I won’t miss them either. Haven’t been to a Wards in years.
But I do have some fond memories of shopping for school when I was a little kid. My mom would take us, one at a time (there were 6 kids), to Wards for clothes and then to Wool(s)worth for school supplies and the lunch counter. These stores were “downtown”, when there was a downtown.
There were no malls in those days and eating out was a Big Deal, so it was a real adventure for a poor kid.
Life is better now. These are the “Good Old Days” kiddies. 
Peace,
mangeorge
That’s it, mangeorge, Wards is a memory to most people. I used to broadcast remotes from our local Wards and got to know some of the people.
Montgomery Ward was one guy (not two, like Sears and Roebuck) who got into mass retailing and catalogue first. Ward’s was the underwriter for the first season of “This Old House” on PBS.
Yes, it’s sad but the vision and outlook for that retailer started to go south as early as 1948.
The retail department store (perhaps a modern version of the General Store) is almost a dinosaur. Long ago Woolworth’s and W.T.Grant bit the dust. Penny’s dropped heavy appliances and concentrated on fashion. K-Mart introduced discount retailing and helped dissolve the very company that started it (anyone remember Kreske?) while spawning a competitor in Wal*Mart(the star replaced the hyphon when Sam Walton died). Sears hangs on with (IMHO) a very good quality commitment and return policy.
Talk about dinosaurs, anyboby remember Fedway? My dad worked for them defore he died, about 1956-57. They were the first in Bakersfield with the Radarange, Amana’s early microwave oven. About all it could do was bake potatoes, and it cost as much as a good used car.Our first tv (the first on the block) was a floor model from that store.
Our house got real popular, real fast.
Peace,
mangeorge
I’m sorry for all the little people who work(ed) in Ward’s, but I’m not sorry for Ward’s. My experience with Ward’s, in the product quality and service department, has been consistently very poor. That store has been on my boycott list for years and years, and every now and again my husband would buy something from it without consulting me, and we’d again experience a product failure.
What, you mean the ones who pay taxes?
OK Lynn, are by chance Leonna Helmsley IRL?
Just kidding. 
Peace,
mangeorge
My borther is/was a manager in their Auto Express in LaLa Land. I heard they were closing before he did.
He was pissed because they had one of those company pep rally just before Christmas, saying how good everthing is/was.
I heard that they wern’t closing all the stores.
Just 200 or so.
I worked at the one here in town,elect tech and small engines,when it closed 20yrs ago and then was asked to work part time in the bigger store 30 miles away. They just needed someone to work on the real junk. I didn’t stay long.
It has been dying slowly for a real long time IMHO.
Woolworth as you all know it is dead, as of the 80’s. It put its $$$ into another company name which owns a bunch of closely related athletic shoe stores. I don’t remember which; Foot Locker? Athletic Shoe Factory? They don’t do too well, from what I hear as they don’t have a lock on the market.
Wards did always suck, but I feel sorry for some of the people who lost their jobs. I recall nearly being killed by a bad brake job they did on a car I had.
One thing which may well have mortally wounded them was the decision just after WWII that the suburbs and suburban malls would be a passing fad —people would always want to stay with Wards stores downtown on main street.
I will miss Monkey Wards! I just 2 VCR’s there a couple of days ago. I’ve been half-heartedly shopping for a couch, and the best one of I’ve seen is there, and for under $400 bucks!(My theory on couchs: ‘less is more’)
They’ve got(had) great prices on refrigerators.
Ward’s bites, especially their couches/sofas. I bought one and it broke very early, long before it was paid for. they kept getting rid of stuff i bought from them, so I say good riddance.
Long after all the Woolworth’s closed in Chicagoland, I was on vacation in Hawaii and found one right in the middle of Honolulu. Anyone know if it’s still there?
I used to love going to Walgreen’s restaurant for lunch. Does anyone else remember those? We bought these Holly Hobbie Christmas glasses there every year when I was a kid.
My experiences with Ward’s as an adult were pretty negative. I wasn’t all that surprised to hear the news that they were ceasing operations. However, it’s interesting to hear that they were making improvements. Remember how bad Sears used to be for anything other than tools and Kenmore appliances? They managed to turn themselves around in the last decade or so, and maybe Ward’s could have done the same thing. It’s a tragedy that all those people will be out of work. 
I just realized this.
I work for a data processing company.
One of our biggest customers is…
Montgomery Wards!!!
This is bad…