Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/William H. Block


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.  

The result of the debate was Keep. But as this page is on info pre-1987, and is thus very likely to come up with google hits etc, this doesn't mean that verifiability can be ignored - otherwise we'll be in a situation where any old rubbish can be added, and people can claim it was from before the Internet. I will tag the article as requiring citation and get in touch with the article creator. Proto /// type  13:26, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

William H. Block
Just another non-notable company, has very very few Google results to boot. Cyde↔Weys 20:25, 17 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Strong Delete And merge useless info (if any?) with relevent articles. -- D -Day I'm all ears 20:27, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Delete per nom. says "Block" far too many times W guice 21:32, 17 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep. The company is defunct (or at least its name was abandoned in 1987 after which its stores were under the new owner's name), but significant as part of the history of retailing in the U.S. Because it's an article on an historical company, not one that is currently active, the comparatively few Google hits are still consistent with the store chain being notable. Besides, it was a significant employer in Indianapolis for many years. Please re-evealuate your votes in light of this information. TruthbringerToronto 03:20, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep—This retail company was the second largest retailer in Indiana with a long history and brand recognition. Limited information available on the Internet supports the need for Wikipedia entry.  A void exists for historical tracking of the currently most volatile significant 20-year history U.S. retailing, set in motion by the activities Campeau. The results being the destruction of companies, loss of civic pride as mid-sized American cities saw their downtown retail districts disappear, and now witness similar results as suburban malls have four major department store anchors become one company: Federated Department Stores.  Published literature on this matter is limited. This is American retail history, local history, and economic development.  EssEff 20:20, 18 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep as per EssEff; important historical data that should not be lost Saga City 11:56, 19 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Keep per EssEff for historical interests. If the name was abandonded in 1987 then it is before the internet and likely to fail the google test regardless. So one should judge from its historical value instead of google test. --WinHunter (talk) 12:12, 22 June 2006 (UTC)
 * KEEP[], and thank your lucky stars that research of this quality is showing up in Wikipedia at all. This person has done his homework, and is obviously a professional writer. Comments to delete above say more about those writers than anything they had to add. Imagine saying that the work "Block" was used too many times as it is the name of the business being discussed! Also the infrequent mentions in Google are to be expected when considering regional commercial history--it is well-researched articles like this that make the best case for Wikipedia existing at all. I intend to read all future articles by this author. Also, do the people recommending deletion HAVE any interest in commercial history? Do they even know what it IS? --RogerCBT 23:16, 22 June 2006 (UTC)RogerCBT
 * KeepAlthough it might seem to some of limited experience that William H Block was a minor company in a minor market, it is just clear that they have no understanding of how important individual approaches to retailing used to be. Nowadays all houses are built alike, most malls look alike, and the character of any given retailer is diluted though focus groups, boards of directors, bean counters, and souless executives, and are we any better for it? This is a particularly well written article and there cannot be any question as to it's value to us all. --TopMark 23:33, 22 June 2006 (UTC)TopMark


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.