Phar-Mor
Liquidated its remaining stores in 2002 after a second bankruptcy.
Phar-Mor was a fast-growing deep-discount drugstore chain whose 'power buying' undercut rivals so aggressively that founder Mickey Monus boasted competitors fled wherever he opened. The growth was a mirage: Monus and his finance chief hid more than $500 million in losses in one of the era's largest corporate frauds, exposed in 1992. Phar-Mor went through bankruptcy and a reorganization but never fully recovered, liquidating its remaining stores in 2002.
Known For
- Aggressive deep-discount 'power buying'
- A $500-million accounting fraud
- One of the biggest frauds of its era