King Karol

King Karol

File:King-Karol-logo 31K.jpg King Karol emblem, 1971
Industry	Retail
Founded	1952 (1952)
Founder	Phil King Ben Karol
Defunct	between 1987 and 1993
Headquarters	New York, New York , U.S.
Number of locations	7
Area served	Manhattan
Products	Albums

King Karol was a record store chain headquartered in New York City, New York, established in 1952 by Ben Karol and Phil King. It remained operational through at least 1987, but had ceased operations by 1993. At its peak, King Karol was recognized as one of the most extensive and prominent music retailers in New York.

Locations

The flagship store was located at 126 West 42nd Street in Manhattan, and by mid-1971, King Karol operated additional branches at 460 West 42nd Street near 10th Avenue, 940 Third Avenue close to East 57th Street, 609 Fifth Avenue at 49th Street within the KLM Building, as well as a location in Flushing, Queens at 40-46 Main Street.</ref> Subsequently, the chain expanded to include a store at 1521 Third Avenue near East 86th Street, and by mid-1975 had opened a branch at 1500 Broadway around West 43rd Street.</ref>

Initially, one of the earliest stores was situated at 111 West 42nd Street near 6th Avenue from before 1954</ref> until it was superseded by the location on West 42nd Street in 1976.</ref> Throughout the majority of the 1950s, this single outlet represented the entire chain. During the subsequent decades of the 1960s and early 1970s, it functioned as the company's principal store.

Following its opening in 1976, the site at 126 West 42nd Street served as the main store until its closure around early 1985.</ref>

In the 1960s, King Karol also maintained stores at various addresses including: 254 West 34th Street (1961–1966),</ref> 153 West 42nd Street (only during 1961),</ref> Terminal Hudson Store at 48 West 48th Street (1965–1966),</ref> and at 444 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues (1966).</ref>

Throughout the following decade, locations included: the branch at 940 Third Avenue near East 57th Street (from 1969 until about 1980),</ref> along with the store at 460 West 42nd Street adjacent to Tenth Avenue within the West Side Airlines Terminal Building (circa 1970–1977),</ref> the Flushing outlet on Main Street (circa early ’70s to around 1980),</ref> a branch at Fifth Avenue and East 49th Street inside the KLM Building (1971–1978),</ref> the store at Broadway and West 43rd Street within the National General Building in Times Square (from approximately 1972 through after 1987),</ref> a location on West 48th Street near Fifth Avenue (opened in late ’70s and operating until about ’81),</ref> and finally, a branch on Third Avenue near East 86th Street established by the late ’70s that continued beyond the late ’80s.</ref>

Later years

In 1981, Ben Karol explored the concept of renting out record albums, inspired by the burgeoning videocassette rental industry and having analyzed successful record rental models in Canada. He remarked in an interview, "The record business isn't thriving currently. You brainstorm ways to revive it, drawing inspiration from similar markets. ... [T]he entire video tape sector is moving toward rentals".

By 1982, the chain had expanded to four locations and introduced a videotape rental service operated by an external vendor. Ben Karol noted in 1987 that he leased the video rental section to a third party, emphasizing that he remained primarily focused on records.

Toward the close of 1982, the number of stores decreased to three, and owners King and Karol were contemplating selling the remaining outlets. At this time, Tower Records was preparing to open a 34,000-square-foot flagship store in Manhattan, while the locally based Sam Goody had recently been acquired by Musicland's parent company, enabling its national growth. Phil King passed away shortly after, in 1983. By late 1984, Tower Records’ dominance made it increasingly challenging for smaller independent retailers to compete.

By 1987, King Karol had shrunk from a seven-store chain at its peak to just two outlets. Both remaining stores combined record sales with video rentals; however, Karol subleased the video departments to outside vendors. Ben Karol passed away in 1993 following a prolonged illness.

Additionally, King Karol operated a mail order record service through P.O. Box 629 at Times Square Station in New York City.

In popular culture

The King Karol location at 460 West 42nd Street, featuring its illuminated signage during nighttime, appears in the 1973 New York City police film Badge 373 within a bus-chase scene, just prior to the bus colliding with an Army/Navy store. Additionally, the King Karol name is visible in the 2016 movie Ghostbusters during the pivotal moments set in Times Square, where advertisements on billboards display discontinued brands.