WE GO BACK, WAYYYY BACK
We’ve seen it all: from cotton to tie-die to paisley to cords to flannel to fleece to cashmere to cotton to tie-dye to paisley…
Way back in the 1960’s, Barry and Richard Segal, two brothers from West Philly with retail in their veins, rented an artsy little building in South Philadelphia and started Jomar Hosiery, Inc.
After packing and selling several miles worth of stockings over the next several years, and getting to know a little more about what shoppers want to shop for, the brothers hit upon one of life’s basic truths: customers are people first, and people are endlessly hungry for quality merchandise at deep, deep discount prices. What’s so genius, you ask? Well, nobody was filling that particular retail void very successfully. So Barry and Richard took it upon themselves. They began quietly purchasing salvaged goods from a local department store and building up a healthy inventory of labeled clothing. Turns out, there was more to life than pantyhose. “Build it,” they thought, “and people will come.”
And come they did. Sales grew strong and customer interest even stronger. JOMAR quickly took on other lines of merchandise besides apparel: accessories, dress and drape fabrics, domestic items, home goods. The Segal brothers were soon filling aisle after aisle with purchases from regional department stores, mail-order catalogs and national specialty retailers. They had begun to proudly offer the one-of-a-kind retail treasures now found exclusively at JOMAR.
The rest is…well, suffice it to say that today, Barry continues to respond to his customers’ desire to own high-quality brands at laughably low prices. He appreciates the secret little pleasure bargain hunters feel when they come upon that undeniable, must-have item…and get it for a song.
