Kinney Parking Company

Kinney Parking Company was a New Jersey parking lot company owned by Manny Kimmel, Sigmund Dornbusch, and mob figure Abner Zwillman.

Kinney Service Corporation
Formerly
  • Kinney Parking System Inc. (1945-1962)
  • Kinney Service Corporation (1962-1966)
IndustryParking
Founded1945 (1945)[1]
FounderManny Kimmel
DefunctAugust 12, 1966
FateMerged with National Cleaning Contractors, Inc.
Successor
Area served
Newark, New Jersey
Key people
OwnersManny Kimmel
Sigmund Dornbusch
Abner Zwillman
Divisions
  • Kinney System Rent-A-Car
  • Circle Floor
  • Riverside Memorial Chapel

History

Kinney Parking Company was incorporated in 1945 by Manny Kimmel. In 1961, Kinney reached an agreement with Abbey Rent-A-Car (founded by Edward Rosenthal) whereby Abbey customers would park for free at Kinney lots in exchange for a 25% ownership interest in Abbey.[2] The relationship was fruitful and in 1962, Rosenthal and Kimmel decided to merge the two companies with Rosenthal adding two additional companies he owned, Riverside Memorial Chapel and City Service Cleaning Contractors, Inc.[2] The new entity was renamed Kinney Service Corporation and taken public.[2] In 1964, Kinney purchased Walter B. Cooke, Inc., which operated nine funeral homes in New York.[2] By 1964, the company had $29 million in sales and 6,000 cars in its fleet with 100 franchised auto dealers in six states who leased cars under the Kinney brand.[2]

Final years, merger with National Cleaning

On July 28, 1965, Kinney Service Corporation announced that they would merge with Terminal Maintenance L.I. Inc., a Long Island building-cleaning and maintenance company,[3] however, the merge didn't happen by unknown reasons.

In 1966, the firm merged with the National Cleaning Contractors, Inc. (established by Louis Frankel[4] in 1886[5] as National Window Cleaning and House Renovating Co).[6] to form Kinney National Company, headed by Steve Ross, who had joined Riverside after marrying Carol Rosenthal, owner Edward Rosenthal's daughter.[7] Ross pursued an aggressive expansion of the company's properties, first acquiring National Periodical Publications (publisher of DC Comics), followed by Ashley-Famous talent agency, then Panavision, and finally in 1969 Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.

Legacy

Warner Communications

After a financial scandal in the parking division, the non-entertainment assets were spun off again in September 1971 as National Kinney Corporation, and, on February 10, 1972, the remaining company was renamed Warner Communications, a predecessor to today's Warner Bros. Discovery.

National Kinney

National Kinney expanded from parking and building services into real estate development by purchasing the Uris Buildings Corporation from Harold Uris, but the timing was bad as the New York real estate market collapsed in the 1973–75 recession. The main Uris Building asset was soon lost to foreclosure.[8]

In 1979, after some protracted negotiations, National Kinney attempted to purchase The Aladdin hotel and casino in Las Vegas in a joint venture with Johnny Carson, planning to rename it after the star. However, Carson's wife Joanna gossiped about the deal, and subsequent trading in National Kinney stock led to insider trading charges against third parties by the SEC and the disgorgement of profits.[9][10][11][12][13]

In 1982, National Kinney sold its National States Electric division to an undisclosed buyer,[14] and then agreed to sell its parking subsidiary, Kinney System Inc., to that division's chairman Daniel Katz and a group of investors.[15][16] In 1985, National Kinney subsequently renamed itself to Andal Corporation and sold its remaining majority interest in Kinney System parking.[17][18] Andal invested in the declining Steve's Ice Cream and merged in Swensen's before selling them off and unwinding its last operating subsidiary.[19][20][21]

Further reading
  • Poundstone, William (2005). Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street. ISBN 978-0809045990.

References
  1. Master of the Game: How Steve Ross Rode the Light Fantastic from Undertaker to Creator of the Largest Media Conglomerate in the World Pg. 28
  2. "Diversified Kinney Service Is Growing Rapidly; Wide Interests of Company Pay Off in Steady Gains in Sales and Earnings". The New York Times. December 26, 1964.
  3. Kinney-Terminal Planned Merge at Newspapers.com
  4. William V. Frankel, 68, Dies; Led Warner Communications
  5. "Cleaning Up Sales Mount". Newspapers.com. The Palm Beach Post. March 20, 1966. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  6. "Real Estate Record and Builders Guide". Archive.org. New York, F. W. Dodge Corp. August 28, 1915. p. 357. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  7. Master of the Game: Steve Ross and the Creation of Time Warner by Connie Bruck
  8. Michael Specter (1981-07-19). "Q136.43 - Q136.43 - HAROLD URIS RECOLLECTS WITH PRIDE". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  9. "Business: Aladdin's Rub". TIME. 1980-07-14. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  10. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19791025&id=6GUaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7yoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5950,3701225
  11. Tuccille, Jerome (December 2003). How to profit from the Wall Street ... - Google Books. ISBN 9781587982200. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  12. "Chronology of the Aladdin hotel-casino - Friday, Aug. 18, 2000 | 9:59 a.m." Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  13. Newton, Michael (2009-04-17). Mr. Mob: The Life and Crimes of Moe ... - Google Books. ISBN 9780786453627. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  14. "Kinney Asset Sale". The New York Times. 1982-02-20. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  15. "Kinney to Sell Car Parking Unit". The New York Times. 1982-06-05. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  16. "Daniel Katz, Chairman Of a Parking Concern - Obituary". The New York Times. 1987-08-14. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  17. "Offer for Kinney". The New York Times. 1986-06-03. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  18. "Andal Corp - 10-K - For 9/30/96". SEC Info. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  19. "Steve's, Fast-Growing N.Y. Ice Cream Firm, Scooping Up Swensen's - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. 1987-07-23. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  20. "Andal Corp.: Restructuring Of Its Multi-Arc Business And Sale Of Steve'S Stock - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 1994-09-01. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  21. "Andal Corp. Announces the Closing of the Sale of its Principal Operating Subsidiary for Cash - PR Newswire | HighBeam Research: Online Press Releases". Highbeam.com. 1997-10-06. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
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