JUNKYARD EXPLORER: CLOSED MONTGOMERY WARD STORE

A recent road trip to Cuyahoga Falls uncovered the well-preserved remnants of their local Montgomery Ward department store. I'd encountered the slab-sided, discount tomb before, but had forgotten its location.

Montgomery Ward was originally founded in 1872. After decades of success in the marketplace, this chain fell on hard times and closed their store and catalog operations in 2001.




A retail relic - Montgomery Ward



The stylish Montgomery Ward logo



Gone, but not forgotten - the genius of Aaron Montgomery Ward



The modern-as-today 'Wards' banner on the front window



The modernistic MW image



The welcome mat is still out, but no one is waiting



Missing letters from the original eye-level sign make it a cryptic reminder of MW's glorious past



A closeup of the store front



The abandoned Montgomery Ward Auto Center



Silent and empty - the MW location remains intact


Amazingly, a new group purchased the name and intellectual property rights for MW and reopened Wards as an online retailer. Their products can be viewed at: www.wards.com.