The Vanishing Brand Names and Products
The global economic downturn touched all four corners of the world. America, however, seemed to bear the brutal brunt of the impact as Americans not only lost their jobs and homes but also saw well-known brand names disappear or will soon be riding off into the sunset. The economic downturn isn’t the primary cause, but it hastened the process.
The global financial-services firm Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was the first familiar brand to disappear, as British Barclays Bank who brought Lehman Brothers’ North American investment-banking and trading divisions along with its New York headquarters building; Nomura Holdings who acquired Lehman Brothers’ franchise in the Asia Pacific region, including Japan, Hong Kong and Australia as well as Lehman Brothers’ investment banking and equities businesses in Europe and the Middle East.
In November 2008 Circuit City, who first opened its doors in 1949, filed for Chapter 11 protection. Circuit City finally decided to close all of its retail stores, 567 nation-wide, before or on March 8, 2009. At the time, it was the second largest consumer electronic retail operation in America.
December 31st was not only the last day of the year 2009 but also was the day Gourmet Magazine ceased publication. Primary reasons are declining advertising revenue and readership. Gourmet Magazine was first published in 1941 with a focus on Europe and New York City, and most of its recipes carried French names.
Due to declining sales, Eastman Kodak on June 22 announced its decision to retire the Kodachrome after a 74-year run. For many years Kodachrome was the film of choice for professional photographers. It is sadly another victim of the digital age as digital cameras eroded its sales over the years.
Perhaps the industry most hurt by the economic downturn was the automobile industry. It not only forced the Detroit Big Three to go on life support but also bathed the supposedly sound Japanese automobile manufacturers in a sea of red ink. GM as part of its reorganization package announced its decision to phase out its Pontiac division by the end of 2010. GM first introduced the Pontiac brand in 1926.
Another plank of GM’s reorganizing effort was to find a buyer for its subsidiary Saturn Corporation. On September 2009 Penske Automotive withdrew its offer for Saturn. GM in turn announced that it’ll wind down Saturn by October 2010. All new production has been halted as of October 1, 2009.
Last summer 2009, Proctor & Gamble Co., citing declining sales in the United States, announced the phasing out of Max Factor out of the U.S. market by early 2010. Max Factor was founded in 1909 by Maximilian Faktorowicz. Proctor & Gamble Co. purchased the company in 1991.
Microsoft’s Encarta was a relatively new entry, which debut in 1993. For the rest of that decade, this digital multimedia encyclopedia was one of the most popular encyclopedia for students and families. However, it was no match against the combined power of broadband and Wikipedia. In March 2009, Microsoft announced it was discontinuing the Encarta disc and online versions.
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