Steimatzky

Steimatzky (Hebrew: סטימצקי‎‎), is the oldest and largest bookstore chain in Israel, founded by Yechezkel Steimatzky in 1925.

The first store was opened by Tzvi Steimatzky in 1920 in Tel-Aviv, 6 Hertzel St. In 1925 his half brother Yechezkel Steimatzky opened the second store on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem. Yechezkel Steimatzky was a Russian-born immigrant from Germany. He had originally come to the British Mandate of Palestine on a short visit for the opening of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and decided to stay after he saw the potential in opening a foreign language bookstore that would serve a growing immigrants' market as well as British Army soldiers serving under the British Mandate. The concept was so successful that he opened an additional store in Haifa later that year. By 1948, another store opened on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv.

In 1927, Steimatzky saw the potential for expansion throughout the Middle East and opened a store in Beirut. The company name was changed to Steimatzky Middle East Agency. During World War II, a Steimatzky store opened in Baghdad next to the British Army base, and soon after in Cairo, Alexandria, and Damascus. The expansion came to a halt with the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war and the nationalization of all the bookstores in the Arab countries. The store's branches in Beirut, Baghdad, Cairo and Damascus were all nationalized after 1948.

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