California Apparel News

Maurice Zekaria, founder of the Los Angeles–based retail chain Windsor Fashions, died on Jan. 4 of heart failure. He was 82.

Zekaria was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1928 and was the youngest of six children, all of whom eventually immigrated to the United States. Zekaria arrived in 1947 and six years later started working with older brother Albert, who started Windsor Sports Shop, a women’s clothing concern, with stores in three Southern California locations: Palmdale, Lancaster and Azusa.

In 1956, the brothers went their own way, with Albert keeping the stores in Palmdale and Lancaster and Maurice taking over the Azusa store and renaming it Windsor Fashions. In 1961, Maurice opened his second store, in El Monte, and a third outlet, in Montclair Plaza, in 1968.

“He got to know a few of the major landlords fairly well in Southern California, especially the owner of the Hahn company, Ernie Hahn [owner at the time of several major Southern California shopping centers], and they would make real estate deals with a handshake,” said Ike Zekaria, one of Maurice’s five children and vice president of Windsor Fashions.

In the beginning, Windsor Fashions sold all kinds of merchandise and then went through several evolutions. In the 1970s, it was strong on denim until Gap Inc. started flooding the market with blue-jeans stores. Then the retailer concentrated on sweaters until The Limited cornered that market, Ike remembered.

It was in the late 1980s that the retailer started stocking more juniors apparel, particularly dresses for proms and special occasions. Now all 64 stores in the chain are geared toward younger customers, and dresses make up 50 percent of the stock.

Maurice Zekaria was remembered as a self-made man who was kind and encouraging with his employees. Joyce Deprest, a one-time employee who worked in the accounting department, recalled how Zekaria trained her to do the best she could. “About 30 years ago, I went to work for a pillar of a man. In his unique way, he encouraged me to learn more and tackle every task that was put before me,” she recalled. “He knew my strengths and never accepted less than what I was capable of. He truly changed my life and was instrumental in my career path.”

Ike said his father was a real merchant, especially coming from Baghdad. “They were street merchants, and he applied it to the apparel industry here and it worked,” he said.

Maurice’s dream was to have 100 stores in the Windsor Fashions chain. “We are going to try to make that come true,” Ike said.

Maurice Zekaria is survived by his wife, Alice; his five children: Lilly Levy and Ruth Levy of Deal, N.J., and Mary Zekaria, Ike Zekaria and Leon Zekaria of Los Angeles; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Services were held Jan. 5 at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park in Burbank, Calif.—Deborah Belgum