Claim:   The discount chain E.J. Korvette took its name from a shortening of 'eight Jewish Korean War veterans,' the founding partners.

Status:   False.

Origins:   Korea in the 1950s. Eight earnest young dogfaces forge a bond of comradeship in the crucible of war. They have come to rely upon one another for their very lives; each knows his survival rests in the others' hands. Vigilance, courage, and their commitment to each other are ultimately rewarded; each manages to survive his tour of duty and make it safely home.

Back stateside, they pool their meagre G.I. earnings to start a business, trusting once again to their comradeship to see them safely through. They name their fledgling retail operation in honor of themselves, coding the message of who they are into the appellation they create.

Hard work and business acumen parlay this humble beginning into an empire. The eight Jewish Korean veterans go on to live deserved lives of luxury as their chain, E.J. Korvette, succeeds beyond their wildest dreams.

Or at least, that's the way lore would have this story play out. Sadly, the whole thing is just a tale, one that grew up around the idea that the odd name fronting a successful retail operation had to have a secret meaning behind it.

Those enthralled by the rumor find its premise quite plausible in view of Korvette's emergence in the post-Korean War era and the prevalence of Jewish entrepreneurs in the retailing industry. Besides, no one has ever heard of a Mr. Korvette associated with this discount chain of appliances and general merchandise, which lends credence to the idea that the name must have been coined.

Which, indeed, it had been. The wonder-lovers were right about that; what they erred on was the meaning behind the name.

E.J. Korvette was founded in 1948 (two years before the Korean War) by a Jewish World War II veteran named Eugene Ferkauf. Ferkauf explains the nomenclature thusly:

I had a name picked out for the store, E.J. Korvette. ''E'' is for Eugene, my first name, and ''J'' stands for Joe Swillenberg, my associate and my pal. As for ''Korvette,'' it was originally meant to be spelled with a ''C'' after the Canadian marine sub-destroyer, simply because I thought the name had a euphonious ring. When it came time to register the name, we found it was illegal to use a naval class identity, so we had to change the spelling to ''K.''

(We haven't yet been able to track down why it would have been "illegal to use a naval class identity" in the name of a retail store in 1948. Perhaps there were still regulations left over from World War II which prohibited such usage to avoid confusion and prevent businesses from capitalizing on false military associations.)

Barbara "e.j. core unvetted" Mikkelson

Last updated:   22 February 2007

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  Sources:

    Ferkauf, Eugene.   Going Into Business: How to Do It, by the Man Who Did It.

    New York: Chelsea House, 1980.

    Groner, Jonathan.   "The Neatness of Myths."

    The Washington Post.   1 April 1979   (p. B7).

    The New York Times.   "On the Origins of a Retailer."

    12 October 1980   (p. C4).