The Frank R. Jelleff Co., or more commonly Jelleff's was a

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

–based retailer that specialized in women's apparel.

History

Jelleff's was founded March 1910, on F Street, N.W. in downtown

Its founder, Frank R. Jelleff, founded the first Boy's Club in the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also referred to as the National Capital Region, Greater Washington, or locally as the DMV (short for Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), is the metropolitan area comprising Washing ...

. area, and the club at 3265 S Street NW, just off Wisconsin Ave., is named in his honor. The company was family run until 1968, when a group headed by I. Lee Potter purchased the store from the founder's widow. Potter served as chairman until the company's closing in 1979. His father, Alan Potter, served as president.

Flagship store

The flagship store was located at 1214–1220 F Street, NW, in the "F Street Mall." The store closed in early 1973.

Branch stores

Jelleff's opened its first suburban location at the Shirlington Shopping Center in nearby suburban Virginia in December 1947, which closed November 1, 1972, but the store reopened in 1973, as a discount general department store. Jelleff's also operated locations in Silver Spring, in

Falls Church Falls Church City is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is part of both Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. As of 2020, it has ...

, the Springfield Mall, a store at

Tysons Corner Center Tysons Corner Center is a large shopping mall in the unincorporated area of Tysons in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States (between McLean and Vienna, Virginia). It opened to the public in 1968, becoming one of the first fully enclosed, clim ...

, and at 4472

Connecticut Avenue Connecticut Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., and suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. It is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House, and the segment south of Florida Avenue wa ...

, NW, in Washington, D.C. It operated a store, known as the "Little Shop," from 1942 to 1969, at 6936

Wisconsin Avenue Wisconsin Avenue is a major thoroughfare in Washington, D.C., and its Maryland suburbs. The southern terminus begins in Georgetown just north of the Potomac River, at an intersection with K Street under the elevated Whitehurst Freeway. Wisco ...

., in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

. A store opened in the then-new Crystal City Underground in

Crystal City, Virginia Crystal City is an urban neighborhood in the southeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, approximately south of Downtown (Washington, D.C.), Downtown Washington, D.C. Due to its extensive integration of office buildings and residential h ...

, in September 1976, In 1979, at the time of the chain's closing, it continued to operate independently as "Fifteen Thirty Five." The Tysons Corner store closed in early 1979, followed in May by the Connecticut Avenue and Springfield Mall locations, then in June by Silver Spring."Jelleff's Chain Going Out of Business Soon," by Jerry Knight, ''The Washington Post'', May 8, 1979, p. D7.

References

{{reflist Defunct retail companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Washington, D.C. American companies established in 1910 Retail companies disestablished in 1979 1910 establishments in Washington, D.C. 1979 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. Retail companies established in 1910