FROM OUR JANUARY ISSUE: KARAKO SUITS – FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION

by Karen Alberg Grossman



The entire MR team proudly presents our January 2025 issue. If you haven’t received a hard copy, please page through our digital version, and we’ll continue to post individual stories here on  MR-mag.com. If you haven’t been getting MR in print, be sure that you are on our mailing list for future issues by completing  thisform. 

Cousins Moshe and Michael Karako are the force behind a third-generation/tri-state/10-store clothing business founded by their grandfather in 1982. Despite their youth, they’ve been making waves in the highly competitive volume-priced suit business. At a time when business casual still rules and most suit sales are driven by weddings and occasions, theirs is a unique, family-focused story of determination and drive.

Clearly, these two ambitious 30-something entrepreneurs learned a lot from their dads, Chaim and Ezra. At 35, Moshe is the slightly older cousin, but too young to remember the store that his grandfather (an immigrant from Turkey) opened on the lower east side in 1982. “My grandfather and my dad ran that store, then called Suits Warehouse Outlet. When my uncle dropped out of high school to join them, they opened a second store on the next corner. They’d send customers back and forth between the stores.”

The business grew slowly but surely; when they needed an additional storefront, they bought an entire building. As the Lower East Side became gentrified, they rented that storefront to Steve Madden and opened a location on Long Island. They’re about to open their 11th store.

“I think I was born in a suit,” jokes Michael. “I worked in the store as a teenager and learned so much from my dad. He’d say, ‘Never get too comfortable; keep innovating and pushing forward.’ Another gem from Ezra: Never regret mistakes; learn the lesson and move on…”

Early believers in advertising, ad dollars went from The Daily News and Newsday to radio, TV, and social media. “We also sponsored Islander games,” says Michael, “but what really put us on the map was our 3-3-3 pricing strategy: 3 suits, 3 shirts, 3 ties. Guys can buy a wardrobe for the price of one suit.” Indeed. Suits open at $140 and top out at $1,299 (in luxury fabrics from Vitale Barbares, Loro Piana and Zegna). Custom suits can run up to $5,000, even $6,000. Tuxedo rentals open at $119.

Other smart moves: partnering with Daymond John for Fubu clothing, using the tagline “Dress Like a Shark” in their marketing, adding women’s suits and using shapely female models to show off sexy pantsuits on Facebook, and ppdating technology. While many retailers find themselves over-inventoried in these unpredictable times, Karako’s technology allows them to produce goods based on actual selling.

“We’re now making decisions based on data, perhaps our smartest move of all,” says Moshe. But just as important, he continues, “We keep our people happy. Our employees have good health care, a 401K. We’re more like a family than a corporation although as we grow, we’re trying to be a little more corporate.”

“Bottom line: although we now manufacture 80 percent of our own goods, we’re able to get merchandise from local vendors as needed. As my dad often reminds me: “Always keep your door open, and never forget where you came from.”

MOSHE (RIGHT) WITH DAYMOND JOHN, PARTNERS IN FUBU