The Mall of Yesteryear Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1992

The Avon, Massachusetts-based toy store chain once boasted 182 stores. At one time, it trailed only Toys 'R' Us in revenue. A failed merger with the Lionel Corporation and inability to pay creditors caused it demise by September 1992.

Answer: Started on a $500 loan

The last Woolworth shut down in 1997. The company started in 1878 thanks to a $300 loan to Frank Winfield Woolworth. In 1960, the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth was the site of a well-known sit-in. Part of the lunch counter is on display at the Smithsonian.

In the 1979 edition of the "Guinness Book of World Records", Woolworth was named as the largest department store chain. It was on the Dow Jones Industrial Average for years before it was replaced by WalMart.

Answer: Crazy Eddie

At its peak, Crazy Eddie had 43 stores in the Tri-State region. Founded in 1971 in Brooklyn, the last store closed in 1989 amid fraudulent activities by the family. Founder Eddie Antar fled to Israel in 1990 and captured in 1993. In 1996, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud and ordered to pay millions in fines and restitution.

A revived version founded by grandchildren of the Antar brothers failed.

Answer: 32 years

Zayre's was based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The first store opened in 1956 and its name was derived from a Yiddish term that meant "very good." Unfortunately, the 1980s weren't very good to Zayre's and the last of its stores closed in 1988.

Answer: Connecticut

The first Ames opened in 1958 in Southbridge by Milton and Irving Gilman. Upon growing, Ames was headquartered in Rocky Hill, located near New Haven and Hartford. Ames acquired the Zayre's chain in 1988. Eventually, Ames went from the fourth-largest Department Store chain with 700 stores and 22,000 employees to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1990. By its closing in 2002, there were 327 Ames stores.

Answer: True

First opened in 1958, Bradlees became one of the top discount chains in the Northeast. After surviving one bankruptcy in 1995, the chain turned a profit. Unfortunately, the last of the remaining 105 stores shut down.

Answer: New York

The first Caldor opened in Port Chester, New York, in 1951. The name was derived from founders Carl and Dorothy Barrett. In 1991, Caldor was the fourth largest retailer in the United States and boasted 145 stores from New Hampshire to Virginia. After filing for bankruptcy in 1995, the last Caldor shut its doors in May 1999.

Answer: Abraham & Straus

Abraham & Straus was converted the previous year. Other stores that became Macy's include Filene's, Hecht's, The Bon Marche, and Burdines.

Answer: Chicago

First opened in 1872 as a mail-order business, the first Montgomery Ward retail store opened in 1926. The once-mighty chain filed for Chapter 11 in 1997 and emerged out of bankruptcy protection two years later. A dismal Christmas season caused the slow shutdown of its remaining 250 stores. In 2004, an Iowa company began an online retailer using the Montgomery Ward name.

Answer: Virginia Beach

Founded by the W.R. Grace & Company, a chemical manufacturing company, Home Quarters was an early victim of the 1987 stock market crash. Landover, Maryland-based Hechinger bought HQ for $66 million and later merged with Builders Square, a San Antonio-based chain in 1997. Two years later, all Hechinger, HQ, and Builders Square stores were gone.