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Benny’s to Close Stores

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A cornerstone of New England retail, Benny’s, is going out of business. After serving New England shoppers since the 1920s, the Bromberg family has decided it’s time to close up shop. Emily Clark reports in the Patriot Ledger on the death of yet another brick and mortar retail institution:

On Friday, the company announced that it will close all 31 of its stores in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

At the Benny’s in Raynham, shoppers crowded the aisles the day after the announcement. Customer George Cayton said the news for him was personal. He worked at the store when he was a teenager.

“When I heard the news (on TV), I said, ‘Oh, no, they can’t take Benny’s away from me,’” Cayton said.

Benjamin “Benny” Bromberg opened Benny’s Auto Store in Providence, R.I., in the 1920s, when flappers were kicking up their heels and post-World War I America was celebrating newfound freedoms. The company weathered the Great Depression and economic recessions…. It has remained a family-owned business.

Benny’s owns all of its properties, and the ownership will have to decide what to do with the stores, Plymouth Selectmen Chairman Kenneth Tavares said….

“Benny’s is an institution. It’s been that way since I was a little boy,” he said. ”…My mom actually worked for them for a number of years. It’s sad to see it close, and certainly I feel for the employees. It’s going to be a store missed greatly by a lot of people.”

In a statement released Friday, the company said more than 700 employees will be laid off.

The dominance of online retailers and owner retirements contributed to the decision to close the stores, the company said.

“As proud owners of Benny’s, this is an emotional time for us,” Benny’s owner Arnold Bromberg said in the statement. “Benny’s has been something the Bromberg family has invested enormous amounts of capital, time and energy in for nearly a century in this region. We take great pride in what our retail stores have meant to our employees and many loyal customers for so long. But it is simply time. …”

He said the owners could not, in good conscience, leave the business to the next generation of the family, given that market conditions “would so clearly conspire to work against them.”

Read more here.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.