The first section of the King of Prussia Plaza opened September 18, 1962. It consisted of an Acme Supermarket and a 172,000 square feet, two-story E. J. Korvette department store, complete with air-conditioning and escalator service.
E. J. Korvettes was among the first big anchor stores for the new King of Prussia Plaza shopping mall. A popular, and false, story behind the name’s origin – that E.J. Korvette stands for “Eight Jewish Korean War Veterans.” In reality, according to Ferkauf, the “E.J.” stands for Eugene and his friend Joe who started with the company from its inception. The Korvette was named after the Canadian WWII Warship a Corvette.
The store began in Brooklyn in 1948 when WWII Veteran, Eugene Ferkauf opened a luggage store. His approach was to sell at reduced prices which led to him selling large volumes of merchandise. He soon branched out into selling small electric appliances to postwar consumers looking to modernize their lifestyles. He sold the appliances well below the “manufacturer’s suggested prices. Sales soared and Ferkauf opened more locations.
Ferkauf hired his high school friends and army buddies; people he could trust. While they started as sales clerks, as the company grew they were promoted to management positions.
The first of what became know as “Korvette Cities” which sold all manner of merchandise opened in 1954. The Korvettes store name swelled in reputation, and in 1962, seven new stores opened including at the massive new King of Prussia Mall – the 15th store in the chain. It included a Korvettes Carpet & Furniture Center and Korvettes Tire Store.
Korvettes was perfectly positioned to take advantage of the huge growth in demand for new consumer products, the booming growth of American families, and their trend of moving out to the suburbs from the cities. The growing suburbanite population needed places to shop. While many large flagship department stores positioned themselves to take advantage of the new middle and upper classes, Ferkauf continued to concentrate on the substantial demand for low priced staple household goods.
The King of Prussia Korvettes closed in 1982. It was replaced the following year by Sears which moved from its Norristown location at Logan Square.
