Adray's was the name of two appliance and electronics retailers, one a single store and the other a chain of stores, both based in Southern California. The independent store at 1809 W. Chapman Avenue in the City of Orange had been fully owned by Lou Adray since 1971 when he bought out its founders, his brother Andy and their cousin Eddie Aladray. This store was described by the Los Angeles Times at its closure in 1998 as an "institution". The separate store chain, also branded Adray's but incorporated as Adry-Mart Inc., was run by Lou Adray's relatives and operated up to 10 stores in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. History At one point in the late 1960s, there were four separate appliance and electronics retail operations named Adray's in the US, three in Southern California and one in Dearborn, Michigan, with each run by one of four brothers: Mike, Andy, Sam, and Lou Adray. The Michigan location, founded by Mike in 1955, was the first. In 1965, Andy Adray opened a store in Los Angeles and a year later Sam did the same in Van Nuys. A store in Orange was opened in 1967 and was initially owned by Andy and one of their cousins, Eddie Aladray. When Lou Adray moved to the area in 1968, he bought out Andy's ownership in the Orange location and in 1971 became the store's sole owner when he bought out Eddie's share. The three California stores initially cooperated by combining their buying power with suppliers and accepting returns or exchanges for each others customers. However, Sam shut down his store in 1970 and Andy shut his in 1974 leaving Lou's store in Orange as the only Adray's in California. This lasted for two years until 1976 when Lou helped Andy's son Richard open his own location, also called Adray's and also selling appliances and electronics, in Van Nuys. While Lou was not an owner in the new store, he provided Richard with credit guarantees as the operation got started. In 1979, Richard sold his operation to a group of investors incorporated as Adry-Mart Inc. While the buyers had initially said they intended to stop using the name Adray's, the final contract with Richard gave them the rights to use that name in northern Los Angeles County and to the north. Lou discovered that Adry-Mart intended to continue operating as Adray's only after the