In 1921, two friends Al Mains and Cecil Ginsberg were looking for a business opportunity. They found a man who was looking for some investors for his shoe stores. These men recognized that their chief competition was mail-order operations like Montgomery Wards and Sears Roebuck. To encourage their potential customers to shop in the local community, they thought of the name "Trade At Home." Then they shortened it to one word: "Tradehome."