The Frank R. Jelleff Co., or more commonly Jelleff's was a Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

-based retailer that specialized in women's apparel.

History

Jelleff's was founded March 1910, on F Street, N.W. in downtown Washington, D.C. Its founder, Frank R. Jelleff founded the first Boy's Club in the D.C. area, and the club at 3265 S Street NW, just off Wisconsin Ave., is named in his honor. The company was family run until 1968, when a group headed by I. Lee Potter purchased the store from the founder's widow. Potter served as chairman until the company's closing in 1979. His father, Alan Potter, served as president.

Flagship Store

The flagship store was located at 1214-1220 F Street, NW, in the "F Street Mall." The store closed in early 1973.

Branch Stores

Jelleff's opened its first suburban location at the Shirlington Shopping Center

The Village at Shirlington

The Village at Shirlington opened as Shirlington Shopping Center in 1944, and was the first large shopping center to open in the Washington, D.C. suburbs and one of the earliest in the United States. It is located along Campbell Avenue at the intersection of Shirley Highway and Quaker Lane /...

 in nearby suburban Virginia in December 1947. That location closed November 1, 1972, but the 20000 square feet (1,858.1 m²) store reopened in 1973, as a discount general department store. It also operated locations in Silver Spring

Silver Spring, Maryland

Silver Spring is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 71,452 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown.The urbanized, oldest, and...

; in Falls Church

Falls Church, Virginia

The City of Falls Church is an independent city in Virginia, United States, in the Washington Metropolitan Area. The city population was 12,332 in 2010, up from 10,377 in 2000. Taking its name from The Falls Church, an 18th-century Anglican parish, Falls Church gained township status within...

; at Springfield Mall

Springfield Mall (Virginia)

Springfield Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in Springfield, Virginia, located at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Franconia Road which is part of the Springfield Interchange. The mall is also located 1/4 mile north of Franconia-Springfield Parkway and the Franconia-Springfield metro station...

; a 40000 square feet (3,716.1 m²) store at Tysons Corner Center

Tysons Corner Center

Tysons Corner Center, located in the Tysons Corner unincorporated area in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States , opened to the public in 1968, becoming one of the first fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping centers in the Washington Metropolitan Area...

; and at 4472 Connecticut Ave., NW, in Washington, D.C. It operated a 3800 square feet (353 m²) store, known as the "Little Shop," from 1942 to 1969, at 6936 Wisconsin Ave., in Bethesda, Maryland

Bethesda, Maryland

Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...

. A 12000 square feet (1,114.8 m²) store opened in the then-new Crystal Underground in September 1976, and in 1979, at the time of the chain's closing, continued to operate independently as "Fifteen Thirty Five." The Tysons Corner store closed in early 1979, followed in May by the Connecticut Avenue and Springfield Mall locations, then in June by Silver Spring.