Zayre

Zayre
Company typeDepartment store
IndustryRetail
Founded1919 (as the New England Trading Company)[1]
1929 (as Bell Hosiery Shops)[2]
September 20, 1956; 68 years ago (September 20, 1956) in Hyannis, Massachusetts
FoundersMax Feldberg and Morris Feldberg
DefunctJune 8, 1990; 34 years ago (June 8, 1990)
Fate
Successor
HeadquartersFramingham, Massachusetts
Key people
Malcolm L. Sherman, CEO
ProductsClothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, kitchen spices, electronics, toys, and housewares.
Bell Shops logo ca. 1930s
Zayre store in Addison, Illinois ca. 1970s

Zayre (/zɛər/) was a chain of discount stores that operated in the eastern half of the United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters were in Framingham, Massachusetts. In October 1988, Zayre's parent company, Zayre Corp., sold the stores to the competing Ames Department Stores, Inc. chain. In June 1989, Zayre Corp. merged with one of its subsidiaries, The TJX Companies, parent company of T.J. Maxx, which still exists today. A number of stores retained the Zayre name until 1990, by which time all stores were either closed or converted into Ames stores.[A][4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference lat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Saxon, Wolfgang (16 May 2004). "Stanley H. Feldberg, 79, Retailer Who Helped Build Zayre Chain". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  3. ^ "7 discount stores from back in the day you probably forgot existed". MeTV. August 8, 2016. Shopping isn't the same without Zayre, Ames and Woolco.
  4. ^ "The TJX Companies, Inc. History". FundingUniverse. Retrieved February 1, 2013.


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