THE RETAILERS ASSOCIATION OF MASSACHUSETTS HAS A HISTORY DATING BACK TO 1910, WHEN DOWNTOWN BOSTON DEPARTMENT STORE OWNERS FIRST MET TO JOIN THEIR VOICES TOGETHER IN THE PUBLIC. The purpose was to protect retail employers before the Legislature, and all levels of government, as well as to have a clear and consistent voice in the public.   

Over the decades, the organization existed under various names, including the Greater Boston Retail Trade Board, and Massachusetts Merchants, Incorporated.  The trade group primarily operated as a stand alone association, but for a period as a committee of the Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Today, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts is a state wide not-for-profit association with over 2,000 retail trade sector employer members of all types and sizes.  Although our primary mission today is the same as 90 years ago—to serve as the “Voice of Retailing” in Massachusetts, in the public and before government—RAM also serves our independent stores and restaurants with various group buying and educational services.