Maurice Goldblatt (January 16, 1892 – July 17, 1984) was the co-founder of the '' Goldblatt's'' department store.

Biography

Goldblatt was born to a

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family in

Staszów Staszów is a town in southeastern Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (historic province of Lesser Poland), about southeast of Kielce, and northeast of Kraków. It is the capital of Staszów County. The population is 15,108 (2010), which ...

, the son of Simon Goldblatt and Hannah Diamond. His family immigrated to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in 1905. In 1914, he and his brother Nathan opened a general merchandise store in a Polish neighborhood in Chicago located at Chicago Avenue and Ashland Avenue. Sales grew markedly from $15,000 in the first year to $1.4 million by 1915. As a discount store, the company did well through the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and by 1933 had $20 million in sales with seven stores (5 in Chicago, 1 in

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, and 1 in

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). At the end of World War II, the company had 15 stores and over 2,500 employees. In 1946, Maurice retired and handed control to his younger brothers, Louis and Joel. In the 1970s, ''Goldblatt's'' had $250 million in annual sales and 47 stores with over 8,000 employees in the Chicago area. In 1981, the company filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

reorganization. In 1985, it was bought by JG Industries Inc. and reduced to 15 Chicago-area stores. In 2003, the company filed for

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liquidation.

Personal life

In 1935, he married Bernice Goldblatt; they had two children, Stanford Goldblatt and Merle Goldblatt Cohen. As his brother Nathan died of cancer in 1944, Maurice was a strong supporter of research to fight cancer and was seminal in establishing the

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Cancer Research Foundation in 1947; and donated $3.4 million facility to the

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldblatt, Maurice 1892 births 1984 deaths American company founders American Jews American retail chief executives People from Chicago Emigrants from Congress Poland to the United States