was a
Canton, Massachusetts -based
Department Store chain that existed from 1957 to 2000.
During
Herbert H. Goldberger 's days in discounting, Goldberger became known as the first advocate of low prices without putting anything on sale. In 1964 Goldberger sold his chain to SCOA Industries Columbus, Ohio. He remained as president of Hills until 1981 when his son succeeded him. He also served as vice president and director of SCOA until 1985 when he led a management buyout of Hills. Hills became public in 1987 then became the nation's eighth largest discount retailer. In November 1990 Goldberger's son resigned according to a Hills statement and was replaced by Jack Brouillard. Goldberger's resignation from his family business surprised some observers. He had been the chain's president and CEO since 1981, and assumed the role of board chairman when his father died in
1987 . Stephen Goldberger also had several other changes including acceptance of credit cards, rollout of UPC scanning, scheduled opening of distribution centers beginning in 1991, and the introduction of a new prototype in
1991 . Hills filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 1991, store count went from 214 to 151. Hills emerged from bankruptcy in
1993 . In
1998 Ames acquired Hills. After the Hills acquisition, Ames went from 301 to 456 stores and became the nation 4th largest discount chain behind
Wal-Mart ,
Kmart and
Target . All Hills locations became
Ames locations by the end of
2000 . This purchase is what many critics cite as the eventual demise of Ames.
