Chaim, Moshe, and Ezra Karako
Moshe and Aliza Karako
L–R: Chaim, Moshe, and Ezra Karako and sons
Karako showroom
By Larry Gordon
I’ve known Chaim and Ezra Karako for as long as they have been advertising their men’s clothing stores in this newspaper, which is now over 16 years. Who in this area does not know the Karako name—either from our ads, the ads in other newspapers, billboards, or their sponsorship of sporting events like New York Mets baseball?
Another fact of this relationship between us is that for years I’ve been saying to the brothers that we need to sit down one of these days so I can hear the story of the creation and development of the Karako line, the thinking behind the strategy of where they place and open stores, how and where they manufacture the clothing they do, and so on.
Chaim and Ezra were born in Turkey. They grew up in the newly born modern state of Israel before immigrating to the U.S. in 1981. Though they have been in business for over 30 years, they still actively seek opportunities to develop, even pursuing new store locations. Two new stores are just about ready to be opened in Plainview, Long Island, and off Fifth Avenue and East 36th Street in Manhattan. By the way, both Karako brothers live right here in the Five Towns, so you might run into them one of these days in the busy Rockaway Turnpike store, one of the local bagel stores or, possibly, on the way to their block-long warehouse in Inwood.
So we are sitting in their executive offices in Inwood the other day and Chaim is gazing up at the poster on the wall over my shoulder. I turn around and see that he is looking at an old framed black-and-white newspaper ad that said you can get 12 items—suits, ties, socks, and hankies—for $299. While that was a long time ago, it seems that even today few in this business know how to keep prices down with more proficiency than the Karako boys.
“The most important thing is to know how to shop for the right and best material,” Chaim says. These stores were not always known by the family name. For the first many years, until about 10 years ago, the company was known as Suit Warehouse, with stores located for the most part on Long Island. But then another much larger company known as Men’s Wearhouse decided that their names were too similar and wanted the boys to change it. At first they were reluctant and resisted the change, but in the end they were persuaded to do so by their family rabbi.
I suggested that it was a little bold to go ahead and place the family name—Karako—on the signage of all those stores, not to mention on billboards, on top of taxis, and on TV and newspaper ads. But their rabbi again advised them to go right ahead and rename the business in the family name, and they now both agree that it was the best thing they ever did.
On his desk, Ezra has samples of some of the finest materials manufactured in Italy. The fabrics and designs are most popular today, he says, especially with young people. Karako stores have, of late, begun offering custom suits in the $600 range. People want quality material and a suit, a jacket, or pants that are a perfect fit, and they are willing to pay for it within reason. And that is what Karako is now featuring. “On Long Island today, when it comes to suits, we are the player,” explains Chaim. “We are not about selling ego,” he adds, “it is about quality and value—and that is the secret of our success.”
The Karako family got into the men’s clothing business by a quirk of fate. After leaving Turkey in 1949, Moshe Karako, Chaim and Ezra’s father, arrived in Tel-Aviv looking for work as a contractor. He found odd jobs here and there doing home renovations, but then in 1981 decided to move once again, this time to New York. Once settled here, he looked for work in construction and landed a job renovating a store that was ruined in a fire. It was on the Lower East Side—Rivington and Essex Streets, to be precise.
Back in Israel, before they left, Moshe Karako received a call from a friend looking for a place for another friend to stay over one of the holidays when all of the hotel rooms in Israel were sold out. He made some calls and was able to find this couple a place. It was this couple from New York that later gave Moshe the job to rebuild the burnt store. Later, the storeowner offered Moshe a job managing what would eventually be a men’s clothing store at the location. In the interim, something occurred and the owner could not open the business, which left Moshe with the store and the idea to open a suit place at the location. In a sense, the rest is history.
“If my father had not made the effort to find those folks a place to stay in Israel,” says Ezra, “we might not be sitting here now.”
The Karako warehouse in Inwood is expansive and something to behold. On the day that we walked through the place together, it looked like there were miles of suits ready to be shipped. Ezra pointed out that two of their new stores were about to open—the one in the city and another on Long Island—and this was their inventory being made ready to go.
Both Chaim and Ezra Karako are modest and, unless you ask a specific question, rather reserved. Even though I’ve known the Karako brothers for about 15 years and we talked more than several times about doing a story like this, they were never very eager to do it or overly sold on the idea. But there is a great story here, and it deserves to be told.
So what is the secret to the high quality and modest prices they offer? Well, it’s mostly a secret, so I can’t spill it out here in print. The Karako brothers know how to buy and also have a great name in the industry. They say that their business philosophy and the key to their success to this very day—great value and low prices—has been their tradition that was perhaps invented more than 100 years ago on the Lower East Side.
“Our father is the smartest man we know,” Ezra says. “He is not just the leader of the family but a man who is the inspiration for us, our children who are now in the business with us, and our extended family.”
The brothers are also extensively involved in Jewish communal activities both here and in Israel. Amongst their charitable endeavors are the endowment of a Magen David Adom ambulance and support of Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel-Aviv.
So if you read the Karako ads and discover that you can buy several suits, some pants, shoes, and other accessories all for a few hundred dollars, you might be wondering how they do it. “A while ago I was working with a customer in one of our stores who was purchasing a few suits and some other items, and the total price was just a few hundred dollars,” says Chaim Karako. “Before he leaves he turns to me and asks—‘Are you sure you are making money on this sale?’”
That episode just confirms to the brothers that whatever they are doing, they are doing right. It is not just a formula that the public likes and appreciates; it is a business plan combined with involvement in the community that suits them—and all of us—just fine. v
Comments for Larry Gordon are welcome at editor@5tjt.com.