Montgomery Ward, “Wards” as it was known to its customers, began as a mail-order company in Chicago, IL, in 1872. Their first catalog consisted of a single sheet listing 163 items. By 1888, the more extensive catalog was called a Buyer’s Guide and described as “an encyclopedia of useful information for all who purchase the luxuries or necessities of life.” It was mailed twice yearly to those interested enough to pay 10 cents to cover the postage. Mail-order was the vintage version of today’s online shopping. Customers could sit at their kitchen table, select their merchandise, send in their orders, and have them delivered.

After expanding to brick-and-mortar stores in 1926, Aaron Montgomery Ward grew his company into a major player in department store retailing, becoming a fierce competitor with Sears and Roebuck. Sears also began as a mail-order company and later expanded nationwide, opening stores in most major cities. Both companies' catalogs continued to grow to volumes of merchandise, including kit houses. (Wards was called Wardway Homes)

By the 1950s, the company had hundreds of stores. They sold everything from boats to bathing suits to minor and major appliances, and later expanded their services to include portrait studios and auto service and repair. They opened their first store in the Tampa area, in St. Petersburg, in the mid-1950s, and opened the first Tampa store at 1701 N Dale Mabry in March 1960. It was a massive store constructed next to I-75 (now I-275), enabling travelers the convenience of easy access. The complex also included a Kash and Karry grocery and Eckerd Drug stores. By the mid-1970s, a trend had emerged in which consumers preferred shopping malls, and the company opened stores at the new Eastlake Square Mall to the east and Floriland Mall to the north.

Ward’s struggled with financial losses and closed its Dale Mabry store in the late 1970s, subsequently opening new stores at the nearby Tampa Bay Center and University Square malls. Montgomery Ward failed to adapt quickly to changing consumer habits, particularly with the rise of discount stores like Walmart and Kmart.  They continued to adjust to economic decline, closing outlets into the 1990s. In 1997, they filed for bankruptcy but attempted a comeback. In 2000, Montgomery Ward officially shut down its remaining stores.

Walmart constructed a new store on the Dale Mabry land and opened on June 30, 1993. It expanded to a Supercenter in 2011. Surprisingly, the Montgomery Ward brand continues. Colony Brands, a mail-order and electronic retail company, acquired the Ward name and now sells merchandise online under that trademark at www.wards.com. Wards has returned to its roots as a shop-from-home retailer.

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved