The

Pawtucket, Rhode Island Pawtucket ( ) is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence, Rhode Island, Prov ...

–based Apex Companies is a

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

that at different times since its founding had retail, online retail, commercial and residential real estate development, real estate management, specialty, wholesale and manufacturing businesses in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. In the late 20th and early 21st Centuries, The Apex Companies was centered on its retail division, Apex Stores, which includes apexstores.com, a discount department store and the Apex Tire & Service Center, located in Pawtucket.

History

The Apex Companies were founded by Albert Pilavin in 1924. Apex started as a tire retreading, automotive service and manufacturing business. According to company lore, Pilavin chose the name Apex because his initials were A.P., as well as the name's suggestion of "highest point or peak." The

1938 New England hurricane The 1938 New England Hurricane (also referred to as the Great Long Island - New England Hurricane and the Long Island Express) was one of the deadliest and most destructive tropical cyclones to strike the United States. The storm formed near th ...

destroyed Apex buildings in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, and A. Pilavin moved all Apex Companies operations to Pawtucket. To accommodate early growth, the tire business was separated from the retail store and the manufacturing operations creating the Apex Tire & Service Center. The Apex Companies operated a retail store on Central Avenue in Pawtucket until it opened and moved to the Apex Building in Pawtucket in 1969. An Apex Card was started in the 1930s as one of the first customer retail discount card programs in the United States. The Apex Card grew from being a discount card into a credit card and

loyalty program A loyalty program or rewards program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of one or more businesses associated with the program. Single-company vs. coalition programs Loyalty progr ...

. It continues as ApexAdvantage. In the 1960s, the Apex retail division opened an additional department store in

Warwick, Rhode Island Warwick ( or ) is a city in Kent County, Rhode Island, United States, and is the third-largest city in the state, with a population of 82,823 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Warwick is located approximately south of downtown Pr ...

and then about 1980 another store in the

Swansea Mall Swansea Mall was a regional shopping mall located in Swansea, Massachusetts. It served the Southeastern Massachusetts area. Located off Exit 3 of Interstate 195 (Rhode Island-Massachusetts), I-195, the building is situated at the intersection o ...

Swansea, Massachusetts Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts, United States. It is located at the mouth of the Taunton River, just west of Fall River, south of Boston, and southeast of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 17,14 ...

. The Warwick and Swansea stores closed in 2001. Apex opened apexstores.com in 1996 as one of the first online retail stores.

Apex Department Stores

The company's main store in

, is a widely recognized local landmark. It was designed by

Andrew Geller Andrew Michael Geller (April 17, 1924 – December 25, 2011) was an American architect, painter, and graphic designer. He is widely known for his uninhibited, sculptural beach houses in the coastal regions of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticu ...

in 1969 as a side project while working in the employ of

Raymond Loewy Raymond Loewy ( , ; November 5, 1893 – July 14, 1986) was a French-born American industrial designer who achieved fame for the magnitude of his design efforts across a variety of industries. He was recognized for this by ''Time'' magazi ...

. The building's distinctive

ziggurat A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude'), ( Persian: Chogha Zanbilچغازنجبیل) is a type of massive ...

roof was designed to get around local sign ordinances, as well as attract attention from nearby

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

. The pyramid design also reflects the company name "Apex," meaning "summit." The building's floor plan features large amounts of undivided floor space, which results in the entire floor being visible to shoppers. The store in Warwick also had a similar looking pyramid building.At the companies peak, Apex had three stores In Pawtucket, Warwick, Rhode Island, and Swansea, Massachusetts (at the

) until 2001 when all of the Apex stores except the one in Pawtucket closed. However, the Apex store in Pawtucket was severely downgraded. The Swansea Mall store opened in the early 1980s and closed in 2001. The Warwick and Pawtucket stores both had Apex branded auto centers. The Apex auto center in Warwick closed in 2001 along with the store while the Pawtucket auto center is still in use. As the Apex company shrank due to financial hard times, the building has been the subject of continued speculation as to its future, with some insisting it is an eyesore, and others claiming it is an example of outstanding architecture and a true landmark worth preserving. The City of Pawtucket has made multiple outreach attempts to acquire the building and site, floating the possibility of acquiring it through eminent domain in October 2020. In December 2021, the City of Pawtucket closed a $17,693,500 deal with The Apex Companies to purchase five properties in the city. In March 2025, wind damage and general deterioration led to the removal of the pyramid, which was a façade over the structurally-sound roof.https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/blackstone-valley/panels-removed-from-apex-pyramid-in-pawtucket/

References

External links

The Apex Companies

Apex Stores

Apex Tire & Service Center

ApexAdvantage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apex Companies, The Retail companies established in 1924 1924 establishments in Rhode Island Retail companies of the United States Companies based in Rhode Island Holding companies established in 1924 American companies established in 1924