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38 The Courier SUN • AUGUST 6, 2015 for breaking news visit www.couriersun.com VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS vschneps@gmail.com A trip down Memory Lane When Josh and I bought the Home Reporter, Brooklyn Spectator and Spectator News, I remember then- Borough President Marty Markowitz bellowing as only he can, “You better be from Brooklyn!” As it is, Josh lives in Brooklyn, and I was born and grew up and married in Brooklyn, so he was satisfied and became one of our greatest boosters. Being a part of Brooklyn and serving those communities, for me felt like going home again. My dad had a business at 411 Fulton St. for over 50 years, and when my brother sent me a photo of his store, which is now Shake Shack, it brought back a flood of memories. When I was in school, my biggest treat was to become a salesperson in the store at Christmastime. My dad sold Van Heusen shirts to all the judges and politicians who worked across the street and civil service workers who in those days all wore shirts and ties. His haberdashery store survived for decades because he managed it so well. Even though his was a small business, with A&S down the block, he always had a full refund return policy, something you rarely see today in family-owned businesses. One of my treats when I worked at the store was to go with my dad for lunch at Horn & Hardart. It was fun to put my dimes and quarters in the slots at the automat and turn the spindle to take out my selection. There were walls and walls of windows with multiple offerings and half the fun was going from window to window to decide what to buy. Sadly, the chain closed, but I’ve heard there are plans to bring back the concept. It is almost alive in vending machines. I took my grandson 6-year-old Jonah to a birthday party at Q-Zar that had half a dozen vending machines. My eyes opened wide as I watched the ice cream vending machine open the top of the freezer. Then, a suction arm moved along the different offerings to pick out our cookie ice cream sandwich and move to drop it down the chute so we could open the cover and take it out. My grandson and I were fascinated to watch the process. Robots are alive and well in the vending business. I hope one day an updated store of my childhood favorite will be revived, perhaps using new technology. Everything at Horn & Hardart was freshly made and I used to watch as workers put their hands in the windows from the rear and refilled the spaces. Another treat when I went to my dad’s store, Sebern’s, was to climb the ladder Sebern‘s, my Dad’s store for over 50 years on Fulton Street that circled the store, allowing my dad to have boxes to the ceiling. Since the store was small (it had been cut in half when Tillary Street was widened), my dad creatively found a way to keep his inventory full of pants and business shirts. He even had a “tailoring machine” in the basement so if someone bought a pair of pants, within minutes it was shortened, and out the door went the customer in his new pants! Since the store was at the end of Fulton Street, off the busy Borough Hall area, during the challenging crime-filled years, he was held up twice but thankfully never hurt. We all pressured him to retire but he would have none of that! His calm, determined demeanor held up and he didn’t leave the business until the landlords raised his rent to an untenable level and after over 50 years at that one location, he retired. But Dad was never bored. He had a habit of reading The New York Times from cover to cover and then the Dorothy Schiff-owned New York Post each day. Then he had his avocation as an artist and took classes with his beloved teacher every week. I believe my love of newspapers came from my dad, and here I am today with 19 newspapers! But keeping up with technology, next week, we will be launching a new website for Queens titled QNS.com. It will be the go-to site for everything Queens. Thanks to my son Josh, we are on the cutting edge of everything digital: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are all part of our media world. I think my dad would be proud of his little girl! victoria’s secrets tweet me @vschneps Dynamic $1500 off Lumineers $500 off Invisalign DENTAL WORK Free Whitening included the inViSiBle WAy to Some excluSionS Apply StrAighten teeth third generation dentist 175-15 Jamaica avenue, Jamaica 718-297-4100 • 718-297-4106 Bragging rights of a proud grandma What joy! What fun! Hudson celebrated his third birthday and his darling sister Sloane Londyn her fifth week in this world. A picture perfect combo that warms my heart! My Dad, Martin Adler A new queen will reign Hudson with his sister Celebrating Hudson’s third birthday with his parents Hudson with his parents celebrating Sloane’s birth


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