BRANCHES: Retail
A large migration of Jews from eastern Europe to the US occurred in the 1880s due to both political turmoil and debilitating discrimination. Parents often scraped together enough money to send their teenage children to America for a better life, knowing they might not ever see them again. Although Jews have made their living in numerous ways, they were more likely to enter retail. Legal discrimination had made it hard for Jews in Europe to rely on someone else for a livelihood, so they learned to support themselves through business ownership. When they came to America, they drew on this entrepreneurial experience and became involved in commerce.
Some began as peddlers and progressed to pushcarts on the streets of New York and other cities. By the time they began settling in Central Florida, they were astute operators of their own stores and services, mostly centered in downtown Orlando and Sanford. The records include pharmacies, bakeries, fabrics, women’s and men’s clothing, millinery, shoes, jewelry, liquor, household goods, appliances, glass, building supplies, bags, printing, plumbing, drapery, furs, beauty supplies, restaurants and delis, floor coverings, cars and auto parts, among others.
Early businesses owned by Jews, from the 1880s through 1949, are included in the ROOTS section. Here you will find examples of businesses from the mid-20th century to the present.
Jewish merchants played a significant role in the growth of the retail industry in downtown Orlando.
Even when Orlando was first settled, Jewish retail stores such as Schutz Brothers, could be seen on the dusty roads of this cow town. For decades, downtown Orlando was the center for banking, hotels, professional offices and retail. Jewish merchants helped stimulate the economy during the period 1900s through 1960s when retail grew and reached an apex, until businesses shifted to the suburban malls.
Retail businesses owned by Jewish families in downtown Orlando and surrounding areas, 1900s–1960s.
There were about 200 Jewish merchants with 340 stores in Orlando plus about 30 in the surrounding areas. The Makinson-Katz Hardware Store that opened in Kissimmee in 1884 remains the oldest retail hardware store still in operation in Florida. Two Jewish-owned businesses remain in downtown Orlando, La Belle Furs and Southeast Steel.
Any merchants not represented on the following lists were unknown to us at the time of printing. The Kehillah writing team apologizes for any incorrect or missing information.
Researched by Malka and Neil Webman
Orange Avenue was the heart of downtown Orlando, c. 1949.
Orlando’s business district is where many Jewish ownedand operated retail stores were located in the 1940s and 1950s. At right is Gibbs- Louis, women’s fashion, founded by Irving and Ethel Gibbs. At left is The Hat Box owned by Hyman and Esther Lieberman.
Joan Lippton Kimball
Can you imagine selling furs in 100 degrees? c. 1957.
After WWII, Morris Labellman and his brother Myer traveled home to Orlando by train. To pass time while waiting for a connecting train in Dallas, they took a walk and passed a window at Neiman Marcus department store where furs were on display. The daring Morris figured if they could sell furs in 100 degrees in Dallas, he could sell them in Orlando. This store, built in 1956 and still in business at this same location, offers 3,000 square feet of cold storage space and is now run by son Arthur.
Arthur Labellman
Morris Labellman looks over one of the stylish fur coats featured in his retail store, La Belle Furs, 1957.
Labellman started the business with a dozen coats using funds loaned by his brother-in-law Jack Albert of New York City. It is one of two retail stores owned by Jews that remains downtown.
Arthur Labellman
Joe Lefkowitz, a “gem” of a guy, at Ray-Mears Jewelry in downtown Orlando, 1955.
Morris Lefkowitz named his store Ray, to honor his wife. When his brother Abe and son Joe Lefkowitz took over the business, they added on the name Mears, which had been the name of their store in Winston Salem, NC. Mears was derived from putting together the first letter of other family names: Molly, Ernest, Abe, Rose and Shirley. Joe and Frances Lefkowitz later opened Leeds Distributors with Ernest and Tillie Lefkowitz.
Joe Lefkowitz
This is how Ron Shader said “Happy First Anniversary” to his wife Mardi, 1965.
Surprise! La Belle Furs has always been the place to buy that special gift!
Mardi Shader
Irv “Bubba” Lippton (center) doing business with the Maytag man Gordon Jump, c. 1990.
This is one of only two remaining businesses owned by Jews to remain downtown. In 1940, Lippton opened Southeast Steel to sell building supplies. Through the years, he added home and kitchen appliances but kept the business name. Stuart Kimball married the Lippton’s daughter Joan and manages the downtown business today with the third generation, their son Spencer. Lippton was one of the first retailers to offer color TV sets and side-by-side refrigerators in Orlando. He was also one of the first to utilize color display ads in the Orlando Morning Sentinel.
Stuart Kimbal
Al Emoff was known as the “Furnishing Man,” 1955.
As a successful owner and operator of Home Furniture Co., Emoff provided a popular source for hard-tofind home products. He, like many Jewish businessmen, was involved in numerous community endeavors. He served as president of the Jewish Community Council of Central Florida (1956) and as founding officer at Temple Israel.
Collections of the Historical Society of Central Florida, Inc.
Sam Behr of Behr Shoes proclaimed that they “Will Fit Any Human,” c. 1990.
Hannah and Herman Behr moved here in 1944 from Talladega, AL, and went into business with relatives. Sons Sam, a former football star at University of Maryland, and Norman, an avid tennis player, each went into the shoe business.
Heritage Florida Jewish News
Liggett Drugs was the “go to” place for prescriptions and lunch, 1958.
Larry and Neil Webman owned this popular drugstore at Curry Ford Road and Crystal Lake Drive. This feature article in the Dining Section of the Orlando Sentinel shows luncheon diners, which includes, at far left, Lou Feldman, popular musician and band leader.
Neil Webman
Bari Shoes expanded the family shoe business from downtown to the Winter Park Mall, 1960.
Jimmy Becker opened his first shoe store on Church Street in 1923. A clever businessman, he and his family eventually owned six shoe stores downtown. By the 1960s, many retailers headed to the suburbs. Becker’s son-in-law Eddie Baumgarten and his business partner Stanley Katz made the move and opened a successful enterprise, Bari Shoes, at the Winter Park Mall.
Stanley Katz
Mollie and Al Siskind had a surplus of heart and soul, 1990.
In 1957, Mollie and Al retired to the Orlando area. Their inactivity didn’t last long. Grandson Neal Crasnow said his grandmother soon tired of his grandfather hanging around the house. Al opened Al’s Army Navy, selling military surplus from a 1,800- square foot building on Church Street in downtown Orlando. He also went into the “business” of helping the Jewish community and those in need. Siskind’s daughter Fayge Cohen helped run this family business, which has been passed down to her son Neal.
Neal Crasnow
Third generation Neal Crasnow carries on the family tradition at Al’s Army Navy, 2016.
Crasnow owns and manages the business that today includes three stores occupying 25,000 square feet offering 5,000 items of clothing, camping and outdoor equipment. After nearly 60 years, Al’s still focuses on good customer service and community work. Neal grew up in Orlando and has been actively involved from his days as a boy in AZA, to his longtime service with the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando where he was a president.
Neal Crasnow
In 1976, Hattie Wolfe, owner of Hattie’s, organized the Park Avenue Merchants Association in Winter Park, 1981.
During the 1960s and 1970s, shopping on Park Avenue in quaint Winter Park grew in popularity. Wolfe opened her store in 1967. She recalls, “At that time, many of the stores were not open in the summer, but mine was.” Over the years, other Park Avenue Jewish merchants included Nat Haber, The Oriental Rug Gallery; Sylvia Slayback, Sylvia’s Corner; Ellen Prague, The Paper Shop and Luxe Linens; Audrey Lentz, Gallery of Folk Food and Fun Art; Judy Albertson, Albertson-Peterson Gallery; Debby Gluckman, Park Books; Ilene Wahnish Stone and Marcia Berman, Sylvia’s II; Lester and Nancy Randolph, Randolph’s; Ilene Wahnish Stone, Via Provence; Tina Wolpow, Eye on Park; Robin and John Siegel, Siegel’s and Lauren Zimmerman, Writers Block. Remaining today are The Paper Shop, Siegel’s and Writers Block.
Article by Nancy Long in Orlando Magazine, November 1981