NAOMI CHERI SHONEK
Entrepreneur Extraordinaire
Names like Estée Lauder and Helena Rubinstein are legendary examples of women
who started with little capital and built fortunes in the cosmetics world. Here at North
Shore Towers we have our own example of a woman who started with almost no money,
and through hard work and creativity, achieved great success in cosmetics, high fashion
and real estate. Her name is Naomi Shonek, though she is widely known as “Cheri”
after her well-known Bellmore dress shop, “Mon Cheri.” Many present NST residents
were her customers.
BY FRED CHERNOW
Photos courtesy of Naomi Cheri Shonek
WHERE DID YOU GROW UP?
I was born and raised in Brownsville,
Brooklyn, and graduated from Thomas
Jefferson H. S. This was a poor neighborhood,
but I never felt poor. My parents raised three
children with much love and respect for our
Jewish traditions. My father was an ordained
rabbi, but in those days, there were few available
pulpits and many more rabbis. So he
trained as a shochet, and became certified as
a person who slaughtered chickens and cattle
in the manner prescribed by Jewish law. We
always had food on the table and much love.
WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER HIGH SCHOOL?
I got a job as a fashion model. I was a petite
size but had broad shoulders. This was an asset
for a fur coat model. The luxury coats “fell” just
right from my shoulders, and I spent most days
wearing mink coats. My photo even appeared
in Women’s Wear Daily! But I soon realized
why the other model in the showroom lost her
job when she reached age 30. She was considered
too old. I started thinking of another
career even though I was still in my early ’20s.
I was fascinated with makeup and cosmetics.
Soon, I was selling private label cosmetics to
beauty salons all along Queens Boulevard. I
learned the business and was doing well, but
realized I was sharing my commissions with
a middle-man. This motivated me to start my
own business called, “Mon Cheri Cosmetics.”
My products had a distinctive gold rose on
each bottle top. Each summer, I put an ad in
the Sunday New York Times, advertising for
sales girls who wanted to spend the summer
in the Catskills. I selected six and took them
to hotels and bungalow colonies, where they
sold my products. I rented a bungalow where
they spent their free time. If they met my quotas,
they had a good summer. If not, I returned
them to the city. Soon, I added handbags and
accessories to the line. Every Tuesday, I would
go from Brooklyn to the garment center, where
I’d load two large shopping bags with items
for resale and shlep back home.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?
I was bored with the local boys in my
neighborhood. So I’d take the subway to
Manhattan every Friday afternoon to attend
Sabbath services at Temple Emanuel on Fifth
Avenue. There’s where I met my husband, Elliot
Shonek. He was an ambitious stockbroker,
and we married and moved to Briarwood,
Queens. He was restless and wanted to go
out to California, where the opportunities for
making big money was greater. I followed him
and he was very successful, but I didn’t enjoy
the Beverly Hills lifestyle and wanted to go
back to my roots and my family in New York.
He refused and I asked for a divorce. He said
he couldn’t imagine life without me and asked
we separate, not divorce. Anxious to return
to New York I accepted those terms and we
agreed to date others while separated.
WHERE DID YOU LIVE WHEN YOU
RETURNED TO NEW YORK?
North Shore Towers had just been built as
a rental. I fell in love with it as I drove past
each day on my way to sell my wares. I soon
realized to make any real money I would need
a store and sell expensive items like elegant
gowns and dresses. I teamed with a woman
I knew and we found a location on Merrick
Road in Bellmore. To get started, we each contributed
$5000, which meant postponing any
move to NST. When I asked my friend where
she was getting the
money, she replied
she was going to sell her CD. I didn’t know
what that was. When I told my mother of the
opportunity for me to launch a real business,
she took me and her bank book to her bank on
Pitkin Avenue. She had a balance of $5100. I
couldn’t believe she’d decimate her life savings
to give me my chance. But she did, and I paid
her back $100 a month over a four-year period.
The store caught on, and after a while, I managed
the $575 per month rent on Apartment
30S in Building One. What a great lifestyle
that provided. Music, dancing, drinks in the
Burgundy Room (now Towers on the Green)
every night and lolling around the pool with
Judy Lev in our bikinis.
Mon Cheri was a successful enterprise and
I bought the building, eventually buying the
neighboring stores as well. At that time, South
Florida was becoming a big deal and I bought
an apartment at the luxurious Turnberry in
Aventura. I rented it at first but soon used it
for myself. I still own it, as well as the original
Briarwood property and apartments I purchased
in Atlantic City. At last, my estranged
husband found someone else and granted me
my divorce. That’s when I met Gil, a lovely
man who owned an upscale plumbing fixture
business in Great Neck.
We enjoyed our life together until his untimely
passing in July, 2016. In 2007, I closed Mon
Cheri. I still treasure some lovely memories.
Some of Long Island’s nicest women were my
customers. Some came from far away. Connie
Stevens, the singer, was one. Christie Brinkley
heard about my unique high-end merchandise
and came with her limo before her wedding
to Billy Joel. I managed to sell her a complete
wardrobe for her honeymoon and members
of her wedding party. We filled the trunk of
her limo.
WHY DID YOU GIVE MON CHERI UP?
The real reason was I had worked hard for
many years and was tired and wanted to spend
my money while I was healthy. The official
reason can be explained when I describe a
conversation I recently had with a former customer
who recognized me, when I was having
dinner with my friend, Maurice, at Il Bacco
on Northern Boulevard. She came to my table
and excitedly said, “Oh, Cheri, I wish you had
your store! I still have the dresses you sold me
for my son’s engagement party and wedding.
Two weddings, actually.” With a smile and a
wink, I replied, “You’re still wearing my dresses.
They never go out of style. That’s why.” She
gave me a kiss and left.
4 NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER ¢ November 2017