ATBW Store

ATBW Store is a store chain that was established in 1963 and was intended to be a store selling merchandise but eventually became a retail chain in 1968. It was owned by ATBW Label Networks, which continued to be operated under them through Langile Mediaworks Division and ATBW Holdings LLC until 2022 when it was moved to Zippy Holdings LLC as a result of an antitrust lawsuit from December 2020.

It sells merchandise from ATBW Label Networks and the 11 ATBW Blog companies, as well as merchandise from Escade Studios and Pido's Pizza Place, and it sells Ozone Speakers. It was a division of ATBW Label Networks from 1963 to 2022.

Langile Corporation
The first ATBW Store opened in December 1962 by Eric Langile, which is still open today and is two miles away from the G3 House. After the store became a success, it was made into a chain operated by ATBW Label Networks in February 1963, which actively sold all ATBW franchises. ATBW Florist also opened beside stores built between 1965 and 1983, which sold flowers based on ATBW's franchises, and ATBW Store Cafe was established in stores built in 1966 and onwards, which sold premium quality popcorn, chicken, and ice-cream, all of which were of high quality recipes. All ATBW Stores built in July 1968 and onwards were made 25% bigger, and began selling consumer products the following year. However, there were Mega ATBW Stores that opened from 1964 to 1968 before those were changed to regular ATBW Stores. Those had garden centers.

Langilenet Store was another chain founded in 1973 by Eric Langile which was responsible for selling consumer goods outside of the ATBW name. These focused more on consumer goods rather than film and TV franchises, but checkout aisles did sell some films made by Langile Home Entertainment and Warren Langile Entertainment. While they opened alone, they were often built beside many ATBW stores often as an adjoining side or separately in the case of those with ATBW Florists.

In 1975, Pido's Pizza Place sold their movies inside of ATBW Store as they were distributed by ATBW Pictures at the time. Merchandise would also be sold here and it eventually became part of ATBW Store on a normal routine in 1979, just a year before they were acquired by ATBW Label Networks, which also got their chain of restaurants.

In 1983, ATBW Florist ceased operations and stores having this portion were either sold off to other stores, made into Langilenet stores, or closed completely. The same also happened to Langilenet Store in 1986, with those already having opened after replacing ATBW Florist closing completely. These stores were either sold off or closed completely. Some of those that were built separately were converted into ATBW stores. A store just across from the eventual G3 House opened in 1985, but this location is closed as of August 21, 2017 and opened as G3 Store in June 2018.

ATBW Blog eventually became a target for ATBW Stores upon it's establishment in 1990, which actively sold merchandise based on the most popular gaming and TV franchises on the site at the time. Those included SynDev Studios and Merrill Studios, the former only existing for four years. It also made way for other companies overtime including Signature Studios in 1992, which became one of the big two companies of the 90's and 2000's eras.

Langile Corporation intended to buy Zippy Land on December 13, 1998 and completed it on July 20, 2000 for $40 billion dollars, and Zippy Land Essentials was formed in September 2000. However, Zippy Land had been a long failure years before its acquisition, with only 453 locations open by Q4 of 1998, later reduced to 328 in Q3 of 2000. Since then, ATBW and Langile Electronics were sold in all three chains.

Langile Mediaworks Division
Langile Corporation split into two companies on May 30, 2003, forming Langile Mediaworks Division and Langile Consumer Branding, with ATBW Label Networks being moved to the former which also included ATBW Store, while the latter still made consumer products for Zippy Land until that dissolved on September 18, 2013.

In 2004, ATBW Store changed it's store design for the first time in more than 40 years, this time the entrance in a glass wedge shape dropping down from a steep angle and the doors being on both sides. They were also beige instead of gray. The last ATBW Store built in the original style was in January of 2004.

As a result of the acquisition of Zippy Land, the company had been able to survive longer before getting hit by the Great Recession in 2008, which closed more than 200 of the remaining 317 stores at the time, dropping the number to 106 by 2012.

It began selling Amory The Bad Woman franchises in 2010 when it first came out, as well as IMac G3 Girls and BambitoTalk, both in 2014. It also promoted California City Show and Three Deer in 2018, increasing the sale and profits of these stores.

ATBW Holdings LLC
Following the split of Langile Mediaworks Division on September 17, 2019, ATBW Holdings LLC kept the rights to the store chain, to which it continued to own until 2022 following the formation of Zippy Holdings LLC, which was formed from an antitrust lawsuit that began in December of 2020.

Gray Store with Wedge Overhang Facade (1962 - 2004)
The original ATBW Store that opened in December of 1962 was built using grey cinderblocks similar to that of Kmart stores, and a light gray wedge facade holding the sign was placed above the store entrance. With only very little changes, all ATBW Stores from 1962 to 2004 were built almost identically to this first store, with the last store of this style being built in January 2004. Until 2002, ATBW stores had extraordinarily large air diffusers in the ceilings, spanning ten ceiling tiles across, though most ATBW stores do not have ceiling tiles in their stores as they were built in the style of a warehouse, having tall walls and a high ceiling with the beams exposed.

In 1978, Langile Corporation phased out the lead-based paint used for painting the famously large air diffusers and air ducts and used harmless alternatives. In 1980, Asbestos that was used to insulate the stores was phased out and the company has since used safer alternatives to insulate their stores. In 2002, the large air diffusers were phased out and were replaced with typical ones spanning only two to three ceiling tiles when measured.

Beige Store with Glass Wedge Side Entrances (2004 - Present)
In 2002, Langile Corporation announced that all ATBW Stores opening in 2004 and onwards would be built in a completely new style in which there will be no cinderblocks and instead will be flat concrete on the outside that was beige in color. The store entrance was also redesigned, being a wedge glass entrance with a door on both sides. The warehouse bay lights were also phased out and replaced with new ones using Fluorescent Tube lights. This is the current style used now, with the first one with this current style opening on February 16, 2004.

Super ATBW Store
In 1975 under ownership of Langile Corporation, Eric Langile got into the grocery industry and introduced the Super ATBW Store chain, which is 75% larger than an ordinary ATBW Store. These stores contained a rainbow spanning the store walls using red, yellow, green, and blue neon lights, and neon signage on the walls showing what was sold within that department was also displayed. Signs showing Pepsi and Coke were also hung on the wall in the grocery aisles. About 80% of the stores had ATBW merchandise sold within it, as well as Langile products from Langilenet Store, while the remaining 20% of it had groceries.

In 1986, new high bay lights were added to them to improve visibility, which would be updated again in 1995. Like the original stores, the design of these future stores was updated for the 2004 year and nine of them were built between that year and 2016. Even so however, there are only less than 50 of them as of 2021. Only ones built on or after 1995 remain and very few are still operating as Super ATBW Stores to this day.

Failure
Unlike other retail chains, Super ATBW Store failed to provide essential parts, including an entire grocery department seen in hypermarkets like Walmart and Target. The chain also did not provide a pharmacy to retain ATBW Store's look and feel, however a significantly larger ATBW Store Cafe and a built in Pizza Hut and KFC as well as an Applebee's, Taco Bell, McDonald's, Burger King, or Dairy Queen have also been added to some stores, though only a few of them but not all of them were added, and all of these franchises were within the cafe area.

Super ATBW Stores are still classified as department stores just as with their original ones due to the lack of an actual grocery department and only a limited one as well as the lack of a pharmacy. They are in some ways however also called mini malls due to the franchises that operate at the front section, including Claire's, Journey's, GameStop, etc..

In Popular Culture
It has also appeared in various forms of media, both on the web, and on TV. ATBW Store Millennium Hunt was released on December 4, 1999 on the N64, PS1, PC, GBC, ATBW 1D, ATBW 2D, ATBW A64, ATBW A128, and ATBW C4 and it focuses on collecting items in time for the new millennium. Another game based on the franchise was released in 2006 by Blitzen Media and published by ATBW Blog Publishing on the GBA and ATBW C4 consoles titled ATBW Store Adventures.

Michelle Escade has also served as the spokesperson for ATBW Store Cafe since 2018 for TV commercials, replacing Analyssa Escade.