Nostalgic Retail Series #7 - ZAYRE

Brothers Max and Morris Feldberg founded a company in Boston in 1919 to supply undergarments to department stores. When sales began to decline, they ventured out to create a new discount department store.

The first Zayre location opened in Hyannis in 1956. Zayre which was a transformation from the Jewish saying “Zehr fgut” which means very good, grew into one of the largest retail chains in the country with almost 1,200 locations nationwide.

In the '70s, Zayre tried to buy Marshalls but failed. Their answer was to create a Marshalls clone, TJ Maxx, in 1977. Yes....TJ Maxx!!

In the mid 1980’s profits began to decline which eventually led to Zayre filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1988. The department store chain was then sold to Ames and by 1990 Zayre ceased to exist. Ames, kept the exterior similar to the style of the shuttered Zayre locations.

Ames filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001 and their remaining stores were closed shortly after.

Zayre’s one-time subsidiary TJX (TJMaxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods) is thriving.