20th Century Brands
That Will Disappear

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Say It Ain't So

Several brands which were extremely powerful during the last few decades are about to disappear. Many of them no longer drive big sales. Some are a part of companies that are in trouble. Some are part of industries which are falling apart. Here is a list of brands, most over them a decade old, and some much older, which are likely to go away in the next year or two.

· Read Complete Article Here

Next: Old Navy

Old Navy

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on Old Navy
Old Navy is one of Gap's three brands and it is the one that is pulling down overall sales at the big clothing company. Old Navy has a little over one thousand outlets. Maintaining the costs of separate buying, marketing, and management costs just isn't worth it. Soon, Old Navy locations may just become Gap stores.

Next: Countrywide

Countrywide

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on Countrywide
Countrywide had an operation on almost every street corner, or so it seemed. The mortgage bank would give almost anyone a home loan.They were not so generous when foreclosure time came around. Bank of America is buying Countrywide. The CFC brand has so much negative baggage and such a poor image that BAC will be smart and quickly put its name on all of the Countrywide branches.

Next: XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on XM
XM Satellite Radio will disappear either in a merger with Sirius, where the acquiring company will use its brand for both services or because without a merger, XM may not make it. The company has over $1.2 billion in long-term debt. The XM brand could begin to disappear a few months after the potential marriage is complete.

Next: E*Trade

E*Trade

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on E*Trade
E*Trade has survived in a discount brokerage business where a number of famous brands, like Quick & Reilly, have gone away because of mergers.

For the time being, management at the company says it does not want to sell out, but the firm's $12 billion in home equity loan exposure may make staying independent impossible.

Next: KMart

KMart

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on KMart
KMart is one of the two big brands at Sears Holdings, Eddie Lampert's failing retail play. Based on same store sales for last year, KMart is the less successful of the two retail operations. Spending to promote KMart and Sears may cost more that the holding company can afford. It certainly makes sense to kill off the KMart name and re-label all of the stores with Sears.

Next: Dodge

Dodge

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on Dodge
Dodge is part of the Chrysler company which was recently bought out by private equity firm Cerberus. Chrysler management has already said that the company has too many brands and too many dealers. Dodge vehicles will probably be re-branded as Chrysler and Dodge will go the way of the Dodo.

Next: Circuit City

Circuit City

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on Circuit City
Circuit City has been synonymous with electronics retail, but companies like Best Buy and Wal-Mart have brought too much marketing muscle and wholesale buying power to the industry. Outside investors are already circling Circuit City trying to "improve shareholder value". That means the chain will probably be sold.

Next: Gateway

Gateway

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on Gateway
Gateway was recently bought by Taiwan PC firm Acer. Some investors may not remember when Gateway was considered a peer of both Dell and Compaq. In 1993, Gateway was in the Fortune 500. Acer will not keep the Gateway brand and its own. The dual promotion costs are too high. Starting soon you will be buying an Acer PC online or at your electronics retailer.

Next: Vonage

Vonage

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on Vonage
Vonage almost invented VoIP. It certainly made it popular. Then cable companies began to market the service to existing customers and much of the "first mover" advantage Vonage had went away. One of the large cable companies is likely to take over the Vonage customer list and let the brand disappear.

Next: Yahoo!

Yahoo!

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on Yahoo!
Yahoo! is still trying to keep itself out of the hands of Microsoft, but with a $31 offer and no other bidders even close, Redmond is going to take over. Microsoft is not generous about letting other brands have the limelight. Yahoo!'s brand will last while the e-mail and instant message operations are integrated, but soon enough it will all be MSN.

Next: Motorola

Motorola

24/7 Wall St.'s Take on Motorola
Motorola is still likely to sell its large handset unit to someone. It simply loses too much money and it is dragging the company under, As Motorola's stock price drops, the amount it will take for its handset operation will drop. That Motorola phone is likely to be called an LG handset sometime next year.

· Read Complete Article Here

Next: 8 Companies on the Edge

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20th Century Brands
That Will Disappear

Say It Ain't So

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20th Century Brands That Will Disappear

Say It Ain't So

Related Links:

Old Navy

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Countrywide

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XM Satellite Radio

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E*Trade

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KMart

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Dodge

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Circuit City

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Gateway

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Vonage

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Yahoo!

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Motorola

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BUSINESS NEWS

Our Most Popular Features

Investing Basics

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20th Century Brands
That Will Disappear