Hartfield-Zodys
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Bankruptcy and closure of stores by 1986 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles , United States |
Area served | Greater Los Angeles, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico |
| Products | Retail goods, discount department store merchandise |
Number of employees | 300 (1969) |
Hartfield's
During the 1940s, Hartfield maintained retail outlets along Broadway, the principal shopping corridor in Los Angeles, with stores located at 545 and 749 S. Broadway. By 1943, the brand had expanded to serve suburban communities with working- and middle-class demographics including Inglewood, Huntington Park, and San Pedro. Over the following decades, Hartfield further extended its presence throughout the greater Los Angeles region.
Zodys
The company ventured into the discount department store sector by launching the Zodys chain, with its inaugural store opening on June 13, 1960, in Garden Grove, Orange County. In 1962, the parent firm adopted the name Hartfield-Zodys. By 1969, Zodys had grown to encompass 19 outlets and established a 6.5-acre distribution hub employing approximately 300 workers.
In 1972, Hartfield-Zodys acquired the Michigan-based Yankee Stores chain, initially rebranding these locations as Yankee-Zodys before fully converting them to Zodys stores. Due to financial underperformance in Michigan, these operations were divested in 1974 concurrent with the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Post-reorganization, expansion continued into Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico; by 1979, the chain operated a total of 37 stores.
Notable store openings included Garden Grove (6/15/1960), Redondo Beach (11/3/1960), Long Beach (8/13/1961), Northridge (10/27/1961), Canoga Park and West Covina (both on 9/27/1962), Burbank (12/6/1962), Anaheim (7/19/1967), Huntington Beach (8/10/1967), Buena Park (11/19/1967), Santa Ana (10/20/1968), Norwalk (10/27/1968), Fountain Valley (11/13/1968), Pomona (6/8/1969), Inglewood (8/17/1969), North Hollywood (10/19/1969), Fullerton (11/30/1969), El Monte (5/10/1970), Torrance (6/21/1970), Bakersfield (9/9/1970), Riverside (10/1970), Downtown Los Angeles (3/21/1971), Hollywood (10/20/1971), San Bernardino (1972), Alhambra (9/9/1973), Montebello and Fresno (both 1974), City of Industry (8/15/1977), Pasadena (5/2/1978), Indio (9/30/1979), Midtown Los Angeles (10/15/1980), Boyle Heights (10/22/1980), Vermont/Slauson in Los Angeles (11/20/1981), as well as Oxnard, Oceanside, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Las Vegas, Upland (all in 1982), and East Riverside (1982).
Epilogue
Facing bankruptcy once more in the early 1980s, the company—by then renamed HRT Industries—commenced store closures beginning in 1984. By March 1986, all remaining Zodys outlets in California had shuttered; numerous locations were sold to Federated Stores, which owns the Ralphs supermarket chain. Additional properties were acquired by HomeClub, a retailer specializing in home improvement. This sequence of events marked the conclusion of Zodys as an operating retail brand.