50 Famous Brands That No Longer Exist

Starting a business is fun. It’s the American dream. It’s why more than 400,000 small businesses were added to America’s 30 million existing small businesses in 2019, according to the SBA. Owning and operating a successful business also requires hard work and determination, which is why an estimated 20% of small businesses fail in their first year.

Business failures can’t always be blamed on new technologies taking over or consumer tastes changing. There are real, concrete reasons for the majority of them. Some of the biggest reasons for big and small business failure include a lack of short- and long-term planning, poor leadership, no brand differentiation, poor management (financial and personnel-wise), poor customer service, and a lack of focus.

Every big business began as a small one, with one store, a first customer, and that often elusive first sale. Businesses that succeed share common threads: the product or service being offered fulfills a need, the business owner genuinely enjoys the business, and the company hires those who understand the ins and outs of finance.

Even when companies have laid the groundwork for success, put their financials in place, and gathered the best staff, things don’t always work out as planned. Such is the case with the 50 brands Stacker compiled here. In our search, we consulted with sources such as TheStreet, Eat This, Not That!, and Good Housekeeping, along with dozens of consumer brand throwback lists to uncover which familiar brands from the past are now gone.