Mervyn's was an American middle-scale department store chain based in Hayward, California, and founded by Mervin G. Morris (1920–2021).

On October 17, 2008, the company announced that it would liquidate its assets through a Chapter 7 filing,[4][5] planning to close every remaining location by the end of the year.

The Morris family bought back the intellectual property rights to the company in 2009 and announced plans to relaunch Mervyn's as an internet-based enterprise.

Mervyn's also offered significantly-discounted factory seconds of basics such as jeans, T-shirts, underwear, and similar garments, as well as household linens, with flaws minor and undetectable by most.

During the 1950s and 1960s, this made Mervyn's popular with the young suburban families comprising the majority of San Lorenzo's population.

[9][better source needed], and by October, it had expanded to southern California, opening stores in Fullerton and Huntington Beach.

The location in Millbrae was particularly popular among San Francisco Peninsula customers searching for deals on off-season discount items.

Mervyn's had not previously had a retail presence in the southern U.S., taking over a handful of Jordan Marsh sites in 1992 (along with a newly built store at Pembroke Lakes Mall).

A media campaign was launched to publicize the rebranding, with TV commercials and catalogs featuring former San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Joe Montana.

The Mervyn's locations in Minnesota were closed in 2004 as part of the deal between Target Corporation selling their Marshall Field's division to The May Department Stores Company in June 2004.

In July 2004, Target Corporation announced that Mervyn's had been sold to a group of investors that included private investment firm and turnaround specialist Sun Capital Partners, Cerberus Capital Management, and real estate investment company Lubert-Adler Management Inc. Rick Leto was named the new president and chief merchandising officer in January 2005.

[20][22] In September 2008, Mervyn's sued the financial institutions involved in the leveraged buyout of the chain, alleging that the deal had stripped the retailer of its real estate assets, forcing it into bankruptcy.

[4] The announcement came amidst an offer by fashion retailer Forever 21 to purchase 149 of the remaining Mervyn's stores for an undisclosed amount.

[27] Caltrans continues to maintain the traffic signal which connects the private road to Imperial Highway, and installed a new overhead sign with the name "Mervyn's Dr" in 2019 after the old one fell off.

A private road into a shopping center parking lot in Bakersfield is still named Mervyn's Place continuing the department store's legacy.