locations had previously been Twin Fair, Inc., stores prior to 1982.

Hills had its own private label under which various goods were marketed. It was called "American Spirit".

Bankruptcy

Hills filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 1991, and the number of stores declined, from 214 to 151. Michael Bozic was brought in as President and CEO of Hills to revive the company. He had spent 27 years with Sears and had been the head of the Sears Merchandising Group. Stores were remodeled, scheduled opening of distribution centers beginning in 1991, and the introduction of a new store prototype in 1991. Hills had a large toy section that accounted for more than 10% of sales throughout the year. Hills emerged from bankruptcy in 1993 as Hills Stores Company.

In 1998, Ames acquired Hills. At that time, in 1998, Hills was operating 155 stores, covering 12 states, and employing 8,553 employees. Headquarters were in Canton, Massachusetts. With the Hills acquisition, Ames expanded from 301 to 456 stores and became the nation's fourth-largest discount chain behind Wal-Mart, Kmart, and Target. Almost all Hills stores were renamed Ames by the end of 1999, even in markets where Ames and Hills overlapped.

Slogans

"Hills is where the toys are." - Television commercials aired during the Christmas holiday season using this slogan. These advertisements involved an impish character named "Sprite", not to be confused with the soft drink of the same name.

"Check us out!" - used in print and TV ads.

"The Anti-Inflation Department Store"

"Famous for low prices ... Everyday"

"Save every way. Save everyday at Hills."

"Nobody beats Hills."

"Hills is the place for kids."

Subsidiaries

Hills had various subsidiaries that handled some of the various operations: Hills Department Store Company, HDS Transport, CRH International, Canton Advertising, Corporate Vision and Hills Distributing Company.

References

1. SCOA Industries' board O.K.'s recast leveraged buyout offer | Discount Store News | Find Articles at BNET.com
2. SEC Info - Hills Stores Co/DE - 10-K405 - For 1/28/95
3. Hills Stores Company: Information and Much More from Answers.com
4. Hills Company History
5. SEC Info - Hills Stores Co/DE - 10-K405 - For 1/28/95 - EX-21