Core Memories Unlocked!
March 2025
The Great Ames Revival Hoax (And A New Bounty)
Many of us remember Ames department stores. After nearly 50 years providing everything from clothing to electronics across the Northeast, Ames finally closed its doors in 2002. However, over the last few years, there’s been rumors of a revival. As dates for their so-called “return” kept getting pushed back, and supposed parent companies kept changing, we became suspicious that this alleged return wouldn’t be happening. Now, we’re convinced it’s a hoax. Our only questions are: (1) Who is really behind this?; And (2) “Why”?
A little bit of background for those of us who haven’t dug as deeply into the return of Ames. The return was originally announced in December of 2022 with the arrival of a new “Ames” website. The new site claimed that Ames was returning with seven new stores opening in Ames’ original founding state (Connecticut) in 2023, with more locations to follow shortly after. Excitement ensued at the prospect of Ames returning, with many local newspapers and radio shows, such as Boston 25 News, WKBN in Pennsylvania, and Connecticut’s i95 Rock, reporting on the pending return. However, the end of 2023 rolled around, and no new stores opened. In fact, there’s still no new stores today (March, 2025) and there is no evidence of any level of progress towards even a single location opening, beyond a recently posted image of an alleged new Ames storefront on X/Twitter. This, however, was quickly deleted after they were called out for the image appearing to be AI-generated.
The “Ames” website still claims stores are coming… but the story has changed. We’re now being told to expect Ames locations by 2026, with a total of “35 locations planned to open across the United States by late 2027” and more to follow in 2028 (amesstore.com). The updated timeline on the website is about the only “new” news that’s been shared since the original announcement.
The Silver Knight Group, previously known as the Molyneux Group or Cross Moline Ventures (Best Life Online and Ames Department Stores - Wikipedia) claims to own Ames. This group and its various aliases, allegedly based in the UK since 1640, have no digital footprint beyond X/Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, some defunct websites, and now-shutdown Reddit pages. Upon digging into The Silver Knight Group (SKG), and all companies associated with it, it appears that none of its other ventures outside of the Ames revival exist either. In fact, even the company logo is a fake. Or, well, they downloaded a free logo and used it as their own, according to a Google reverse image search. The contact information and addresses provided for the SKG either don’t exist, or aren’t registered to SKG. The President of the group, identified as “Shannon de Molyneux” also doesn’t seem to exist. Her social media pages were first created in 2022 and have not been updated since. All of which is very suspicious for a company that claims to have started almost 400 years ago and calls itself a “Global Leader in Retail & Finance” (SKG profile on X/Twitter).
Like many hoaxes, a sprinkle of truth here and there can help with it gaining traction. The Molyneux family does seem to be a prominent one in England, or at least it used to be. Our search took us to the Wiki for the Earl of Sefton, a title the Molyneux family seems to have had up until the 1970s (Earl of Sefton - Wikipedia). One source, an archived website article does claim that the Molyneax family continued on to Michael, who is mentioned as part of SKG (History of the Molineux Family). However, this source also seems to be falsified to include the fake members of SKG, as a large majority of the article is copied directly from Bev Parker’s history piece on the Molineux House and Its Family.
All of this is to say that there is incredibly strong evidence to suggest the Ames revival is nothing more than a long-running charade. What’s more is it appears this fiction is way broader than just a department store reopening. There’s a huge web of lies that spans years and encompasses fictional people, places, and corporations, as well as other defunct department stores like Bradlees, which the Silver Knight Group also claims, falsely, to own. With no substantial evidence that any part of this isn’t merely an elaborate fantasy, from the people, to SKG, to Ames returning, the lasting questions we (and many others) are left asking are “Why?” and “Who’s behind this?”
There are bad actors across the internet, everyone knows that these days. But what do these hoaxsters really stand to gain here? Followers? Connections? Celebrity? Are they trying to get someone else to actually revive Ames? Or they want to get popular enough in the fantastical hope that someone funds SKG (if/when it truly exists) to actually reopen Ames themselves? Or maybe this is just some twisted broad-version “catfishing” and the person(s) behind the hoax are just getting their jollies off on both the attention and the social media fights they’ve engaged in along the way?
Whatever their intent, we here at Local Vyntage actually share something in common with these hoaxsters: nostalgia. But that's the absolute extent of our similarities. We offer premium quality tees and hoodies featuring an Ames design - currently available to order and will ship out in just a couple days or less. Our products spark joy, happy memories, connections with others and make for the best conversation starters. These hoaxsters, on the other hand, are nefariously leveraging our shared nostalgia for the defunct Ames brand, and in doing so making promises it can’t and/or never intended on keeping. The Molyneuxs or Silver Knight Group or whatever they decide to call themselves next seem to have put a lot of time and effort into faking Ames’ return. Despite our efforts, including all the winding dead-ends we’ve been down, we’re unable to specifically pinpoint why they’re doing it, beyond attention-seeking and stirring up drama across a special community that happens to include many of our customers and fans.
Regardless of the reasons, they’ve lied to us and are continuing to do so. Ames is not coming back, at least not by these folks. But it will live on in our hearts forever, as well as on our comfy tees and hoodies, for long after this hoax is remembered.
BONUS (BOUNTY): We’re offering a reward for intel!...
Do you or anyone you know have information about the true identities of the person(s) behind the hoaxsters fake website (amesstores.com) and social media accounts? If so, please email us at info@localvyntage.com. We’d be thrilled to send an Ames tee, as well as any other t-shirt of your choice from our website, to the first person who provides verifiable information as to the true identities of these hoaxters.
Last thing - we’ll be sure to share more information here if/when we receive it!
- Maddy
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