ohl ▁Food ▁and ▁Department ▁St ores , ▁G im bel ▁Brothers . ▁ ▁The ▁ret ail ▁operations ▁proved ▁complex ▁and ▁were ▁not ▁compet ing ▁well ▁in ▁their ▁mark ets . ▁ ▁Several ▁early ▁ac quis itions , ▁like ▁G imb els , ▁acquired ▁with ▁S aks ▁Fif th ▁Avenue , ▁were ▁sold ▁for ▁poor ▁performance , ▁while ▁others , ▁like ▁K ohl , ▁were ▁sp un ▁off ▁to ▁their ▁management ▁group . ▁ ▁To ▁manage ▁the ▁large ▁ret ail ▁hold ings , ▁B AT ▁and ▁B AT US ▁created ▁B AT US ▁Ret ail ▁Group ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁to ▁mid ▁ 8 0 s ▁( BR G ) ▁( who ▁went ▁on ▁to ▁expand ▁the ▁current ▁store ▁presence ▁of ▁existing ▁business es ▁ ▁and ▁developed ▁a ▁ready - to - we ar ▁special ty ▁business ▁Th im bles . ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 9 8 9 , ▁B AT ▁became ▁a ▁target ▁of ▁a ▁take over ▁by ▁Sir ▁James ▁G olds m ith . ▁In ▁an ▁effort ▁to ▁f end ▁off ▁the ▁take over , ▁B AT ▁div ested ▁much ▁of ▁its ▁US ▁operations ▁to ▁raise ▁capital ▁and ▁focus ▁the ▁business . ▁BR G ▁and ▁B AT US ▁was ▁shut ▁down ▁and ▁some ▁remaining ▁administrative ▁operations ▁were ▁cons olid ated ▁back ▁to ▁Brown ▁and ▁William son ▁Tob acco . ▁ ▁While ▁the ▁company ▁was ▁not ▁responsible ▁to ▁produce ▁an ▁annual ▁report ▁since ▁they ▁were ▁a ▁subs idi ary ▁of ▁British ▁American ▁Tob acco ▁based ▁in ▁London , ▁they ▁did ▁produce ▁the ▁report ▁to