The company was based in Philadelphia and principally served junior and plus-sized women in their early teens through their late twenties.

The company was founded by Philip Rounick and Aaron Weiner, who opened their first store under the name JOY Hosiery in Philadelphia in 1932.

During this time the company observed the new phenomenon of suburban growth and construction of shopping malls.

However it was removed from the exchange after being acquired in 2007 by the investment firm of Lee Equity Partners for $395 million, or $28.45 per share.

[8] Following the dissolution of Deb Shops, a separate, Israeli-owned, US-incorporated company, ASBS Holdings Inc., published a plus-size online store under the same name, with the addition of a hyphen in its website name and url, using the tagline, "Your Plus Size There".