Because of the mix between the two genres Koester began trading one disc for another. This was the start of a razor sharp business sense. He developed serious skills while on his hunt for out of print records. But an inclination for music was not his only love, he also had a passion for film. In an attempt to further his business skills he based his educational plan accordingly. He enrolled at St. Louis University to study cinematography and business; later he was to go to UCLA or USC for their cinematography programs.
"My purpose for going to St. Louis U. was to take some business courses because I had decided to become a movie camera man, that was my first love. I would go to Hollywood and I would make a little money and in the back of my mind I thought I would, eventually, do a little syndicated series of jazz TV shows and that I would be successful and I would have a jazz label and a jazz record store. I went to St. Louis U. and I just sort of got seduced by the music. My experiences in selling Glen Miller 78s expanded to selling the stuff that I had found in second hand stores."
Koester began selling music out of his dormitory and he joined a newly formed jazz club that boasted as members some of the most talented musicians in and around the St. Louis area. Alas, the lure of the music and a chance meeting gave his life's plan a twist only fate can deliver.
"A jazz club was being organized at the time in St. Louis and I went to the founding meeting. I was a founding member of the group. I remember the first meeting where I heard a hell of a lot of good music. I later found out that some of the best musicians in town were there. Bob Graf was there. Clark Terry was there. Through the St. Louis Jazz Club I was able to do a certain amount of promotion for my business. Eventually I was chairman of the program committee; as soon as I was able to go into bars, I wasn't old enough at first. At the second meeting of the jazz club I met a guy named Ron Fister."
Fister collected pop music of the thirties and forties but he also loved Ellington, Billie Holiday and Mildred Bailey, three of Koester's all-time favorites. This encounter sparked the beginning of K & F Sales, Koester's first record store.
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