Edward’s at King and Morris

Merchant
1949-1977

517 King Street
Charleston, SC 29403

FAMILIES: Kronsberg, Jacobson, Bluestein

LINKS:
Read the complete history of Edward’s 5 and 10 Cent Store.

Edward Kronsberg (1903-1985) was born in Virginia to Ukrainian immigrant Abraham Kronsberg (1879?-1918) and his wife, Lithuanian immigrant Lena Jacobson (1880-1962). After his father’s death in 1918, Lena sent Edward, the eldest son, to Charleston to live with his uncle, Joseph Bluestein, and clerk at Bluestein Brothers on King Street. In 1926, with Joseph’s help he opened Edward’s 5 and 10 Cent Store at 496 King Street. Over the next fifteen years, Edward oversaw openings of stores in Bamberg (1930), Walterboro (1936), Conway (1938), and North Charleston (1947). During the 1930s, his younger brothers, Meyer (1905-1983), Milton (1909-1997), and Macey (1911-2001), all joined the business. In 1949, the flagship store moved from 496 King Street to 517 King Street. The family went on to open 31 additional stores across the state and one in Georgia by 1977, when they sold Edward’s to Big K-Kuhn Brothers of Nashville, Tennessee.

Main image: Postcard of the flagship store at the corner of King and Morris (517 King Street), 1949. Image courtesy of Mickey Kronsberg Rosenblum

The Jewish Merchant Project is supported by the generosity of the Henry & Sylvia Yaschik Foundation and the Stanley B. Farbstein Endowment at the Coastal Community Foundation.

JHSSC Office
Sylvia Vlosky Yaschik Jewish Studies Center
96 Wentworth Street
Charleston, SC 29424
Phone: 843 953 3918