03-05-2009, 09:32 PM
This is an amazing woman. She's a neighbor of mine, and I'll miss seeing her every morning. It's sad to see something close that's been around for so long. I hope she finds something to do with her time, as she loved that store. I love listening to her stories about it and the town.
'This has been my life'
Waukegan dress shop closing after 106 years
Comments
March 3, 2009
By JUDY MASTERSON <!-- e --><a href="mailto:JMASTERSON@SCN1.COM">JMASTERSON@SCN1.COM</a><!-- e -->
Waukegan's oldest family-owned business will close this month.
Eisenberg's Women's Fashions, 806 Glen Flora Ave., was founded in 1903 as S. Eisenberg's Department Store. Owner Rose Eisenberg Richmon was one of five children of Russian immigrants Sam and Dora Eisenberg, who opened the original store on 10th Street on Waukegan's south side.
In the early years, the couple -- who were brought together by shidach, or arranged marriage -- promoted the business by offering new immigrants a free pair of overalls and a lunch pail. At its height, the store included a hardware business and a separate furniture store. It sold clothing, household goods and player pianos out of a single room with a tin-coffered ceiling.
Richmon dropped plans to attend the University of Wisconsin after her father's untimely death in 1931 to help her mother with the store. She took over the business after Dora Eisenberg's death in 1971 and narrowed its scope to women's apparel in 1990. That's the same year she moved the store to Glen Flora Avenue, taking with her the ancient National cash register that had rung up purchases for nearly nine decades.
"This has been my life," said Richmon, 96, who has worked six days a week, 11 hours a day in the dress shop where, until recently, she single-handedly balanced the books, took buying trips to Chicago's Merchandise Mart and dressed the graceful mannequins in the store's windows.
Now "it's time" to close up shop, said Richmon, whose daughter, Judy Richmon Torrez, marvels at her mother's perseverance.
"It's always been my mother who really loved the business," Torrez said. "She's loved it. She's always wanted to sell a dress."
Waukegan Mayor Richard Hyde, 82, recalls visiting the 10th Street store as a child with his mother and aunt.
"It was always a well-run store, and the Eisenbergs were very respected in the community," Hyde said. "I hate to see her go out of business."
Eisenberg's Women's Fashions carried elegant dresses, slacks, lingerie, and evening and outer wear. Richmon also catered to church women who favored feathered hats and stylish suits.
One customer, invited to a fraternal organization's potentate's ball, said she purchased two "absolutely gorgeous" formal gowns from Eisenberg's.
"One time I needed a blazer, and I found a gorgeous one there," said the shopper, who asked not to be identified and who recalled that Rose Eisenberg Richmon was "very well dressed" and seemed "unbelievably young" for her age.
Richmon, who often said work was her salvation, does not know what will become of the antique cash register, or what she will do with her days after the shop closes.
Torrez said she hopes her mother can learn to relax.
"I'd like to take her out to lunch," she said.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1456890,5_1_WA03_EISENBERG_S1.article">http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article</a><!-- m -->
'This has been my life'
Waukegan dress shop closing after 106 years
Comments
March 3, 2009
By JUDY MASTERSON <!-- e --><a href="mailto:JMASTERSON@SCN1.COM">JMASTERSON@SCN1.COM</a><!-- e -->
Waukegan's oldest family-owned business will close this month.
Eisenberg's Women's Fashions, 806 Glen Flora Ave., was founded in 1903 as S. Eisenberg's Department Store. Owner Rose Eisenberg Richmon was one of five children of Russian immigrants Sam and Dora Eisenberg, who opened the original store on 10th Street on Waukegan's south side.
In the early years, the couple -- who were brought together by shidach, or arranged marriage -- promoted the business by offering new immigrants a free pair of overalls and a lunch pail. At its height, the store included a hardware business and a separate furniture store. It sold clothing, household goods and player pianos out of a single room with a tin-coffered ceiling.
Richmon dropped plans to attend the University of Wisconsin after her father's untimely death in 1931 to help her mother with the store. She took over the business after Dora Eisenberg's death in 1971 and narrowed its scope to women's apparel in 1990. That's the same year she moved the store to Glen Flora Avenue, taking with her the ancient National cash register that had rung up purchases for nearly nine decades.
"This has been my life," said Richmon, 96, who has worked six days a week, 11 hours a day in the dress shop where, until recently, she single-handedly balanced the books, took buying trips to Chicago's Merchandise Mart and dressed the graceful mannequins in the store's windows.
Now "it's time" to close up shop, said Richmon, whose daughter, Judy Richmon Torrez, marvels at her mother's perseverance.
"It's always been my mother who really loved the business," Torrez said. "She's loved it. She's always wanted to sell a dress."
Waukegan Mayor Richard Hyde, 82, recalls visiting the 10th Street store as a child with his mother and aunt.
"It was always a well-run store, and the Eisenbergs were very respected in the community," Hyde said. "I hate to see her go out of business."
Eisenberg's Women's Fashions carried elegant dresses, slacks, lingerie, and evening and outer wear. Richmon also catered to church women who favored feathered hats and stylish suits.
One customer, invited to a fraternal organization's potentate's ball, said she purchased two "absolutely gorgeous" formal gowns from Eisenberg's.
"One time I needed a blazer, and I found a gorgeous one there," said the shopper, who asked not to be identified and who recalled that Rose Eisenberg Richmon was "very well dressed" and seemed "unbelievably young" for her age.
Richmon, who often said work was her salvation, does not know what will become of the antique cash register, or what she will do with her days after the shop closes.
Torrez said she hopes her mother can learn to relax.
"I'd like to take her out to lunch," she said.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1456890,5_1_WA03_EISENBERG_S1.article">http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article</a><!-- m -->