Remembering the wonderful Susan Goldberg by Rachel Goldberg
M
y mother, Susan Goldberg opened Union Max on Columbia Street in 1999. She had always wanted a store of her own.
daughter!" and, "Your mom is so cool!"
She also had a following made up of the design teams from major companies. Monthly, the accessory designers from J. Crew, Isaac Mizrahi, Banana Republic, Anthropologie, and a few who refused to even tell us who they were working for came by to buy in bulk. And her collection was shipped off to China and sold for three times the price at high end stores. She didn't care that the corporations were making more than her on the same product - it made her laugh. Movie costume designers would come too. It was exciting to see a dress from Zoolander made out of metal bugs from my Mom's collection!
She had been in the antique business since 1979, when she bought out the contents of a jewelry factory. At first, she sold wholesale to stores all around the city. People who have been in New York long enough might remember the names. Antique Boutique, Unique, Reminiscence, Patricia Fields... Those are only the ones I can remember because I was still little when she took me around with her two duffel bags of jewelry from store to store. Weekends were spent hunting for more treasure at yard sales. I like to say that at I was born at a yard sale - it might be true. When I was old enough, my sister and I started to do the flea markets with her stock. Grand Street was the first, and then 26th Street. My mother had a great eye and a shrewd business sense. She taught us well. My sister Ilana moved to Carroll Gardens in 1995. She was having a yard sale at her house - as per family tradition - when a woman told us about a man named Barry Jetter who was selling amazing vintage furniture down on Columbia Street. It was only
I can go on - but I won't. Cause as my Mom would say, “Ok, I get it. Enough already!”
a few blocks away, but as anyone in the neighborhood knows, the BQE is the great divide. The next week, we all went down to check out his shop. Barry was a special man with a great eye as well. The strip was barren at the time, save for Barry's General Nightmare Antiques and Margaret Palca Bakes. My mother saw what it could be and quickly set up shop. Throughout the years she gave her
heart and her soul to the store. To some it might have seemed like a junk store. Lord knows I begged her to clean it up! But she wanted a store that she would want to shop in, overflowing with fun kitsch and unexpected treasures.
The outpouring of love from the neighborhood has been wonderful. Thank you. I'm gonna clean the store. Sorry. But the spirit that she left behind is NOT going anywhere!
As time passed my mother gained a local fan base, or her "groupies" as my sister and I would call them. People came by when I worked there on Sundays and said, "Oh, you're Susan's
Star-Revue Classifieds
JABUS BUILDING CORP.
www.MadeInBrooklynTours.com
Serving Red Hook for over 25 years
Specializing in Construction and Historic Preservation
AWARD-WINNING NEIGHBORHOOD WALKING TOURS WITH A MADE IN BROOKLYN THEME
• New construction • Renovations, additions and extensions • Masonry specialist • Concrete floors/radiant heated • Concrete/bluestone sidewalk repair • Flue linings, chimneys and fireplaces • Demolition and waste removal • Violation removals • Landmark Preservation contractor
Last Minute & Weekend Specials
Jim & Debbie Buscarello
98 Van Dyke Street, Red Hook (718) 852-5364 Fax: (718) 935-1263
www.jabusbuildingcorp.com HIC License #0883902
WE ARE A BROOKLYN COMPANY. WE KNOW BROOKLYN PESTS!
Quality Pro Certified Minority Business Certified Contact us for a pest consultation
888-752-0584
www.flashexterminating.com info@flashexterminating.com Red Hook Star-Revue
No job too big or too small
Toilets, Boilers, Heating, Faucets, Hot Water Heaters, Pool Heaters.
B & D HEATING 507 Court Street 718 625-1396
jabusbuildingcorp@gmail.com Trade Waste License #1135
EVERGREEN LIQUOR STORE INC. 718 643-0739 196 Columbia Street, between Sackett & Degraw evergreenliquor@yahoo.com
Mon. - Thurs. 11 am - 10:30 pm; Fri & Sat. 11 am - 11:30 pm; Sun. 1 pm - 9 pm
www.star-revue.com
June 2016, Page 19