As a marketing strategy, the Zale brothers instituted a credit plan whereby customers could pay "a penny down and a dollar a week", making jewelry and other merchandise affordable for the average working American.

The success of this credit policy led to the company expanding to a total of 12 stores in Oklahoma and Texas by 1941.

In 1957, Zales Jewelers opened its first store in a shopping center—a major shift from operating only in downtown locations.

[9] In 1999 and 2000, Zale expanded with two major acquisitions: Peoples Jewellers of Canada and Piercing Pagoda.

[11] In January 2017, Zales announced it would close a handful of its mall stores when the leases expire, to avoid duplication with former rival Kay Jewelers.