Magic Mart

Ammar's Inc.

Trade name	Magic Mart
Company type	Private
Industry	Department Store
Founded	1920
Defunct	September 2, 2018[1]
Headquarters	Bluefield, Virginia , U.S.
Number of locations	16
Products	Clothing, Jewelry, Hardware, Lawn & Garden, Automotive, Sporting Goods, Toys, Furniture, Small Appliances, Hobby, Board Games, Electronics, Home Furnishings, Pet Supplies and Limited Grocery
Website	Archived official website at the Wayback Machine (archive index)

Magic Mart was a chain of department/discount stores headquartered in Bluefield, Virginia. The chain was owned by Ammar's Inc., a private family-owned company.[2]

Magic Mart had stores in Eastern Kentucky, Northeastern Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Western and Central North Carolina, Arkansas, and southern and western West Virginia.

Magic mart carried a variety of items including electronics, toys, home improvement items etc.

Company history

Magic Mart was founded by the Syrian Ammar family.[3] In 1920, the Ammar brothers opened Ammar Brothers' Department Store in Williamson, West Virginia.[4] In 1967, the Ammars opened the first Magic Mart in Grundy, Virginia. Magic Mart became more successful and more numerous. The Ammar Brothers' Department Stores all closed by 1974.

In 1991, Magic Mart began to experiment with larger store size by expanding the Oceana, West Virginia store from 35,000 to 80,000 square feet. The largest store was in Lenoir, North Carolina at 110,000 square feet before it closed in August 2013.[5]

On July 2, 2018, Ammar's announced that difficult economic conditions and slow sales forced the closure of the company. Liquidation began around July 15, 2018, with all Magic Mart stores closed around September 1, 2018.[2]

Locations

Magic Mart has ceased all operations.  

Magic Mart formerly operated at least 23 stores in four states, though only 16 were still operating in 2018 when all stores were closed. Two locations were added to the list for more complete accuracy; citation being that contributor worked there:[6]

North Carolina Lexington Salisbury Virginia Abingdon Covington Bluefield Galax Grundy North Tazewell Norton Pulaski Richlands Big Stone Gap

West Virginia Beckley Belle Danville Fairlea Hinton Oceana Rainelle Rockview Teays Valley Welch Kentucky Hazard Harlan Pikeville South Williamson

References

1. Moore, Annie (August 29, 2018). "Magic Mart to close all stores by Sunday". WVVA. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
2. Owens, Charles (July 2, 2018). "Ammar's, Inc. closing all Magic Mart stores, company warehouse". Bluefield Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
3. Staff, MetroNews (2018-07-02). "Magic Mart to close doors at all locations". WV MetroNews. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
4. "Our History". Magic Mart. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
5. http://www.newstopic.net/news/local/x2119573532/The-Magic-is-gone^[permanent dead link‍] Magic Mart pulls up stakes, relocating to Lexington
6. "Magic Mart". www.magicmartstores.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2018.