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Secrets from century-old small businesses

BY FARNOOSH TORABI | SPECIAL TO amNEWYORK

March 13, 2006

Small businesses that endure through the generations share a secret ingredient. "They have a product or service that people continue to want," said Richard Cooke, chairman of the 100 Year Association, an organization of roughly 200 New York City companies and non-profits that are at least 100 years old.

Here's a look at four city businesses that have reached the 100-year threshold:

J. Leon Lascoff & Son
Founded: 1899

1209 Lexington Ave.
(212) 288-9500
J. Leon Lascoff died in 1943, but his corner apothecary on the Upper East Side continues to thrive. Lascoff & Son celebrated its 107th birthday over the weekend.

Married owners Susan and Phil Ragusa took over the business in 1972, "when there were no more Lascoffs left," Susan Ragusa said.

The couple attributes the pharmacy's longevity to a commitment to old-fashioned business practices. The store's tall ceilings and walnut paneling remain, as does its small-town approach to customer service.

"When someone fills a prescription, I send them a personalized note," Susan Ragusa said. "That has been a very strong marketing tool."

But the Lascoff pharmacy has not always had a healthy run. It struggled in the mid-1990s, when HMOs introduced the co-pay incentive to consumers. The store accepted co-pays for six months, then quit the program because it was costing the pharmacy too much money. The immediate result was a sharp drop in customers.

In the years that followed, customer service became an even greater priority. In an effort to meet new demands, the pharmacy began selling exotic over-the-counter items, luxury soaps and perfumes.

Gillies Coffee Co.
Founded: 1840
150 West 19th St.
Brooklyn
(800) 344-5526

Donald Schoenholdt smelled something brewing in 1988, prompting him to shut down the retail arm of his family business, Gillies Coffee, a Brooklyn java founded by Wright Gillies in 1840.

That "something" was the arrival of coffee-chain behemoth Starbucks, which arrived in the city 1992 and soon gobbled up most of the country's latte-drinking market share.

"People asked, 'How did you know?'" recalled Schoenholdt, 60, whose family took over the business in 1912. "But you just knew someone was going to rise as a national power."