to the Feldbergs’ experience in fashion, gained through years of operating the Bell Shops/Nugent stores. As the sixties progressed, Zayre's product offering more closely resembled that of a typical discount store, with toys, sporting goods, records, books, health and beauty products, and much more. A number of these departments were leased out to concessionaires during Zayre's first decade, including linens, greeting cards, candy, and health and beauty items, totaling nearly a third of Zayre's store revenues. In the mid-1960s, Zayre bought out many of these firms, leaving only a handful of departments as leased operations. Zayre stores featured frequent flashing light 15-minute specials with live/recorded public address announcements meant to build excitement and drive traffic to specific departments, similar to Kmart’s Blue Light Specials. Zayre's slogan in the 1960s was, "Fabulous Department Stores", followed in the early 1970s with, "Compare... you can't do better than Zayre." Zayre was one of only a few stores to remain open 24 hours a day during the weeks preceding Christmas each year. By the end of the 1960s, Zayre Corp. diversified into specialty retailing. Among Zayre's early acquisitions was the Hit or Miss chain, an off-price chain specializing in upscale women's clothing. The first store, which opened in Natick, Massachusetts, in 1965, flourished and grew into a chain so quickly that within four years it attracted the attention of the much larger Zayre Corp. In 1969, Zayre Corp. bought the Hit or Miss chain and began its exploration of the off-price fashion market. Zayre's timing could not have been better. During the recession of the 1970s, Hit or Miss's results climbed so rapidly that Zayre Corp. considered expanding its off-price upscale apparel merchandising. The 1970s Zayre Corp. first attempted to buy the Marshalls chain, already established as a retailer of off-price apparel for the whole family. When that effort failed, the company hired Bernard 'Ben' Cammarata, previously General Merchandise Manager of Marshalls, to essentially create a Marshalls clone. In March 1977, he opened the first T.J. Maxx in Auburn, Massachusetts, quickly followed by a second store in nearby Worcester. The stores were an instant hit with customers, including middle- to upper-middle-income shoppers, providing the perfect solution to the heightening demand for quality fashions at reasonable prices with an ever-changing fresh assortment. The 1980s Within six years of that opening, Zayre Corp. found another avenue to the off-price fashion market. In 1983, Chadwick's of Boston