Famous American companies that went out of business (copy)
Instantly recognisable US brands that have vanished

Blockbuster

Blockbuster

Pan Am

Pan Am

Borders

A common sight in downtown shopping areas back in the day, Borders bookstores disappeared completely from the scene in 2011. The chain was founded by brothers Louis and Tom Borders in Michigan in 1971, and was sold twenty years later to Kmart, which oversaw its massive expansion in the 1990s. At its peak, there were thousands of stores, but Borders found itself struggling by the 2000s. Borders bought into music just as CD sales were floundering and failed to develop a decent online store, while underestimating the growth of e-books and MP3s.
Borders

Oldsmobile

Oldsmobile

General Foods Corp.

General Foods Corp.

Burger Chef

Burger Chef

Compaq

Compaq

Woolworth's

Woolworth's

Howard Johnson’s

Howard Johnson's

TWA

TWA

EF Hutton

EF Hutton, the brokerage firm named after Edward Francis Hutton (pictured), was founded in 1904 and for several decades it was a popular and well-regarded financial services company. It was best known for its commercials, which used the slogan “When EF Hutton talks, people listen”. But in the 80s, the firm unraveled spectacularly. Where did it all go wrong? In 1980, EF Hutton got into trouble for writing checks for more money than was available in branch, using a system called “chaining”. In 1985, a federal probe found that the company had committed more than 2,000 acts of fraud, and two years later it was revealed that the company had laundered money for a criminal family.
EF Hutton

So, following the 1987 crash, EF Hutton merged with Shearson Lehman/American Express to save it from complete collapse. However, the firm was revived in 2007 and went public in 2013, taking on the name of EF Hutton America Inc. All was going well until April 2019 when the CEO and CFO resigned, and the business once again came to a halt.
Circuit City

Circuit City

Eastern Airlines

Eastern Airlines

Revenues began to fall in the 60s, when competition from other airlines drew customers away from Eastern. This was worsened by the company’s decision to buy new Boeing 757 jets, which increased debt and, coupled with worker strikes and further competition, sowed the seeds of the company’s bankruptcy in 1989. Three years later, Eastern Airlines ceased operations completely.
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Merry-Go-Round

Merry-Go-Round

Amoco

Amoco

Despite its success, in 1998 the brand was taken over by British Petroleum (BP), in one of the biggest ever purchases of an American company by a foreign corporation. BP replaced Amoco stations with its branding, and the company disappeared. However, in recent years BP has announced it will be bringing back the Amoco brand in gas stations across the US, so it might see something of a revival.
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Pets.com

Pets.com

Enron

The fall of Enron might just be one of the biggest Wall Street scandals in American history. An energy firm born in 1985 from the merger of InterNorth Inc. and Houston Natural Gas Co, Enron took advantage of deregulated energy markets and rising internet stocks to become a prominent market player, even being named “America’s Most Innovative Company” for six consecutive years by Fortune.
Enron

Tower Records

Tower Records

Iomega

Iomega

The Bon-Ton

The Bon-Ton

The company’s demise was caused by rivalry from e-commerce giants such as Amazon. After filing for bankruptcy in January 2017, the business liquidated its assets in April 2018, closing its remaining 240 stores across the country.
Toys R Us

Toys R Us

At first, ecommerce helped the business, as Toys R Us teamed up with Amazon in 2000 as its exclusive toy retailer for a 10-year period. Yet when Amazon allowed other toy companies to sell through its site before the end of the contract, Toys R Us ended the partnership. The toy giant successfully sued Amazon, but didn't fully recover. A toxic combination of greedy investors and mismanaged finances meant the chain was forced to go bankrupt in September 2017. A company called Tru Kids Inc. bought the retailer in 2018 and opened two new stores in New Jersey and Texas. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to shoppers staying away from stores, has meant those stores have now been shuttered, although the brand does continue to exist in Canada and a few other countries and online.
Family Video

Family Video

Fry's Electronics

Fry's Electronics

Fry's didn't adapt and improve its online shopping operations as fast as its rivals, which meant the impact of COVID-19 was much more severe on its business. Many of its stores were themed, including its Burbank, California location (pictured), where a UFO seemed to be crashing through the store. It's another sad loss in a turbulent time.
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