shopping easier for customers. The merchandising strategy included offering items at many different price points to offer something for every customer and prices on major appliances listed in code so that customers would have to talk to a salesperson to find out the cost. Every year on Washington's Birthday, Lechmere had a sale, which featured 22-cent cherry pies to draw customers. Despite the opening of new stores, Lechmere's sales continued to decline, until when C. George Scala was named CEO in 1980. He changed the merchandise mix again to housewares, appliances, sporting goods, electronics, and music. In 1981, the company name was simplified to Lechmere, Inc. It also began expanding outside its New England base, including locations such as Charlotte, North Carolina, Birmingham, Alabama, and Atlanta, Georgia. From 1983 to 1988, annual sales grew from $200 million to over $700 million, while operating profit grew from $19 million to $22 million, in approximate figures. Berkshire Partners and Boston-based mall developers Steve Karp and Steve Wiener bought the chain from Dayton Hudson in 1989. As a condition of this sale, stores in the Southeastern United States were closed. In 1992, the company successfully went to the Supreme Court in Lechmere, Inc. v. NLRB to block union organizers from being on their property. Berkshire Partners sold Lechmere to Montgomery Ward Holdings in 1994, in a deal worth more than $200 million. Closure On August 1, 1997, Montgomery Ward announced that all Lechmere stores were to be closed as part of their bankruptcy reorganization. At the time of the chain's closing, 27 stores remained open, including 20 in New England, 12 of which were in Massachusetts. All six "Home Image by Lechmere" stores were also closed at that time. November 7, 1997, was the last day of business for all locations. References Retail companies established in 1913 Montgomery Ward Retail companies disestablished in 1997 Defunct department stores based in Massachusetts 1913 establishments in Massachusetts Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1997 Target Corporation