Ames was an American chain of discount stores based in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, USA. The company was founded in 1958 with a store in Southbridge, Massachusetts, and at its peak operated 700 stores in 20 states, including the Northeast, Upper South, Midwest and the District of Columbia, making it the fourth largest discount retailer in the United States. Despite some success in its later years, Ames was plagued by debt and a slow decline in sales. This resulted in two bankruptcy filings that ultimately put an end to the chain. The company, despite expanding into other markets and taking over... many closed stores that had been abandoned by competitors, went out of business in 2002. Ames began in 1958 when two Connecticut brothers, Milton and Irving Gilman, opened their first store in the Ames Worsted Textile Co. mill. The name of the Ames Department Store was due to simply reusing the old sign of the textile mill for the new business. Ames' original business strategy brought discounting to the smaller towns and rural areas of the Northeast.
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