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History

Born in 1915, Joseph Cory, the founder of Cory 1st Choice Home Delivery emigrated to America from Calabria, Italy in search of the American dream. With a strong work ethic and a positive attitude, Joe made his living as a longshoreman by night and a mover by day. In 1934, in the middle of the Great Depression, at the age of 19, he bought a small Chevrolet van and started Rapid Vans, a small company that did household moving and odd jobs, providing the foundation for Joseph Cory Home Delivery Service. In 1936, Joe married his wife, Grace and they had three children, Joseph, Jr., James, and Grace.

It was during the years of the Great Depression that Joe decided to change the family name to "Cory" so that the name would fit more easily on the company truck. A true entrepreneur and a salesman, as an owner-operator he took on every job imaginable to support his family - even delivering ice cream cones. Joe’s first retail customer was Jules Seaman, owner of a small furniture store in East New York, who started Seaman’s Furniture, which later became one of the largest furniture chains in America. Today, Jules’s son, Morty and grandson, Jeffrey are co-owners of Rooms To Go, the largest retail furniture chain in America and Cory’s largest client.

By the 1940’s, Joe had developed a reputation as a creative, industrious man of integrity. Doing things the "Cory Way" and the value of family became important life lessons for sons Joe Jr. and Jim.

To grow his business, Joe reached out to many family members and friends to be the backbone of the company. When he opened a warehouse in Jersey City in the late 1950’s, sons Joe and Jim came on board, delivering furniture by day and offloading boxcars at night, learning the business from the ground up. E.J. Korvette, Ethan Allen, Bambergers, and Gimbels soon joined the growing client list. In 1964, the company closed its Brooklyn warehouse and moved operations to Central Islip. In 1974, the company purchased space in Jersey City, NJ where its offices remained for nearly 35 years until the recent move in 2008 to Secaucus, NJ. In 1977, founder Joseph Cory passed away at the age of 61, and sons Joe and Jim learned to run the business with guidance from Uncle John, their father’s brother.

The business continued to grow in new geographic markets and arenas, with warehousing playing a major role. As retailers’ businesses expanded, so did Cory, with Joe and Jim at the helm, growing the company to $35 million in annual revenue in 1988. Soon after, fortunes changed abruptly, and the company fell on hard times when several major retail clients filed for bankruptcy. The company would not have survived, if not for the personal sacrifice, determination, perseverance, and vision of core management, associates, clients, employees, and friends.

In 1994, Cory expanded into new markets with retailers nationwide and continues to grow today, ably assisted by the third generation of Cory’s and industry professionals.

Although Joseph Cory’s beginning was humble, his vision and values continue to be the foundation on which Cory builds and expands. Beginning with one owner-operator in 1934 to more than 300 employees and over 500 Independent Contractors today Cory provides quality warehousing and delivery services to major retailers nationwide. As one of the oldest and largest specialized home delivery carriers in America, the company enjoys a reputation in the industry that is second to none. We believe that our success is the result of the ethics and values that underpin the strong relationships among our retail clients, operational teams, management, and employees. It is only through these relationships that excellence can be achieved.