Don’t want to get too schmaltzy, but fans of Kohn’s Kosher Deli in Creve Coeur will be happy to hear the restaurant and market will remain open, under new ownership.
Current co-owner Lenny Kohn said Wednesday that a buyer for the business, which had been listed for sale since March, has been found and a sales agreement is being finalized.
“The switch will be good,” said Kohn, who owns the store along with his sister, Rosemary Kohn.
“We’ve got a great thing going and it’s been busier than ever. But we’re going to stay on for a while to teach some things to the new owners,” said Kohn, who declined to identify at this time.
Kohn’s was founded in 1963 by Lenny and Rosemary’s parents, Simon and Bobbie Kohn, who moved to St. Louis in 1949 after surviving the Holocaust.
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Simon Kohn, who was at six concentration camps before escaping from Auschwitz before the end of World War II, had the number “141341” tattooed on his arm.
Once in St. Louis, Simon Kohn spent a decade learning the kosher food business, first as a delivery driver and then as a butcher. He opened his own deli in 1963 in University City and then moved to Creve Coeur in the 1970s.
Along with continuing to provide kosher foods, the business has upgraded and expanded over the years. In the 1990s, it added ready-to-eat foods and then offered sales online in the 2000s. It also has added a bakery and operates stands at Blues and Cardinals games.
“The new owners are going to keep doing all of that, and the name is going to stay the same,” Kohn said. “So that’s a good thing.”
