Ernst Home & Nursery
Encyclopedia
Ernst Home Centers, Inc. was an chain of home improvement
retail stores founded in Seattle
, Washington. Ernst was started in 1893 by Seattle brothers Charles and Fred Ernst and became a division of Pay 'n Save
, one of the largest retail companies in the Northwestern United States
, in 1960. After a 1984 takeover of Pay 'n Save, Ernst was sold off and went public in 1994. Following several highly publicized lawsuits and a failed attempt to open larger stores, the company filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and liquidated in early 1997. At the company's peak, it operated 95 stores in 12 western U.S. states.
, Washington. In 1907, the new company was incorporated as Ernst Hardware and Plumbing Co. and moved to 512 Pike Street in downtown Seattle.
During the 1950s, M. Lamont Bean, president of Seattle-based drugstore chain Pay 'n Save
, expressed the possibility of operating non-drugstore businesses. Bean later took interest in Ernst and, in February 1960, came to an agreement with Fred Ernst to buy his nine hardware stores. Two years later, Pay 'n Save acquired Malmo Nursery and began opening Ernst-Malmo combination stores; combining hardware, lumber, garden supplies, and nursery items in one building.
The future of Ernst was put at risk in May 1985 when Pay 'n Save announced plans to sell off all of its subsidiaries. On November 8, 1985, Pay 'n Save's drugstore chain became controlled by a company equally owned by the Trump Group and a partnership headed by William Zimmerman, owner of California discount chain Pic 'N' Save
. The sale left Pay 'n Save with 69 Ernst stores, three Yard Birds
stores and wholesaler Northwestern Drug Co. In January 1986, Pay 'n Save was renamed Seattle Standard Corp. In March 1986, Hal Smith, former president of Irvine, California
-based Builders Emporium, succeeded Mike Rouleau as president and CEO of Ernst.
In 1987 and 1988, Ernst remodeled and upgraded all of its stores and, in late 1990, tested a new concept store in West Seattle. The new concept featured garden-like nurseries, an espresso cart, wider aisles, expanded merchandise, brighter signs and other modern amenities. Ernst opened two more of the new concept stores in Lynnwood, Washington
and Spokane, Washington
in 1991.
claiming the discount chain stole Ernst's registered advertising slogan ("Always the right price. Always."). Ernst asked the court to force Wal-Mart to stop using their slogan ("Always the low price. Always.") and pay unspecified damages to the retailer.
Three months later, Ernst sued another retailer, Seattle-based home improvement chain Eagle Hardware & Garden, for unfair competition and violation of the state's Consumer Protection Act. The company claimed Eagle's comparisons of prices for various products were false and deceptive. Eagle, in turn, accused Ernst of also misleading consumers with its advertising and defamation for suing Eagle just before the newly formed company went public.
At the same time of the Eagle suit, Ernst went after Pay 'n Save, accusing it of illegal competition for selling nursery products in 15 Washington shopping centers the two retailers operated in. Ernst had contracts with the owners of the 15 shopping centers to be the primary or exclusive seller of nursery products in them. PayLess Drug Stores
, who had then-recently acquired Pay 'n Save, hit the chain with a counterclaim, which accused Ernst of selling camera film and film-processing services at eight shopping centers where PayLess had the sole right to sell those services.
Shortly after the suits against the three retailers, the state of Washington sued Ernst on charges that it failed to objectively portray prices at competitors Pay 'N Pak
and Home Club
in a 1990 advertising campaign. In a settlement made in October 1992, Ernst admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to pay $19,500 in court costs, consumer education and to enforce the Consumer Protection Act.
In November 1992, Ernst filed a lawsuit against United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1001 following several months of union complaints against the retail chain. Union complaints about off-the-clock work and unlawful pay practices prompted the chain to file the lawsuit alleging defamation and consumer protection violations by the union and its legal counsel. In March 1993, the union filed a class-action lawsuit against Ernst, charging the retailer with failing to pay employees for work done on their own time. The union, representing 450 of Ernst's Seattle area employees, had been boycotting the hardware chain since November 1992 when their contract expired on November 1. The union sued Ernst again in August 1993 for knowingly selling toilets that violate state water conservation requirements. Ernst later announced it would stop selling the specific toilets.
In January 1996, Ernst reported a $47.6 million loss in its fourth-quarter, nearly twice what the retailer made in the past four years. At the same time, Ernst announced the cancellation of plans for 13 new stores and the closure of nine stores. On July 12, 1996, Ernst filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
and announced the closure of 25 stores. The filing came after Ernst reported a loss of nearly $116 million in the company's past three quarters. On November 12, despite the chain's attempt to remain in business, Ernst announced it would close its remaining 53 stores and sell off the remainder of its operations. At the time, Ernst was operating 53 stores in six U.S. states and had about 2,000 full and part-time employees. Ernst began its final going-out-of-business sale on November 23.
, founded a seed store on Second Avenue in Seattle in 1893. Malmo was credited with being first in the Northwest to propagate and grow his own nursery stock rather than import ornamental shrubs from Japan
, Holland and England
. In 1930, he opened the first "garden department store
" on the Pacific Coast, selling all that was needed for the "most elaborate garden, from seeds to large trees," as he humbly asserted during the opening festivities. His son Clark bought 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) to cultivate at the present site of University Village
shopping mall. Many of the gorgeous mature yards surrounding old Laurelhurst homes in Seattle today were the work of the Malmos. In 1962, the Malmos sold their business to Ernst Hardware and Pay 'n Save
stores and became a wholly owned subsidiary.
Home improvement
Home improvement, home renovation or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home.-Types of home improvement:...
retail stores founded in Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Washington. Ernst was started in 1893 by Seattle brothers Charles and Fred Ernst and became a division of Pay 'n Save
Pay 'n Save
Pay 'n Save was a retail company founded by Monte Lafayette Bean in Seattle, Washington; 1940. Over the years, Pay 'n Save was the leading drug store chain in Washington and was the owner several Washington-based retailers including Lamonts and Ernst...
, one of the largest retail companies in the Northwestern United States
Northwestern United States
The Northwestern United States comprise the northwestern states up to the western Great Plains regions of the United States, and consistently include the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, to which part of southeast Alaska is also sometimes included...
, in 1960. After a 1984 takeover of Pay 'n Save, Ernst was sold off and went public in 1994. Following several highly publicized lawsuits and a failed attempt to open larger stores, the company filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and liquidated in early 1997. At the company's peak, it operated 95 stores in 12 western U.S. states.
History
Founding
In 1893, brothers Charles and Fred Ernst started Ernst Hardware in SeattleSeattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, Washington. In 1907, the new company was incorporated as Ernst Hardware and Plumbing Co. and moved to 512 Pike Street in downtown Seattle.
During the 1950s, M. Lamont Bean, president of Seattle-based drugstore chain Pay 'n Save
Pay 'n Save
Pay 'n Save was a retail company founded by Monte Lafayette Bean in Seattle, Washington; 1940. Over the years, Pay 'n Save was the leading drug store chain in Washington and was the owner several Washington-based retailers including Lamonts and Ernst...
, expressed the possibility of operating non-drugstore businesses. Bean later took interest in Ernst and, in February 1960, came to an agreement with Fred Ernst to buy his nine hardware stores. Two years later, Pay 'n Save acquired Malmo Nursery and began opening Ernst-Malmo combination stores; combining hardware, lumber, garden supplies, and nursery items in one building.
Trump Group
In September 1984, the Trump Group, led by New York investors Julius and Edmond Trump attempted to acquire Pay 'n Save for $355 million. Pay 'n Save's largest shareholders, Stuart Sloan and Samuel N. Stroum, vowed to fight the sale of the retail company. On September 12, 1984, The Trump Group announced that it had withdraw its offer to purchase Ernst's parent company in order to negotiate two Sloan and Stroum. On October 15, 1984, Pay 'n Save was officially sold to the Trumps for $358 million.The future of Ernst was put at risk in May 1985 when Pay 'n Save announced plans to sell off all of its subsidiaries. On November 8, 1985, Pay 'n Save's drugstore chain became controlled by a company equally owned by the Trump Group and a partnership headed by William Zimmerman, owner of California discount chain Pic 'N' Save
Pic 'N' Save
Pic 'N' Save was, at one time, the second-largest closeout retail chain in the United States. Financial troubles caused the chain to close many of the markets in the late-1990s and early-2000s.-History:...
. The sale left Pay 'n Save with 69 Ernst stores, three Yard Birds
Yard Birds
Yard Birds was originally a surplus store started in 1947 in Centralia, Washington. There were also Yard Birds stores in Chehalis, Olympia, and Shelton. While originally selling war surplus, Yard Birds became more of a discount store with many departments including hardware, toys, shoes and...
stores and wholesaler Northwestern Drug Co. In January 1986, Pay 'n Save was renamed Seattle Standard Corp. In March 1986, Hal Smith, former president of Irvine, California
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
-based Builders Emporium, succeeded Mike Rouleau as president and CEO of Ernst.
In 1987 and 1988, Ernst remodeled and upgraded all of its stores and, in late 1990, tested a new concept store in West Seattle. The new concept featured garden-like nurseries, an espresso cart, wider aisles, expanded merchandise, brighter signs and other modern amenities. Ernst opened two more of the new concept stores in Lynnwood, Washington
Lynnwood, Washington
Lynnwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 35,836 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest in Snohomish County and twenty-ninth largest in Washington State. The city is a mix of urban, suburban, small city, crossroads and bedroom community to many...
and Spokane, Washington
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
in 1991.
Early 1990s lawsuits
In April 1992, Ernst filed a lawsuit against retailer Wal-MartWal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
claiming the discount chain stole Ernst's registered advertising slogan ("Always the right price. Always."). Ernst asked the court to force Wal-Mart to stop using their slogan ("Always the low price. Always.") and pay unspecified damages to the retailer.
Three months later, Ernst sued another retailer, Seattle-based home improvement chain Eagle Hardware & Garden, for unfair competition and violation of the state's Consumer Protection Act. The company claimed Eagle's comparisons of prices for various products were false and deceptive. Eagle, in turn, accused Ernst of also misleading consumers with its advertising and defamation for suing Eagle just before the newly formed company went public.
At the same time of the Eagle suit, Ernst went after Pay 'n Save, accusing it of illegal competition for selling nursery products in 15 Washington shopping centers the two retailers operated in. Ernst had contracts with the owners of the 15 shopping centers to be the primary or exclusive seller of nursery products in them. PayLess Drug Stores
Thrifty PayLess
Thrifty PayLess Holdings, Inc. was a pharmacy holding company that owned the Thrifty Drugs and PayLess Drug Stores chains in the western United States....
, who had then-recently acquired Pay 'n Save, hit the chain with a counterclaim, which accused Ernst of selling camera film and film-processing services at eight shopping centers where PayLess had the sole right to sell those services.
Shortly after the suits against the three retailers, the state of Washington sued Ernst on charges that it failed to objectively portray prices at competitors Pay 'N Pak
Pay 'n Pak
Pay 'n Pak is a defunct home improvement chain that was based out of Kent, Washington. Pay 'n Pak began in 1962 and was founded by Stan Thurman, an electric and plumbing supply retailer from Longview, Washington. In 1969 Pay 'n Pak merged with Eagle Electric & Plumbing, a company run by Thurman...
and Home Club
HomeBase
HomeBase was a home improvement warehouse chain in the Western United States based in Irvine, California.-History:Robert J. McNulty and George Handgis founded the chain as a warehouse club called the HomeClub, opening the first two stores in Norwalk and Fountain Valley, California in 1983...
in a 1990 advertising campaign. In a settlement made in October 1992, Ernst admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to pay $19,500 in court costs, consumer education and to enforce the Consumer Protection Act.
In November 1992, Ernst filed a lawsuit against United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1001 following several months of union complaints against the retail chain. Union complaints about off-the-clock work and unlawful pay practices prompted the chain to file the lawsuit alleging defamation and consumer protection violations by the union and its legal counsel. In March 1993, the union filed a class-action lawsuit against Ernst, charging the retailer with failing to pay employees for work done on their own time. The union, representing 450 of Ernst's Seattle area employees, had been boycotting the hardware chain since November 1992 when their contract expired on November 1. The union sued Ernst again in August 1993 for knowingly selling toilets that violate state water conservation requirements. Ernst later announced it would stop selling the specific toilets.
Decline
In June 1994, Ernst announced plans to go public and to raise $50 million through a stock sale to open 55 superstores over the next three years. The company began opening the superstores, averaged at 60,000 square-feet, in 1991. At the time, Ernst was operating 77 stores in eight U.S. states. Ernst later delayed their initial stock offering, but later resumed their offering and went public in September 1994.In January 1996, Ernst reported a $47.6 million loss in its fourth-quarter, nearly twice what the retailer made in the past four years. At the same time, Ernst announced the cancellation of plans for 13 new stores and the closure of nine stores. On July 12, 1996, Ernst filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
and announced the closure of 25 stores. The filing came after Ernst reported a loss of nearly $116 million in the company's past three quarters. On November 12, despite the chain's attempt to remain in business, Ernst announced it would close its remaining 53 stores and sell off the remainder of its operations. At the time, Ernst was operating 53 stores in six U.S. states and had about 2,000 full and part-time employees. Ernst began its final going-out-of-business sale on November 23.
Malmo Nursery
Charles Malmo, an immigrant from NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, founded a seed store on Second Avenue in Seattle in 1893. Malmo was credited with being first in the Northwest to propagate and grow his own nursery stock rather than import ornamental shrubs from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Holland and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. In 1930, he opened the first "garden department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
" on the Pacific Coast, selling all that was needed for the "most elaborate garden, from seeds to large trees," as he humbly asserted during the opening festivities. His son Clark bought 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) to cultivate at the present site of University Village
University Village, Seattle, Washington
University Village is an upscale shopping center in Seattle, Washington, built at the south corner of Ravenna neighborhood. The 24 acre shopping center was built in 1956 across NE 45th Street on an earlier part of the Montlake Landfill University Village is an upscale shopping center in Seattle,...
shopping mall. Many of the gorgeous mature yards surrounding old Laurelhurst homes in Seattle today were the work of the Malmos. In 1962, the Malmos sold their business to Ernst Hardware and Pay 'n Save
Pay 'n Save
Pay 'n Save was a retail company founded by Monte Lafayette Bean in Seattle, Washington; 1940. Over the years, Pay 'n Save was the leading drug store chain in Washington and was the owner several Washington-based retailers including Lamonts and Ernst...
stores and became a wholly owned subsidiary.