Despite some success in its later years, Ames was plagued by debt "via acquisition decisions" and a slow decline in sales in the new global market and suburban developments.

[3] Ames' original business strategy brought discounting to the smaller towns and rural areas of the Northeast.

The company's success in serving a largely rural customer base in smaller, less-competitive markets resulted in consistently strong financial performance and steady growth combining acquisitions and an aggressive store-building program through the late 1980s.

Ames exploited the availability of cheap real estate in this manner in the first decades of the company, later moving to custom-built store facilities that provided standardized planning and marketing.

The Zayre chain also operated with stores concentrated in three distinct regions, the Northeast, Illinois and Florida, which made coordination difficult.

During their bankruptcy, Ames closed 370 land-based stores, the highest building properties in rural regions of the Northeast.

With the acquisition of Hills Department Stores in 1998, Ames became the nation's fourth-largest discount retail chain behind Walmart, Kmart, and Target.

Although Hills was headquartered in suburban Boston, its stores were concentrated in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and western New York, which was a regional complement to Ames stores in the northeast; the two did overlap in Western Pennsylvania (the former home base of G. C. Murphy), though aside from a few scattered Ames locations such as in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania, the region was largely Hills territory and it's that chain more fondly remembered in Greater Pittsburgh, including by the web series Pittsburgh Dad.

"The stores are generally on the South Side of Chicago, which has a low-income base," a Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Beder said.

[7] Before the opening day, a television marketing campaign showed cheery Ames employees working while singing "My Kind of Town," a song that strongly referred to Chicago.

Analysts generally believe that debt related to the acquisition of Hills Department Stores, at the same time as the tightened credit markets of 2001, caused the bankruptcy.

Having made barely enough to make a profit, purchasing the Hills stores put the company's debt-to-income ratio at an all-time high.

With no other options, and creditors pulling out of contracts due to failure to pay, corporate made the decision to file for a second, and final bankruptcy.

[8] Private investment company Oak Point Partners acquired the residual assets from the Ames Department Stores, Inc., et al., Bankruptcy Estates on December 18, 2012.

"[13] In September 2023, the site was updated, removing all references to new stores opening or the Spring 2023 timeline, the site simply displayed a statement from the "Board of Directors" referencing a shakeup of the board due to mismanagement and other references to stakeholders and the Ames community, without giving any real information about the company.