This article needs additional citations for verification .(June 2012) |
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
NYSE: ZLC | |
Industry | Retailing |
Founded | 1924 (Wichita Falls, Texas) |
Headquarters | Irving, Texas , United States |
Number of locations | Zales and Gordon's: 781 Zales Outlet: 130 Peoples and Mappins: 206 Piercing Pagoda: 652 (October 2012) |
Key people | Terry Burman (Chairman) Terrell Wilson (CEO) Matthew Appel (CAO) |
Products | Jewelry |
Revenue | US$1.888 billion (2013) |
$35.12 million (2013) | |
$10.01 million (2013) | |
Total assets | $1.187 billion (2013) |
Number of employees | 12,500 (July 2012) |
Parent | Signet Jewelers (2014–present) |
Divisions |
|
Website | www |
Footnotes /references [1] [2] [3] |
The Zale Corporation (best known as Zales) is an American jewelry retailer, incorporated in Delaware in 1993. The principal executive offices are located in Coppell, Texas. [4]
The company began in 1924 in Wichita Falls, Texas, when the two Russian-Jewish immigrant brothers Morris (M. B.) Zale and William Zale (born Zalefsky), along with Ben Lipshy opened the first Zales Jewelers store [5] (now a division in the multi-division company).
As a marketing strategy, the Zale brothers instituted a credit plan whereby customers could pay "a penny down and a dollar a week", making jewelry and other merchandise affordable for the average working American. The success of this credit policy led to the company expanding to a total of 12 stores in Oklahoma and Texas by 1941. Zales Jewelers moved its headquarters from Wichita Falls to Dallas in 1946. In 1998, online shopping was opened at www.zales.com.
In 1957, Zales Jewelers opened its first store in a shopping center—a major shift from operating only in downtown locations. The same year, Zales announced the initial public offering of its stock (ZLC) and began trading its public shares on the American Stock Exchange in 1958. In 1989, Zale acquired Gordon's Jewelers, which had been a major competitor. [6] Zales bought the Skillern Drug pharmacy chain in the 1960s, but sold it in 1980. [7]
Until 1986, Zales operated a catalog showroom called O. G. Wilson. [8]
In 1986, People's Jewelers bought Zales.
On January 1, 1992, Zale filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [9]
In 1999 and 2000, Zale expanded with two major acquisitions: Peoples Jewellers of Canada and Piercing Pagoda.
In 2007, the company divested its Bailey Banks & Biddle brand to Finlay Enterprises. [10]
In February 2014, Signet Jewelers agreed to buy Zale Corporation, with Zale shareholders receiving US$21 a share in cash in US$1.3 billion deal. [11] The merger created a $6.2 billion firm. [11]
In January 2017, Zales announced it would close a handful of its mall stores when the leases expire, to avoid duplication with former rival Kay Jewelers. [12]
In 2018, the company moved its headquarters to a new building in Coppell, Texas.[ citation needed ]
Macy's, Inc. is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito's. Bloomingdale's joined Federated Department Stores the next year. Throughout its early history, frequent acquisitions and divestitures saw the company operate a number of nameplates. In 1994, Federated took over Macy's, the old department store chain originally founded in 1858 by American entrepreneur Rowland Hussey Macy. Despite Federated's long history of preserving regional nameplates, its acquisition of the May Department Stores Company in 2005 marked the end of those nameplates. By the following year, both the Macy's and Bloomingdale's brands had replaced them nationwide. Ultimately, Federated itself was renamed Macy's, Inc. in 2007, an acknowledgment of the old store's venerable name.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as a mail ordering catalog company migrating to opening retail locations in 1925, the first in Chicago. In 2005, the company was bought by the management of the American big box discount chain Kmart, which upon completion of the merger, formed Sears Holdings. Through the 1980s, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States. In 2018, it was the 31st-largest. After several years of declining sales, Sears's parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018. It announced on January 16, 2019, that it had won its bankruptcy auction, and that a reduced number of 425 stores would remain open, including 223 Sears stores.
Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is an American and Canadian department store chain that operates 656 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Its Canadian market opened in June of 1994. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Men's, Women's, Boys', Girls', Baby, Bedding, Home, Fine Jewelry, Shoes, Lingerie, JCPenney Salon, JCPenney Beauty, as well as leased departments such as Seattle's Best Coffee, US Vision optical centers, and Lifetouch portrait studios.
Claire's is an American retailer of accessories, jewelry, and toys primarily aimed toward tween and teen girls. It was founded in 1961 and is based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The company is primarily owned by Elliott Management and Monarch Alternative Capital, but, in 2022, announced plans to go public with an initial public offering.
Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) was a large American conglomerate which existed from 1961 to 2001. At its peak, it was involved in aerospace, airlines, electronics, steel manufacturing, sporting goods, meat packing, car rentals, and pharmaceuticals, among other businesses.
Dillard's, Inc. is an American department store chain with approximately 267 stores in 29 states and headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas. Currently, the largest number of stores are located in Texas with 57 and Florida with 42. The company also has stores in 27 more states; however, it is absent from the Northeast, most of the Upper Midwest, and most of the West Coast, aside from three stores in California.
Payless ShoeSource Worldwide, LLC, is an American multinational discount footwear chain. Established in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez, Payless was a privately held company owned by Blum Capital, and Golden Gate Capital. In 1961, it became a public company as the Volume Shoe Corporation, which merged with The May Department Stores Company in 1979. In the 1980s, Payless was widely known in the U.S. for its Pro Wings line of discount sneakers, which often had Velcro straps instead of laces. In 1996, Payless became an independent publicly held company. In 2004, Payless announced it would exit the Parade chain and would close 100 Payless Shoe outlets. On August 17, 2007, the company acquired the Stride Rite Corporation and changed its name to Collective Brands, Inc. As of 2020, Payless is owned by a group of investors led by Alden Global Capital and Axar Capital Management.
Signet Jewelers Ltd. is, as of 2015, the world's largest retailer of diamond jewellery. The company is domiciled in Bermuda and headquartered in Akron, Ohio, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The group operates in the middle market jewellery segment and has number one positions in the US, Canada and UK speciality jewellery markets. Certain brands operate in the upper middle market. Signet Jewelers owns and operates the companies Blue Nile, Zales, Kay Jewelers, Jared, JamesAllen.com, and others.
ALCO Stores, Inc. was a retail chain operating 198 stores in 23 states, primarily in the United States Midwest. The company was founded in 1901 in Kansas by Alva Lease Duckwall.
Ashtabula Towne Square, formerly Ashtabula Mall, is an enclosed shopping mall serving the city of Ashtabula, Ohio, United States. It has the capacity for 70 stores as well as a food court. The mall does not have an open anchor store.
Plaza del Norte is a 698,581 sq ft (64,900.3 m2) shopping center located in Hatillo, Puerto Rico currently owned and managed by Curzon Puerto Rico. It is the largest shopping center in northwestern Puerto Rico, with over 130 stores and fast food restaurants.
Bailey Banks & Biddle was a retailer of jewelry and designer of US medals that was formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1832.
Finlay Enterprises Inc. was a holding company based in New York that conducted business through its wholly owned subsidiary "Finlay Fine Jewelry". It was founded in 1887. Finlay Enterprises Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August, 2009.
Friedman's Inc. was an American company that owned and operated fine jewelry specialty stores under the names Friedman's Jewelers and Crescent Jewelers. It declared bankruptcy in 2008 and had shuttered all stores by June 2008.
Reeds Jewelers is a U.S. retail jewelry company founded in 1946 by Bill and Roberta Zimmer in Wilmington, North Carolina. Reeds Jewelers sells diamonds and precious gems, fine jewelry, brand-name watches, Pandora charms, Swarovski crystal, and jewelry accessories in its chain of retail stores primarily located in shopping malls and in its online store Reeds.com. In May 2008, "National Jeweler" magazine listed Reeds Jewelers as the ninth largest North American Retail Jewelry chain.
Sandusky Mall is an indoor shopping center located in Perkins Township, south of Sandusky, Ohio. It is located on the east side of US Route 250, north of I-80/I-90 and Ohio State Route 2. It is the only major shopping center within 45 miles (72 km). It comprises more than 70 stores; the anchor stores are TJ Maxx, JCPenney, Books-A-Million, Dewey Furniture, Five Below, and Ross. JCPenney had previously operated a store in downtown Sandusky. It is managed by Cafaro Company of Niles, Ohio.
ULTRA Diamonds was a seller of fine jewelry in factory outlet and value centers in the United States. ULTRA was a manufacturer as well as a direct importer of diamonds, gemstones, and gold jewelry. At one point, Ultra operated over 100 stores in outlet centers and 38 other format locations. The company went through though bankruptcy in 2001–2002 and again after the financial crisis of 2007–2008. On November 2, 2012, the company was acquired by Signet Jewelers.
Sterling Jewelers, Inc. is an American specialty jewelry company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company was founded in 1910 by Henry Shaw, from LeRoy's Jewelers in Lorain, Ohio. Sterling Jewelers is a wholly owned subsidiary of UK-based Signet Jewelers Limited, having been acquired in 1987.
Alex and Ani is an American retailer and producer of jewelry located in Cranston, Rhode Island.
Theophlius Killion is an American businessman who served as CEO of Zale Corporation from February 2010 to July 2014. He also served as Director of Jewelers of America, initially as interim CEO and a member of the board of directors of Express, Inc. His tenure led the failing Zale Corporation back from near-bankruptcy.