Building #19 was a New England chain of discount closeout retailers that operated from 1964 until it declared bankruptcy in 2013. At the time of its bankruptcy, it had thirteen stores. The family that owned the chain later reopened two of the former locations as a part of a new business, The Rug Department, that was limited to rugs and related merchandise. However, these locations in Norwood and Burlington closed in 2014. The “closeout stores” had been known throughout New England for selling an eclectic assortment of items at drastically discounted prices, as well as self-effacing advertising that made fun of the founder, Jerry Ellis. Many of the items were factory irregulars, discontinued models, post-expiration-date, damaged, or less than perfect in some other way, but some new merchandise was offered as well. The stores capitalized on the quick cash flow needs of other businesses, obtaining most of their merchandise from fire sales, overstocks, customs seizures, liquidations, and bankruptcy courts. On November 1, 2013, Building #19 Inc. and a number of affiliated companies voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. Ellis said that the business had been "on a downhill slope for 10 years", and attributed its failure to Internet competition, overseas manufacturing, and improved fire protection of warehouses. The latter two factors reduced the supply of salvage and surplus products to sell. History Jerry Ellis (born Gerald Elovitz) founded the original store in 1964 with Harry Andler, when the two joined together to sell a stock of appliances. The original Building #19 was located at the former Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard, where the buildings were numbered, and the store retained the nondescript name on the building rather than pay for a new sign. Harry Andler was doing surplus and salvage business in the shipyard for several years. The unique combination of Ellis' advertising flair and Andler's expertise in finding and buying distressed merchandise accounts for the early success of the business. Andler bought "good stuff cheap" and Ellis let everyone know about it with amusing advertising. In 1971, when the windows began to fall out of the John Hancock Tower in Boston, Jerry and Harry were offered and bought the defective window panels that were scheduled to be replaced. This got the company national press and attention. In 1979, retailers Building #19 and Bloomingdales both appeared as contrasting locations in