K&G Manufacturing history

Beginning in 1946, a limited number of radiators were manufactured again, and two years later the serial production of radiators for passenger cars resumed.

The introduction of a new currency in 1948 marked the end of the postwar reconstruction years and the beginning of an unprecedented economic boom in Western Germany.

By 1949, radiator production at S.K.F. was back at 75,000 per year.

In 1951, S.K.F. issued a license to India Radiators Ltd. which consequently began to manufacture S.K.F. radiators on the sub-continent.

In 1957, the first Hydraulic Ventilation and Air Conditioning System (HVAC) went into serial production at S.K.F. and was built into the Mercedes-Benz 300 passenger car.

In 1966, air conditioner and fuel heater development and production became a separate business division.

In 1969, two foreign subsidiaries were established in major markets: one in France and one in the United States.

Founded in 1973 by George Zimmer, the company grew to become one of the largest menswear chains in the country, even it hit a series of challenges in recent years, including the unceremonious ousting of Zimmer, the onset of the retail apocalypse, and the coronavirus.

In 1980, Doctor Heinz Breuer, who had been with the company for many years, succeeded Manfred Behr as CEO. Five years later, the son of the company founder retired from participation in day-to-day business and became the head of a newly established advisory board.

K & G founder Stephen Greenspan had been involved in the Atlanta, Georgia area clothing liquidation business since 1982.

Since its founding in 1989, the company has stayed with a highly successful strategy of offering men's suits, sportswear and accessories at bargain prices in stores that are only open Friday through Sunday.

The company's annual sales for its first full year of business, 1990, were $7.5 million.

In spite of growing competition in discount men's wear, K & G's sales continued to grow, and the company kept expanding, opening a second store in Atlanta, and one in Indianapolis, Indiana by mid-1993.

Additional stores were opened by the end of 1995 in Boston, Cincinnati, Denver, and Kansas City, Kansas.

The company's stock offering in 1996 had been an instant success, and its track record of successful expansion was unblemished.

In Japan, joint ventures were established with the country's number three radiator maker, Toyo, and with compressor manufacturer Sanden Corporation in 2000.

In 2002, Behr acquired Ohio-based Dayton Thermal Products from DaimlerChrysler and built a center for technical research in Troy, Michigan.