The man who built the Hudson News chain of newsstands has died at age 86.

Robert B. Cohen was already a giant in the magazine distribution business when he decided to try his hand at retail in 1987. He opened the first Hudson News store at LaGuardia Airport and packed the shelves with hundreds of magazines instead of just a few.

There are now more than 600 stores across the country. Most of the country's major airports have them. Cohen sold a majority stake in the chain in 2008.

Cohen was also an avid horse racer. One of his thoroughbreds came in second in the 1974 Kentucky Derby.

Cohen was a native of Bayonne, N.J. He died Wednesday at his home in Palm Beach, Fla.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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