Jenss was a small chain of department stores in

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

State. The company was founded in 1887 by the Jenss brothers in

Lockport, New York Lockport is both a city and the Lockport (town), New York, town that surrounds it in Niagara County, New York, Niagara County, New York (state), New York. The city is the Niagara county seat, with a population of 21,165 according to 2010 census ...

. In 1951, Harold Dautch bought the company. In 1962, the company opened its flagship department store at the Boulevard Mall in

Amherst, New York Amherst () is a town in Erie County, New York, United States. Amherst is an inner ring suburb of Buffalo. As of 2020, the town had a total population of 129,595. This represents an increase from 122,366 as reported in the 2010 census. The second ...

. Other locations were: Summit Park Mall,

Eastern Hills Mall Eastern Hills Mall is a shopping mall located 11 miles northeast of Buffalo, New York on the western border of the Town of Clarence in Erie County, New York, United States. It lies on Transit Road (New York State Route 78). The mall is north of ...

, and Main Street in

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

. It also operated the Jenss Twin Ton location at Main and Niagara streets in downtown

Tonawanda (city), New York Tonawanda (formally ''City of Tonawanda'') is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Erie County, New York, Erie County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 15,130 at the 2010 census. It is at the norther ...

, the former Zuckmaier Brothers department store. In 1997, the company decided to close its Summit Park Mall Location. On September 15, 2000, Jenss closed all of its department stores.Rizzo, Michael F. (2007) ''Nine Nine Eight: The Glory Days of Buffalo Shopping'' Lulu Enterprises, Inc.; Morrisville, North Carolina. . In 2002, Jenss, while remaining a separate company, chose to open stores exclusively with Reeds Jewelers. No merger took place, and the companies retain separate and distinct operations.

References

{{reflist Defunct department stores based in New York State Retail companies established in 1887 Retail companies disestablished in 2000 1887 establishments in New York (state) 2000 disestablishments in New York (state)