Zayre

Zayre
Former type	Department store
Industry	Retail
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
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, kitchen spices, electronics, toys, and housewares.

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Not to be confused with Zaire or Zehrs Markets.

Zayre was a chain of discount stores that operated in the Northeastern, Southern and Midwestern United States from 1956 to 1990. The company's headquarters was in Framingham, Massachusetts. 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, which includes T.J. Maxx. The Zayre chain ceased to exist two years later, in 1990, although TJX is still in operation today.

[edit] 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 T.J. Maxx chain. In 1984 it started the BJ's Wholesale Club chain. In 1985, Zayre acquired California-based Home Club.

Zayre has competed with such discounters as Fisher's Big Wheel, Kmart, Walmart and Hills Department Stores.^[2]

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

Zayre stores featured frequent "flashing light" 15-minute specials and live/recorded PA announcements meant to build excitement and drive traffic to specific departments. Its slogan in the 1960s was, "Fabulous Zayre," followed in the early 1970s with, "Compare, you can't do better than Zayre." It was one of the few stores to remain open for 24 hours preceding Christmas each year.

In 1975 Zayre started a program entitled "Zayre '75" to remodel and update the stores. In 1985, Zayre purchased the former Gaylords store chain.^[3] 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 and Home Club were 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.