Zayre

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Zayre

Former type	Department store
Fate	Acquired by Ames
Founded	1956, Hyannis, Massachusetts
Defunct	1990
Headquarters	Framingham, Massachusetts
Key people	Malcolm L. Sherman, CEO; Max Feldberg and Morris Feldberg, Founders
Industry	Retail
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, kitchen spices, electronics, toys, and housewares.

Not to be confused with: Zaire, the African country now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Zayre was a chain of discount retail stores that operated in the Northeastern, Southern and Midwestern United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters was in Framingham, Massachusetts. The successful BJ's Wholesale Club and TJ Maxx chains are spinoffs from Zayre. In 1988, the Zayre department stores were sold to the parent company of the competing Ames chain, and Zayre's other businesses continued as the TJX Companies. The Zayre chain ceased to exist two years later, in 1990, although TJX is still in operation today.

History

Zayre was founded by brothers Max and Morris Feldberg, who immigrated to the United States from Russia in the early 1900s. Their first chain of stores was the Bell Shoppes, which sold women’s apparel. Zayre started in Hyannis, Massachusetts in 1956 as a discount department store. It was initially focused on the Northeast but soon expanded to other areas including a considerable midwestern presence. Early growth was aided by the Providence, Rhode Island based advertising agency, Bo Bernstein, fueling the growth of both companies.^[1] Zayre entered Minnesota in the early 1970s by purchasing the locally-owned Shopper's City, and rebranding those locations as "Zayre Shopper's City". These stores were an early example of the hypermarket concept, which included grocery, automotive, and a barber shop. This version of Zayre was found only in Minnesota. During the early 1970s the company started the TJ Maxx chain. In 1984 it started the BJ's Wholesale Club chain. In 1985, Zayre acquired California-based Home Club.

Zayre also acquired a few locations in Ohio in 1986 from Meijer; these locations were part of Meijer's failed "Meijer Square" concept.

In 1975 Zayre started a program entitled "Zayre '75" to remodel and update the stores. In 1985, Zayre purchased the former Gaylords store chain.[1] However, many of the new stores opened up during the 1980s suffered from cluttered aisles and messy appearances. Zayre began to feature appearances from celebrities such as Sherman Hemsley and Robert Guillaume in "Grand-Reopenings" of their major stores. These events failed to improve their market share. In February 1988 they filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, and in October 1988 the Zayre stores were sold to the competing Ames chain. Zayre's other brands were reorganized under the corporate umbrella of the renamed TJX Companies. BJ's Wholesale Club was later spun off from TJX. Both BJ's and TJX are still going strong today.

The acquisition of Zayre doubled the size of Ames Department Stores Inc., but it proved unprofitable. By 1990, Ames had closed 74 Zayre stores, and the rest were converted into Ames stores. Some of the former Zayre stores operated under the Ames name until Ames ceased operations in 2002.

Name

The original name of the company was "Zayre Gut," which means "very good" in Yiddish. Not having enough money to pay for a sign that included both words, ownership instead installed the first word "ZAYRE" to the front of their building with the intentions of adding the "GUT" later. However, the company became branded as "ZAYRE" and the owners feared that adding the second half of the name might confuse customers.^{[citation needed]}

A former Zayre department store in Dubuque, Iowa on John F. Kennedy Road. It was later acquired by Venture Stores, Inc. in the 1990s. The building has been home to ShopKo since the late 1990s. The Zayre logo in the picture above the entrance and on the pylon sign behind the store was used in the 1970s.

Slogans

• It pays to shop at Zayre...Everyday! (this was while stores transitioned from Zayre to Ames)
• Zayre - Fabulous Department Stores!
• "I got it at Zayre, compare, you can't do better than Zayre." mid-1970s
• Compare...you can't do better than Zayre!
• Zayre is going "Price-happy!" (circa 1977)
• We'd like to make Zayre your store!
• There's always a sale a Zayre!
• Save at Zayre - All Day and Night We'll Be There. (70's holiday jingle when stores opened for 24hrs)
• TakeAnotherLook, TakeAnotherLook...at Zayre! (1970s)
• Be a Super Santa! (December 1978)
• Get a Good Look at Zayre!
• Get to Zayre and Get It All! (circa 1981)
• "Before you go back to school, go to Zayre! You can learn the ABC's of savings there!" (from musical jingle used in radio & TV advertising, circa early-to-mid 1960's)
• "Where? Zayre!" circa 1981

See also

Companies portal

Business and economics portal

• TJX Companies
• T.J. Maxx
• BJ's Wholesale Club
• Ames
• Zehrs, a Canadian superstore chain

Notes