Goodbye 2008: What you won't see in the new year

As we prepare to say goodbye to 2008, there are nearly three dozen memorable products, people and companies also saying farewell.

According to the website walletpop.com, here's a list of items you won't see in 2009.

Polaroid Traditional Instant Film
Polaroid introduced its first instant camera in 1948. Its revenue peaked in 1991 at nearly $3 billion. But by 2001, the company had gone into bankruptcy. It was bought four years later by Petters Group Worldwide. The increased popularity of digital cameras led Polaroid to plan for the exit of traditional film in all formats and sizes. It will halt production in 2008. (Editor's Note: Polaroid filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 18, 2008, saying allegations of fraud at its parent company are to blame.)

Zima
In Oct. 2008, MillerCoors LLC announced it will discontinue the clear malt beverage Zima, introduced by Coors Brewing Co. in 1992, due to "challenging alternative segment sales and declining consumer interest." Production of Zima ceased Oct. 10 with remaining orders to be filled on a first-come, first-served basis using available inventory. The last orders are expected to be filled in December. MillerCoors is asking distributors to replace Zima on store shelves with its Sparks malt beverage brand.

Bill Blass
The company that bears the name of designer Bill Bass is closing its doors according to an announcement on December 17. Blass retired a decade ago and the latest company designer departed in October.
The label was put up for sale earlier this year by its parent company, NexCen Brands Inc., which announced in May that it was facing a severe cash squeeze. NexCen is still trying to sell the brand.

Samantha Parkington
In October, American Girl officially announced plans to say farewell to Samantha Parkington, one of the company's original historical characters introduced in 1986. Samantha's complete product collection, including her best friend Nellie™, will soon be removed from American Girl's catalog, Web site, and retail stores. However, the Samantha books will still be sold.

CD Sales at Starbucks
The firm revealed that the amount of traffic flowing through its U.S. stores fell during the fourth quarter -- its first dip since the company began disclosing the figure three years ago. As a result, it has now scaled back its once-grand ambitions to turn itself into an entertainment hub, getting rid of all of its CD offerings.

The Kinko's Name
In June, FedEx Corporation announced it would change the name of FedEx Kinko's, the world's leading provider of document solutions and business services, to FedEx Office. According to a company spokesman, "The FedEx Office name better describes the wide range of services available at its retail centers and takes full advantage of the FedEx brand long recognized for excellent customer service, quality and reliability."

Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper
Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper was introduced as a limited edition flavor on November 21, 2007. Although it had its fans, and was credited as tasting exactly like you would think it would, the flavor was discontinued in April 2008.

Taco Bell's Volcano Taco
According to Rob Poetsch at Taco Bell, the Volcano Taco was a limited time offer which is a common way Taco Bell markets new products. Taco Bell customers loved the Volcano Taco so much that it was one of its best selling limited time offer products. Alas, all good things must come to an end and the fast-food industry's spiciest taco has been discontinued. [Editor's Note: It was not discontinued based on poor public response as we previously reported.]

Crown Pilot Crackers
Crown Pilot, manufactured by Nabisco, was a brand of cracker popular in much of New England. The cracker was discontinued once in 1996, which sparked the publicized protests of Donna Damon on Chebeague Island and Maine humorist Tim Sample. After the outcry, the company resumed production in 1997. In 2008, The Famous Chowder Cracker bid its final farewell due to drops in the sales of the product.

Smokey Chipotle Crispy Fried Chicken
In May 2008, KFC added its third fried chicken flavor to the menu -- Smoky Chipotle Crispy. The new flavor joined Colonel Sanders' Original Recipe as well as the Extra Crispy flavor. At the time, KFC said, "We've worked tirelessly to develop this new flavor. We don't take fried chicken flavor introductions lightly at KFC, and we took our time to painstakingly perfect this new recipe." It was discontinued in August.

Linens 'n Things
In October, the bankrupt retailer said it plans to close all of its 317 remaining store nationwide. The New Jersey-based company had already closed 218 stores earlier this year. The closure notice came after the retailer was unable to find a buyer for the remaining stores.

Sharper Image Stores
Sharper Image filed for bankruptcy protection in February, with plans to shut about half of its 184 stores and reorganize. The company put itself up for sale in April. The new owners announced in June that they plan to close all of its remaining stores. It has instead developed a licensing strategy for wholesale, retail, direct-to-retail, e-commerce and catalog businesses.

Steve & Barry's
At the end of November, this casual apparel shop announced it will be closing all remaining 173 of its stores across the country. The action follows an initial closing of 97 stores after the chain was acquired in August by two investment firms. At that time, the company announced "go-forward" plans for its existing stores, but it decided to close remaining locations.

Lehman Brothers & Bear Stearns
Founded in 1850 by Henry Lehman, the firm was one the leading names on Wall Street until its amazing collapse in 2008. The company got caught up in the subprime mortgage mess and was unable to recover.
Investor confidence eroded quickly in September and on the 14th, the company filed for bankrupcy and ceased operations. Many experts say Lehman's collapse is what triggered Wall Street's amazing downward spiral this fall. Earlier in the year Bear Stearns met a similar fate.

Bye-Bye to 25 Banks
According to the FDIC's Failed Bank List, there were 25 bank failures in 2008, as of Dec. 12. Washington Mutual and IndyMac Bank were two of the biggest banks to go under. For comparison, there were 3 bank failures in 2007, and none in 2006 and 2005.

DHL in the U.S.
DHL, the German global shipping giant, will stop shipping within the United States on the ground and in the air, effective Jan. 30, 2009. All of DHL's 18 U.S. hubs will close.

Two Fewer Airlines
With high gas prices, poor economic situations, and contracts being lost due to companies becoming financially insolvent, airlines such as ATA Airlines and Aloha Airlines have not only been collapsing, but going bankrupt. On April 2, 2008, ATA Airlines filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Less than 24 hours later, the airline stated they were ceasing all operations effective immediately, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Not even the employees had any warning. Likewise, Aloha made its own abrupt announcement in March 2008 after running out of time to find a buyer or get additional financing.

Cars
A few cars that have recently been shutdown globally include the Yugo, Dodge Durango Hybrid, Chrysler Aspen Hybrid, Chevy Trailblazer, GMC Envoy, Mercury Sable, and Ford Taurus X.

Olsson's Books and Records
On September 30th, 2008, Olsson Enterprises, Inc. closed stores and petitions court for Chapter 7 conversion. The reasons given were stagnant sales, low cash reserves, and an inability to renegotiate current leases, along with a continuing weak retail economy and plummeting music sales.

Domain Furniture
Domain is just one of many furniture chains that folded in 2008 as the economy weakened and furniture sales plunged nationwide.

Stadium Shutdowns
Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium are two sports grounds that have closed down in 2008 along with Texas Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys played for almost 40 years.
After this year's baseball season, Shea Stadium shut down in order to move to a new field next year. Though the same thing happened to the 86 year old Yankee Stadium, officials chose the new Yankee Stadium for the All-Star Game site, believing it to be an appropriate way to usher out the historic building.

Arena Football League (AFL)
Founded in 1987 as an American Football indoor league, the league grew in popularity through the years, but the increase was accompanied by greatly increased expenses and debt that led to the league to announce in December that it was suspending operations for 2009. The future of the AFL is questionable.

Popular TV Shows
With reality TV becoming more popular, other shows such as 'Boston Legal' and 'The Shield' are losing their popularity and being canceled. 'Total Request Live,' the afternoon video show that has been an MTV flagship for 10 years, came to an end this year.
The long running shows ER, MADtv and King of the Hill will also be ending their runs at the end of the current TV season this spring.

Well-Known Broadway Shows
Whether because of the failing economy, strikes by stagehands, or a change in entertainment popularity, even the well-known Broadway shows such as 'Rent,' 'Hairspray,' 'Spamalot,' 'Spring Awakening,' 'Grease,' and 'Young Frankenstein' have ended their runs or will be very soon.

Roger Ebert's 'At the Movies'
After 33 years, Roger Elbert's famous thumbs up and down is gone from 'At the Movies.' In explaining that his departure was voluntary, he stated, "because of my health troubles, I hadn't appeared on the show for two years. But I advised on co-hosts, suggested movies, stayed in close communication with Don DuPree, our beloved producer-director."

Retired Sports Stars
· Morten Andersen, NFL All-Time Leading Scorer
· Dominik Hasek, NHL Goalie
· Justine Henin, Pro Tennis Player
· Bob Knight, College Basketball Coach
· Greg Maddux, MLB Pitcher
· Mike Mussina, MLB Pitcher
· Mike Piazza, MLB Best-Hitting Catcher
· Warren Sapp, NFL Defensive Tackle
· Annika Sorenstam, LPGA Golfer
· Michael Strahan, NFL Record Holder for Sacks

Deceased Food Pioneers
· Rocky Aoki, Benihana Founder
· Wilbur Hardee, Hardee's Founder
· Irving Robbins, Baskin-Robins Co-Founder
· Al Copeland, Popeyes Chicken Founder
· Herb Peterson, Egg McMuffin Inventor
· Carl N. Karcher, Carl Jr.'s Founder
· J.R. Simplot, Billionaire Idaho Potato Farmer

Losses in the Recreation World
· Betty James, Named the Slinky
· Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons Co-Creator
· Richard Burke, Trek Bicycle Founder
· William Modell, Modell's Sporting Goods Chairman
· Richard Knerr, Wham-O Co-Founder

Deceased in Wine/Media/Fashion
· Robert Mondavi, Billionaire Winemaker
· Paul Newman, Actor & Co-Founder of Newman's Own
· Yves Saint Laurent, Legendary Designer
· Clay Felker, Founder 'New York Magazine'
· Sid Craig, Co-Founder Jenny Craig

Deceased in the Business World
· Andrew J. McKelvey, Founder Monster.com
· Sir John Templeton, Legendary Investor
· Geoff Polites, Jaguar and Land Rover CEO
· James Sorenson, Billionaire Businessman
· Douglas A. Fraser, Former UAW President