~a eulogy to montgomery ward~

Ten years ago today
Montgomery Ward passed away
Liquidation began to come
Alas, old Wards was done

Not a surprise, not a company leak
Everyone knew that Wards was weak
The stores, they were often in malls
They were not known for being that small

But traditionally, like the boardroom's fears
It wasn't as large as an average Sears
The cash reserves were not that many
And it wasn't as nice as a JCPenney

It tried to make a 21st century leap
But compared to discount stores, it wasn't that cheap.
And the malls that Montgomery Ward was in
Promptly went into a long tailspin

Some were quite healthy and did survive
Demolished the pad and continued to thrive
Target was a good replacement for some
In the light of these closures, it wasn't so dumb

But others weren't lucky as one might guess
After the closures, these malls, were well, less.
These malls, their fate was sealed
To be possibly, an empty field

The Wards stores here continued to rot
In the mall there wasn't a lot
Remarketing efforts were to bomb
(You can see these malls on DeadMalls.com!)

The legacy of Montgomery Ward has life
A MW shirt is a favorite of my grandfather's wife
I sleep on their comfortable mattress; a bed
("You have to move out" my parents just said)

Montgomery Ward served as an acid test
To see who would die and who was the best
Circuit City, like Wards before it made several bad moves
And, like Wards before it, did unfortunately lose

Like Wards before it, it did a major remodel, to be a trend-setter
"The City" stores were brighter, and for most purposes better
But Montgomery Ward, they tried that too.
The "Wards" brand: it'd look good in 2002!

Unfortunately not, they'd perish with the rest
Montgomery Ward, just wasn't the best
Now, 10 years since the death, we've had fears.
Who goes next, perhaps Kmart and Sears?