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1946 - Two Guys from
Harrison was founded by Sidney and Herbert Hubschman. The
company sold major appliances and
televisions.
1959 - Two Guys acquired O.A. Sutton Corp., manufacturers of
electric fans, air conditioners and dehumidifiers and renamed
the
company Vornado, Inc. after O.A. Sutton's line of
appliances.
1960's - Two Guys is the Wal-Mart Supercenter of its day combining
discount department stores with supermarkets,
pharmacies, liquor
stores and fuel centers all
under one roof.
1967 - Two Guys acquires Southern California-based Food Giant
Markets (69 supermarkets, 14 Unimart membership stores
and 14
Builder's Emporium stores).
1975 - Two Guys acquired White Front Stores in Southern California.
There are over 100 Two Guys Discount Dept. Stores operating
in NJ, NY, CT, MA, PA, IL and CA.
Sales reach almost $ 1
Billion.
1970's - As sales begin to decline, Two Guys begins selling off
stores to various companies.
1977 - Two Guys sells its West Coast supermarkets to Fed Mart.
1979 - Two Guys sells its 22 west coast department stores. 12 stores are
acquired by Montgomery Ward.
1980 - Vornado was acquired by Interstate Properties Inc. and began
liquidating the Two Guys chain. Company is renamed
Vornado
Realty Trust.
Interstate realized that
the properties that Two Guys stores owned would be more profitable
to lease to other companies
rather than to operate department stores. In many
cases the properties were redeveloped and leased to other retail
properties.
1982 - The last 12 Two Guys stores are sold to Bradlees.
1992 - Vornado Realty Trust acquired a controlling interest in New
York-based Alexander's
department stores in order to obtain
the chain's real estate
holdings.
2004 - Vornado Realty Trust purchases a 4.5% stake in Sears, Roebuck
& Co.
2005 - Vornado Realty Trust acquires the Toys R Us chain and
properties.
At it's peak, Two Guys had store locations in New Jersey, New York,
Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland and California.
Interesting Note:
Bernard Marcus, one of the founders of Home Depot, began his retail
career when he convinced the Hubschmans to let him operate the
cosmetics concession at a Two Guys store in Totowa, NJ. He
eventually was put in charge of first sporting goods and the major
appliances department for the entire company, controlling over $1
billion dollars in sales. He left the company after it was sold to
outside investors following Herbert Hubschman's death. |
