Jafco Co. was a multimillion-dollar chain of American catalog show room retail stores founded by Sidney Z. Jaffe in 1957. Headquartered in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, the company sold a wide variety of items from stereo and photographic equipment to holiday gifts. Jafco sent catalogs to all of their clients allowing for pickup at their stores or by mail-order. Though retail locations stocked the more common items, Jafco's usual technique of processing orders started with customers ordering through mail and picking up at the store. With notable locations in

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, Southcenter,

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. Bellevue or Belle Vue may refer to: Places Australia * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales Canada * Bellevue, Alberta * Bellevue, Newfoundlan ...

, Northgate and

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, the major retailer expanded until acquisition in the 1970s. Jafco was acquired by Modern Merchandising in 1972, then

Best Products Best Products Company, Inc., or simply Best, was a chain of United States, American catalog showroom retail stores founded by Sydney and Frances Lewis in 1957 and formerly headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The company was in existence for four ...

obtained all 17 stores in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

in 1982. By 1986 all the Jafco stores were converted to Best stores. In 1997, all of the Best stores in Washington state were closed down after financial troubles within the company. The

Beaverton, Oregon Beaverton is a city in the Tualatin Valley, located in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon, with a small portion bordering Portland. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was ...

location now hosts an

Uwajimaya Uwajimaya, Inc., doing business as , is a family-owned supermarket chain with its corporate headquarters in the International District, Seattle, Washington, and with locations in Greater Seattle and Oregon. Uwajimaya sells mainly Asian food� ...

, another retail chain founded in Seattle. Jafco Sellers

Sidney Z. Jaffe

Sidney Z. Jaffe, born March 28, 1912, founded Jafco in 1957 with his wife and family in Seattle. After opening Jafco's first location near South Lake Union, Jaffe expanded into the catalog business with mail-ordering and processing right at their facilities. Throughout his ownership in the company, Sidney Z. Jaffe opened nearly twenty showrooms in Washington and Oregon. Jaffe's entire family helped manage the stores, with his wife Ruby and their sons Paul and Larry as well as his daughter Susan. In his spare time, he was a philanthropist, and donated generous amounts of money to many charities, synagogues and organizations around the Greater Seattle region. Sidney Jaffe died on May 25, 1979, at the age of 67. The auditorium of

Temple De Hirsch Sinai Temple De Hirsch Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation with synagogues at campuses in Seattle and nearby Bellevue, Washington, in the United States. The congregation was formed as a 1971 merger between the earlier Temple De Hirsch (Seattle, fou ...

was renamed the Sidney Z. Jaffe Gold Room in 2001.

References

Sources

* * * * * 1957 establishments in Washington (state) Mail-order retailers 1982 disestablishments in Washington (state) Retail companies established in 1957 Defunct companies based in Seattle Defunct companies based in Washington (state) {{US-retail-company-stub Catalog showrooms Retail companies disestablished in 1982 1982 mergers and acquisitions