Brothers Harry and Joseph Kaufman originally opened a
wholesale candy store, Kaufman Brothers, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on
April 1,1922. During the 1940s, the brothers acquired a wholesale toy
company from a candy client who owed them money for outstanding debts. On
September 21, 1946, Kaufman Brothers opened a wholesale toy store at 70
Columbus Avenue in Pittsfield, marking the company's entry into the
wholesale toy industry.In 1948, Kaufman Brothers Inc. ended its involvement
in the candy business to focus entirely on the toy business, which was
thriving by that time.
In 1973, the company ended its toy wholesaling to become a shopping
mall-based toy retailer known as Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby, with "Kay-Bee" named
after the initials in "Kaufman Brothers". The company had 26 stores at the
time. In 1977, the company name changed to Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby Shops Inc.
By 1979, the company was based in Lee, Massachusetts. The company opened 40
new stores during that year, and stated that it was the nation's
fastest-growing toy store chain, with 170 locations across the Midwestern
and Eastern United States. |
