King Karol

History

King Karol was founded in 1952 by Ben Karol and Phil King. The company opened its first store at 111 West 42nd Street in Manhattan, where it quickly established itself as a destination for music records during the postwar expansion of the American recording history.

Beginning in the early 1960s, King Karol expanded throughout New York City. The company opened locations across Midtown Manhattan, including stores on West 34th Street, West 42nd Street, West 48th Street, Fifth Avenue, Third Avenue, and Broadway, as well as a branch in Flushing, Queens. In 1976, the flagship relocated to a larger store at 126 West 42nd Street.

During the 1970s, stores were also located at 940 Third Avenue, at 57th Street (1969–1980); 460 West 42nd Street, at 10th Avenue, in the West Side Airlines Terminal Building (1970.–1977); in Flushing, Queens, at 40-46 Main Street (1970–1980); 609 Fifth Avenue, at 49th Street, in the KLM Building (1971–1978); 1500 Broadway, at West 43rd Street in the National General Building, Times Square (1972–after 1987); 7 West 48th Street (1977–1981); and 1521 Third Avenue, at 86th Street (1979–after 1987).

King Karol by mid-1971 had outlets at 460 West 42nd Street, at the corner of 10th Avenue; 940 Third Avenue, at East 57th Street; 609at 49th Street, in the KLM Building; and, in Flushing, Queens, at 40-46 Main Street. Later, the chain opened at least one other location, at 1521 Third Avenue, at East 86th Street, and, by mid-1975, at 1500 Broadway, at West 43rd Street.

In 1981, Ben Karol experimented with record album rentals, similar to the then-emerging market for videocassette rental, after having studied successful record rental systems in Canada. He told an interviewer, "The record industry isn't that great these days. You sit around and think of ways to stimulate it, try to come up with ideas based on what similar product is doing.... [T]he whole video tape business is now going rental".