Maurice Goldblatt
Maurice Goldblatt was the co-founder of the Goldblatt's department store.
Biography
Goldblatt was born to a Jewish family in Staszów, the son of Simon Goldblatt and Hannah Diamond. His family immigrated to Chicago in 1905. In 1914, he and his brother Nathan opened a general merchandise store in a Polish neighborhood in Chicago located at Chicago Avenue and Ashland Avenue. Sales grew markedly from $15,000 in the first year to $1.4 million by 1915. As a discount store, the company did well through the Great Depression and by 1933 had $20 million in sales with seven stores. At the end of World War II, the company had 15 stores and over 2,500 employees. In 1946, Maurice retired and handed control to his younger brothers, Louis and Joel. In the 1970s, Goldblatt's had $250 million in annual sales and 47 stores with over 8,000 employees in the Chicago area.In 1981, the company filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. In 1985, it was bought by JG Industries Inc. and reduced to 15 Chicago-area stores. In 2003, the company filed for Chapter 7 liquidation.