Zayre

Brothers Max and Morris Feldberg founded a company in Boston in 1919 to supply undergarments to department stores. But within a decade, they figured out a women’s specialty store was the way to go. By the end of World War II, their shops expanded into New England, growing steadily in the ’50s and ’60s. In the ’70s, Zayre tried to buy Marshalls but failed. Their answer was to create a Marshalls clone, TJ Maxx, in 1977. Eventually, Zayre was sold off to Ames Department Store, but Zayre’s one-time subsidiary TJX (which now owns TJMaxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods) is thriving.