{{Infobox company , name = J.M. Fields , logo = J M Fields.svg , type = , industry =

Department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

, fate =

Bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

, predecessor = , successor = , founded = , founder = Phillip Feldman , defunct = {{End date, 1978 , hq_location_city =

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

, hq_location_country = United States , num_locations = ≈50 , num_locations_year = 1961 , area_served =

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

, key_people = , products = , owner = , num_employees = , num_employees_year = , parent =

Food Fair Food Fair, also known by its successor name Pantry Pride, was a large supermarket chain in the United States. It was founded by Samuel N. Friedland, who opened the first store (as Reading Giant Quality Price Cutter) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in ...

, website = J.M. Fields was a discount department store chain based in

. The chain expanded rapidly in the early 1960s from a regional

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

enterprise, opening stores along the entire eastern seaboard from Maine to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Corporation purchased the growing J.M. Fields business in 1961, and in 1965 the home office was moved from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

to Food Fair corporate headquarters in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The original name of these stores was Enterprise Stores in the early 1900s. The chain was founded by Phillip Feldman of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

and his partner Samuel Glass. The name J. M. Fields came about when his son, Joseph M. Feldman, decided to use a name not aligned with any political, cultural, religious, or country culture. Joseph took over the stores in the early 1950s along with Hy Glass and George Glass. They saw the need for expansion. By 1961, there were approximately fifty stores. Most of these newer stores were built around large parking lots, among the first of their kind, similar to today's popular shopping configurations. Most new J.M. Fields stores were built adjacent to Food Fair stores, and the two were in fact connected, making J.M. Fields the first true "supercenter" of its time. Customers could walk from the department store directly into the grocery store without having to go outside. J.M. Fields featured a mix of merchandise found in most of today's modern-day discount retailers, such as housewares, clothing, sporting goods, electronics, and lawn and garden items. Many locations had a free-standing automotive center in the parking lot. When parent company Food Fair filed for bankruptcy in 1978, all J.M. Fields and

Pantry Pride Food Fair, also known by its successor name Pantry Pride, was a large supermarket chain in the United States. It was founded by Samuel N. Friedland, who opened the first store (as Reading Giant Quality Price Cutter) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in ...

stores ceased operations and were shuttered. Many former J.M. Fields locations in the Northeast became either

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

Jefferson Ward Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian footb ...

(later

Bradlees Bradlees Department Store, more commonly known as Bradlees, was a discount department store chain based in Braintree, Massachusetts, which operated primarily in the Northeastern United States. Bradlees sold various retail items in its stores, inc ...

), or

Caldor Caldor, Inc. was a discount department store chain founded in 1951 by husband and wife Carl and Dorothy Bennett. Referred to by many as the Bloomingdale's of discounting, Caldor grew from a second story "Walk-Up-&-Save" operation in Port Chest ...

stores. Kmart also took over many Southern stores.

References

J.M. Fields: Tallahassee's Original 'supercenter'
Defunct discount stores of the United States Retail companies disestablished in 1978 Defunct companies based in Massachusetts Companies based in Salem, Massachusetts 1978 disestablishments in Massachusetts