There's a difference between having a good brand and having a good business.
Many a beloved household name —Tower Records,or Circuit City — has ended its life inside bankruptcy court.
But bankruptcy isn't always the end of the road.
Take Converse for instance, which filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and was bought by Nike and turned into the thriving brand it is today.
Here are 12 of the most memorable brands in a similar position: they're defunct, but probably more valuable than dead companies who made them.
Tower Records — Totally gone.
Founded: 1960
Filed for Bankruptcy: 2004
Tower Records invented the concept of the music mega-store. The bankruptcy was the result of excessive debt, music piracy and iTunes. But the legacy of the store will live forever as a phantom in the shape of the movie Empire Records, which was written by a former Tower Records employee.
Pan Am, which hasn't flown a single plane in more than 20 years.
Founded: 1927
Filed for Bankruptcy: 1991
Pan Am was once the largest international air carrier in the United States, and industry innovator having been the first airline to implement the widespread use of computerized reservation systems and jumbo jets. It has been more than 20 years since the company has serviced a single airplane, but its logo lives on in the form of purses, T-shirts, and even as the subject of a television series on ABC starring Christina Ricci.
Polaroid — the Instamatic before Instagram.
Founded: 1937
Filed for Bankruptcy: 2001
The pioneer of Instamatic cameras is now nothing more than a filter option on your smartphone photo app. Unfortunately, the company was not quick enough to jump on the digital bandwagon, waiting until 2008 to switch product production to digital only. In the last two years, Polaroid has struggled to find ways to stay relevant, first by hiring Lady Gaga as a creative director for a specialty line of cameras, and second by creating an Instagram-like app called Polamatic.
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