Kroch's and Brentano's Car Magnet

$6.99

GhostCorp Apparel - resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Celebrate a memorable chapter in Chicago retail history wherever the road takes you with this Kroch's and Brentano's car magnet. The combined name recalls two bookselling traditions: Adolph Kroch’s Monroe Street shop, founded in 1907, and Brentano's Chicago branch, opened in 1884. Their 1954 merger brought readers to a landmark downtown flagship, and the chain later expanded across the Chicago area. A fitting collectible for bookstore fans, Chicago history enthusiasts, and former patrons.

Kroch's and Brentano's was formed in Chicago in 1954 by combining Adolph Kroch's bookstore with the Chicago branch of Brentano's. Kroch, an Austrian immigrant, opened a German-language bookstore on Monroe Street in 1907, later switching to English-language books during World War I. His business moved to 22 N. Michigan and, in 1927, to 206 N. Michigan Avenue, where it became Chicago's largest bookstore before closing there in 1953. Brentano's Chicago branch dated to 1884, when Arthur Brentano opened it at 101 State Street. After Brentano's filed for bankruptcy in 1933, Kroch and financier Stanton Griffis acquired the firm; Kroch received the Chicago branch and rights to the Brentano's name in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Kroch operated the two bookstores separately until the 1954 merger, which created a 40,000-square-foot flagship at 29 S. Wabash Avenue. At its peak, the chain had 22 stores in the Chicago metropolitan area. Carl Kroch sold it to its 700 employees in 1986; after financial difficulties, it was resold to Businesship International. The company filed for bankruptcy in June 1995 and was liquidated. Its remaining stores closed on July 31, 1995.