“GOOB” stands for “Going Out Of Business.” The acronym dates in print to at least the early 1990s.
 
In the 1960s, many businesses in Manhattan held “Going Out of Business” sales to fleece tourists, who thought that the prices had been slashed on all the merchandise. The “Going Out of Business” sales often lasted many years, but the tourists wouldn’t have known that.
 
Consumer protection laws now require that a “GOOB” sale be licensed.
 
     
New York City Department of Consumer Affairs
LICENSE APPLICATION
SPECIAL SALES (102)
(e.g., Fire/Smoke/Water Damage; Going Out of Business; Liquidation;
Loss of Lease; Renovation)

License Application Checklist
 
DCA Licensing Center
42 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10004
For more information, call 311.

A sale or offer to sell to the public merchandise of any and all kinds and descriptions in connection with a declared purpose (i.e., Fire, Smoke, or Water Damage; Going Out of Business; Liquidation; Loss of Lease; Renovation) in advertising by seller. The sale must be conducted at the location that is being closed. Note: Licensees are required to comply with all relevant laws and rules, including the Consumer Protection Law. To get a copy of the actual law explaining whether or not you need a license for this category, call 311 or come in person to the DCA Licensing Center in Manhattan at the address above.
 
Google Groups: rec.models.scale
Newsgroups: rec.models.scale
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Robert W. Hall)
Date: 11 Feb 1994 14:23:07 GMT
Local: Fri, Feb 11 1994 9:23 am
Subject: Re: Monogram ULTIMATES kits
 
I am glad I got mine a couple years back at a going-out-of business sale for 2/$5.  (I also picked up the Mono. ‘59 Caddy for 5 bucks at a GOOB sale last month). 
 
Google Groups: rec.toys.lego
Newsgroups: rec.toys.lego
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Date: 1996/11/30
Subject: Winkler’s Going-Out-of-Business Auction—Update #2
 
Winkler’s GOoB Auction           Update           29-Nov-96
 
Google Books
Native’s Guide to New York:
Advice with Attitude for People who Live Here—and Visitors We Like
By Richard Laermer
Published by W. W. Norton & Company
2002
Pg. 128:
Q: A STORE AT 49TH STREET AND SEVENTH AVENUE THAT WAS ACTUALLY CALLED “CLOSEOUT!” WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?
A: Just like those outfits that constanly advertise “Going Out of Business” (GOOB), these are stores that want you to believe they are turning over stock every day. The difference between closeout shops and GOOB operations is that often closeouts are really getting rid of tons of merchandise at outlandishly low prices. The GOOB boutiques are 100 percent gimmick.
 
THe Independent (London)
I want to be a part of it
Christmas in New York is wonderfully atmospheric - and the bargains easily justify the trip’s cost, says Sarah Barrell
Saturday, 22 November 2003
(...)
Do not fall for the many advertised GOOB (going out of business) shops. This is a gimmick to get punters inside, and doesn’t deliver cut prices.
 
Trust and Wealth Management Marketing
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tales from the 20th Century: “Going Out of Business”
Before The Merrill Anderson Company moved to Connecticut almost 30 years ago, headquarters was in midtown New York City, a short stroll from the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.
 
In the 1960s, a number of small stores around that intersection sold dubious cameras, fake Oriental rugs, strange exotic gifts and the latest electronics (transistor radios!). Competition appeared to be fierce: two or three stores always seemed to have “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS” banners stretched across the tops of their display windows.
 
Funny, though. When you walked by Henry’s Electronics months after his sale, Henry was still there. And next time you passed, there was the “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS” banner again.
 
Eventually, New York City decided to stop such nonsense. A new ordnance required retailers who claimed to go out of business to actually stay out of business a year or two.
(...)
Much more recently, when the tech bubble burst, Nasdaq held its own GOOB sale. It was a killer.
   
Home Theater Forum
Mark Philp
12-28-2005, 08:17 PM
In this case, they didn’t actually raise the prices for a short time, the AGs claim they repriced everything the night before the sale started. New York has pretty strict laws about GOOB sales. Stores must have a permit that’s only good for a few weeks or maybe a month and they can’t bring in any additional merchandise to sell. This all came about maybe 20 years ago because there use to be dozens of camera and electronic stores in the Times Square area of New York City that were always “going out of business”, in some cases for years, just to fleece the tourists into buying the junk they were selling. I’m really surprised that Canada wouldn’t have laws like this.
 
Forbes.com
Absolute Return
Lisa W. Hess 03.27.08, 6:00 PM ET
Forbes Magazine dated April 21, 2008
(...)
For foreign investors the U.S. is on sale. In New York City we have what are called GOOB stores: shady venues hawking shoddy, overpriced merchandise with large and phony “Going Out of Business” window signs.