Jafco

Cover of Jafco Catalog in 1974

Jafco Co. was a multimillion-dollar chain of catalog showroom retail stores founded by Sidney Z. Jaffe in 1957 in Seattle, Washington. The company sold a wide variety of items from stereo and photographic equipment to holiday gifts. Jafco sent catalogs to all of their clients following 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 it up at the store.

With notable locations in Downtown Seattle, Southcenter, Bellevue, Northgate and Tacoma, the major retailer expanded until acquisition in the 1970s. Jafco was acquired by Modern Merchandising in 1972, then Best Products obtained all 17 stores in Washington and Oregon in 1982. By 1986 all the Jafco stores were converted to Best stores. In 1995 all of the Best stores in Washington state were closed down after financial troubles within the company.

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.

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