Companies of the 90s: Where are they now?

We’ve taken a look at some of the coolest video games and tech gadgets of the ‘90s.

Now we’ve decided to take a look at some of the biggest companies from the decade that will bring back some memories if you lived through it.

If not, take our word for it, these companies were a huge deal at the time and it shows what happens when a company cant adapt to the times.

Like Radioshack, a few are still alive, but this list looks at the companies that peaked in the 90s.

Toys R Us

Toys R Us was the place to go for kids in the ‘90s. Their stores were huge, and they had a little bit of everything that a kid could want.

The large toystore chain was founded in 1948 in the Washington D.C. area and grew to over 800 stores in the United States and another 800 around the world at its peak.

Unfortunately, the toy company had to file for bankruptcy protection in 2017 and then liquidate in 2018.

The company is still hanging on to an extent but is now known as Tru Kids. 

Limited Too

Limited Too was a huge staple for tweens in the ‘90s and was a spin-off of The Limited but for kids.

Limited Too first appeared in 1987 and it grew to more than 600 stores at one point. The store was well known for having clothes that were colorful and full of glitter. 

Eventually, Limited Too decided to rebrand many of their stores as Justice at the beginning of the 21st century.

The Limited Too name was purchased by Bluestar Alliance, LLC and has appeared in a few places like Amazon and a few other online stores.

Blockbuster

There was a time when families all got in the car and went to the video store.

Blockbuster was the most prominent place to do this, and it grew immensely after it was founded in 1985.

Blockbuster had more than 9,000 stores at one point and more than 80,000 employees.

However, the company was hit pretty hard by the emergence of Netflix, Hulu, and other online media, and it did not adapt quickly enough to compete.

The company was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2010, though interestingly enough there is still one Blockbuster location open in Bend, Oregon.

Circuit City

One of RadioShack’s biggest competitors was Circuit City, an electronic store which more resembles the offerings of Best Buy.

The chain was started in 1949 and became increasingly popular as technology got better.

Circuit City had a wide array of products beyond your basic tech offerings, including large appliances for a time.

However, the chain was unable to compete with Best Buy, Walmart, Target and of course online retailers.

It filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and a number of the spaces have actually been converted into restaurants.

There is still a presence of the company, however, as like some of these other companies, they have a website and there is an active movement to revive it.

Claire’s

Much like the Limited Too, Claire’s catered to young girls. The store had a popular accessories section and would even pierce ears.

It was a staple in any mall and is still around to this day, though it has struggled in recent years.

The company filed for bankruptcy in 2018 amidst declining foot traffic and a failure to adapt to changing consumer tastes.

Payless ShoeSource

Payless ShoeSource was a popular shoe store for more than half of a century after it opened in 1956.

By 1991, the company had 3,295 stores and it kept growing through the rest of the decade.

The company faced problems at the beginning of the 2000s as it saw a heavy amount of competition at that time.

Unfortunately, the shoe store had to file for bankruptcy two separate times in 2017 and again in 2019.

The company has a website and does plan to relaunch a few stores moving forward.

GeoCities

GeoCities was notable because it was all about building a community before social networking became widespread.

It launched in 1994 at the onset of the Internet. The look and feel of the pages have been ridiculed over time as they featured all kinds of colorful fonts, animations and the ability to personalize pages.

Yahoo! purchased GeoCities at the height of the dot-com boom for $3.5 billion where it became Yahoo! GeoCities.

The site was shut down in 2009, however, and remains a case study to this day.

AltaVista

AltaVista was an important precursor to Google and was launched in 1995.

It moved to different companies including Compaq Computer in 1998 and then CMGI a year later. Then it was bought by an ad company called Overture Services and finally Yahoo.

The search engine was finally shut down for good in 2013 and now simply redirects to Yahoo!’s main search site.