Chess King was an American men's clothing retailer created by the Melville Corporation.
In 1967, traveling salespeople from Melville's Thom McAn shoe business noted a "wide open market" for young men's clothing, which gave birth to the idea of starting a young men's clothing and shoe store.
[1] Market research reportedly found that chess and auto racing were popular interests of young men.
[4] Chess King also experimented with three spin-off specialty stores in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
[5][6] Melville agreed to sell Chess King in March 1993 to Maryland-based Merry Go Round Enterprises (MGRE),[7] with the sale being finalized in May of that year.