Syms Corp (styled as SYMS) was an off-price retail clothing store chain, founded by Sy Syms in 1958. Its headquarters was in Secaucus, New Jersey, where it became a public company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange (SYM) in 1983. The company also owned Filene's Basement, which it acquired in June 2009.
At its height, the company and its subsidiary collectively owned and operated a chain of 55 "off-price" retail stores in 16 states; the company employed approximately 3,800 full and part-time workers. Each SYMS and Filene's Basement store offered a broad range of merchandise from nationally recognized designer or brand-name labels for men, women, and children.
On November 2, 2011, SYMS and Filene's Basement collectively filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. All SYMS and Filene's Basement stores were closed at the end of December 2011.
History
In 1958, after a dispute with his brother over the clothing store they had inherited from their father, then Seymour Merns left to open a rival men's clothing store on Cortlandt Street in New York City's Financial District. The store, which was initially named Sy Merns, competed directly with his family's original store on Vesey Street. However, he was forced to shorten the store's name to SYMS after legal action was taken against him by his brother. Merns later had his name legally changed to Sy Syms to match the store.[2]