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GhostCorp Apparel - resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Keep business cards close alongside a piece of New York retail history with this S. Klein On The Square metal business card holder. The store’s name recalled its Union Square flagship and carried a second meaning associated with honest, straightforward dealings. Founded in the early twentieth century, Klein’s grew from a city institution into a regional department store chain before its final locations closed in 1978. This desk accessory makes a distinctive keepsake for retail history enthusiasts and collectors.

S. Klein On The Square was a popular-priced department store chain based in New York City. Russian-born Samuel Klein founded the business in 1905 or around 1912, according to differing dates in the historical record. Its flagship occupied buildings along Union Square East in Manhattan, and the phrase “On The Square” joined the location’s name with a 1920s expression meaning honest and straightforward. The full-line stores sold clothing and other goods, with departments for furniture, furs, and pets. Klein’s lower prices and quick inventory turnover appealed to cautious shoppers during the Great Depression; the founder reportedly earned more than $1 million annually during that period. From the 1960s, the company expanded into suburban markets, often placing stores near shopping malls rather than inside them. Locations served New York and New Jersey, as well as parts of Virginia, Maryland, and the Philadelphia area. In the mid-1970s, parent company Rapid-American Corp., led by Meshulam Riklis, began closing stores in groups. The chain’s remaining stores had closed by 1978. Its Union Square flagship site later became the location of Zeckendorf Towers. The former Newark store, vacant after closing in 1976, retained prominent signage until the building was demolished in 2013.