Lafayette Radio Electronics Luggage Tag

$16.99

GhostCorp Apparel - resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Take a little radio history along on your travels with this Lafayette Radio Electronics luggage tag. The company grew from a New York City mail-order radio business into a familiar name for electronics hobbyists, with catalogs reaching customers well beyond major retail centers. Its story spans branded stores, radio gear, hi-fi equipment, and hands-on kits. For collectors and curious travelers, this design brings Lafayette’s enthusiast-minded legacy along for the journey.

Lafayette Radio Electronics Corporation was an American electronics retailer and manufacturer active from approximately 1931 to 1981, headquartered in Syosset, Long Island, New York. Its roots reach back to Wholesale Radio Service, established in New York City by Abraham Pletman in the early 1920s. The company began using the Lafayette trademark for radios in July 1931; after a 1935 Federal Trade Commission action, Wholesale Radio Service became Radio Wire Television, Inc. Catalog names evolved through Radio Wire Television, Lafayette Radio Corporation, Lafayette-Concord in 1948, and Lafayette alone by 1952. Lafayette built a substantial mail-order business serving radio operators and electronics hobbyists, alongside branded stores and associate retailers. Stores opened in Jamaica and Manhattan in the mid-1950s, and kits were made at the Jamaica facility. From its Syosset headquarters and Hauppauge warehouse, the company sold components, communications gear, hi-fi equipment, kits, tools, and more. In 1981, Lafayette entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy; Circuit City bought several New York-area stores and operated some as Lafayette-Circuit City. The stores eventually closed. The Syosset repair center remained open for a year after the final store closing. The Lafayette brand was relaunched at CES in 2003, with products offered through special dealers and limited retail stores.