KORVETTE'S

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1948 - EJ Korvettes is founded in New York City by Eugene Ferkauf and Joe Zwillenberg as one of the country's first
          discount stores.  The original store was in a 400 square foot loft on 46th Street.
1955 - Korvettes opens its first modern department store (90,000 square foot) in Carle Place, Long Island, NY.  The company sells stock for the first time.
1956 - Korvettes has 6 stores.
1958 - Korvettes has 12 stores with over $ 100 million in sales.
1962 - Korvettes opens an 8-story store on posh 5th Avenue in Manhattan among such high-end retailers as Tiffany's,
          Lord & Taylor and Sak's.
1963 - E.J. Korvettes chooses the Chicago area to open its first stores outside the New York metropolitan area.
          At its peak, Korvettes had 58 stores.
1966 - Korvettes was acquired by budget clothing manufacturer Spartans Industries (owned by Charles Bassine) which also owned Spartan-Atlantic Discount Stores.
1970 - Korvettes sells its Hill's Supermarket chain to Food Fair Stores (Pantry Pride).
1971 - Charles Bassine sold the chain to his son-in-law Arthur Cohen.
1974 - Korvettes sells its Chicago-area grocery stores.
1979 - Korvettes was sold to a  French company, Agache-Willot Group .  The company began closing underperforming stores.
1980 - Korvettes closes all 15 remaining stores on Christmas eve, marking an end to this one-time premier discount chain.