Rickel
defunct American hardware store chain
Rickel (known as Rickel Brothers in its early years, Rickel Supermarts in the 1960s, and Rickel Home Centers in later years) was a chain of home-improvement centers based in northern New Jersey. The company’s first store opened in 1953 and for three decades Rickel was the leading hardware, plumbing, heating and electrical retailer in its region. At its peak Rickel operated over 90 stores, but competition from Home Depot, debt problems with its former parent, and an ultimately ill-advised merger with competitor Channel Home Centers led to a 1996 bankruptcy filing and liquidation and closure starting in late 1997 and continuing through early 1998.
Founding
The origins of the company date back to 1946 when brothers Al, Mort, and Bob Rickel went into business for themselves in Newark, New Jersey. The brothers formed their own heating business, continuing a family tradition.
An anecdotal story says that a few years later, the brothers purchased a warehouse full of plumbing supplies for "next to nothing". In many cases, a contractor involved in heating is also involved in plumbing, but the Rickel brothers were not. Since they were unfamiliar with plumbing, they had no idea what the actual value of the haul was and sought help. A friend put them in touch with a plumber named Bill Ryan, who agreed to go through the items and determine how much they would sell for.
Plumbing supplies were usually sold wholesale at this time, which presented a problem for Al, Mort, and Bob.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Rickel” as defunct American hardware store chain. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7331896. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1953, 1996, 1997 and 1998.
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This entry incorporates text from “Rickel” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.