![]() ![]() This moved the company to make stores warm and less masculine. In reaction, the company focused on this removing all non-personalized gifts and the motto was changed from Great Unexpected Gifts" to "The Place for Personalized Gifts." Research also showed their typical patrons were women who viewed themselves as unique gift givers. Cole National brought in a CRM agency which revealed the store was seen as a "brass and glass" gift shop that offered some engraving. Restructuring and an image change were necessary. In 1998 the key business was shuttered while Things Remembered and its 800+ stores failed to meet sales goals. The company went public in 1994 to reduce the persistent debt from the leveraged buyout. ![]() Sales began to slump and in 1990, under the direction of CEO Jeffery Cole, Cole National unloaded unprofitable business units leaving Cole Key, Cole Vision and Things Remembered. The company prospered through much of the 80s. The Cole family reclaimed the company in 1987 through a leveraged buyout. Cole National was taken private in 1984 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. At the time Cole National consisted of Cole Vision, DBA Sears Optical, Montgomery Ward Vision, Cole Key Company, and several other subsidiaries. Things Remembered was founded as "Can Do" in 1967 as a subsidiary of Cole National Corporation by Joseph Edmund Cole. Their stores specialize in personalized gifts and engraving. Things Remembered is an American mall retailer with hundreds of retail locations throughout the United States and four Canadian provinces. ![]()
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