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Page 2A, Hammond (La.) Sunday Star, November 14,1993By GARY PERILLOUXStaff WriterAfter 54 years of selling clothes, you’d think Sidney Rosenblum would have fabric knitted in his bones.And you’d be right. After closing his family’s downtown department store in a couple of months, Rosenblum admits he’ll be looking up some retired sales chums from theclothing business.For now, retirement is an alterationSidney and his wife, Andree, don’t mind making.A third generation American merchant, Mr. Rosenblum used to joke about retiring to a plot in Greenlawn Cemetery.“Now I say I’m going to re-tire,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m going to buy four new Michelins.With those tires, he’ll head out for several rounds of golf a week among other destinations. Andree Rosenblumplans to continue volunteer work on a state examining board for professional counselors, on which she’s served eight years, and to help promote the Hammond Cultural FoundationI’ll also help out at Southeastern when I can and promote it,” she said, “because I’m proud of it.”Pride punctuates the voices of Rosenblum employees as they talk about “our store“I’ve been here so long I get mail from some companies addressed to‘Joan Starnsblum,”’ said 40-year employee Joan Starns. “I’ve worked for the Rosenblums so long I feel like I’m part of the family Earline Bankston, a 37-yearemployee, feels that way, too.I’ll never forget one time, Bankston said “I didn’t have aft4(babysitter and I thought I was going to have to stay home. And Sidney said, ‘Oh, well, bring her over to our housetttCelie Mele, 82, wanted to retire at age 65 to make room for a younger person. But the Rosenblums talked her out of it.ft“I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, said Mele, who now plans to enjoy her 15 great-grandchildren. “When I come to work here, it’s just likehome. There’s (Rosenblum son) Kip,there’s Sidney, there’s Andree. Andwe all know what to do.”Hillel Rosenblum knew what to dowhen he arrived in America from Europe in 1900.Sidney’s grandfather began life here as a Pascagoula, Miss., peddler set on owning a clothing store.Years later, the Rosenblum namestretched across a family network of40 clothing stores in Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana, including Amite, Denham Springs, Bogalusa and Hammond.In the early years of the Depression, Sidney’s father, Charles, branched off from a family store in Wiggins, Miss., to manage Weill’s, a Hammond ladies clothing store in the 100 block of East Thomas Street.In 1934, he bought the business and changed the name to Rosenblum’s.Last week, Sidney Rosenblum set on his desk a scrapbook that charts the store history. It was a gift from his children.(4I remember the store when it was on the north side of Thomas because they had an attic over the lobby,” he recalled. “My brother and I used to go up there and see our presents before ChristmasftNot long before Pearl Harbor, Rosenblum’s traded a 25-foot storefront for a 50-foot one and movedacross the street. They later added a pair of 25-foot storefronts adjacent to the Imperial Cafe and the Saik buildingAlong the way, stock expanded to take in children and teen clothes. In1949, a year after Sidney began working in the store full time, men’s clothes was added to the store at 116E Thomas St.The Rosenblums were local broadcasting pioneers as well. They owned radio station WIHL as far back as1949 before selling the WFPR predecessor to Nick Cefalu.In the 1950s. the mantle passed more completely to Sidney from Charles Rosenblum, who served five years as head of the state Department of Hospitals under Govs. Earl Long and Jimmie Davis.Employees remember the early years when Charles Rosenblum requiring them to cover clothing displays with sheets at night so dust stirred by overhead fans wouldn’t settle on them.The early 1960s brought greatchange. Charles Rosenblum, who was instrumental in bringing Hammond State School and Seventh WardGeneral Hospital to the area, died shortly after the family moved across from city hall into its current 16,000-square-foot store.Being Jewish made some of Sidney Roscnblum’s relatives targets of bigotry. He flipped a scrapbook page to a1960s photo of a Ku KluxKlansman’s pointed hat in front of the Bogalusa store’s sign.A larger Jewish community settled in Bogalusa — enough to support a synagogue — and the dispiriting signs of prejudice occasionally popped up there. One Rosenblum brother experienced a burning cross in the front yard.But in Hammond’s earlier years, the Rosenblums were one of only a few Jewish families, so few they didn’t constitute a minority worth making a fuss over, Sidney said.Rosenblum’s made its biggest mark by making a fuss over customers.“We give personal attention here,” said Mamie Robertson, whose 45years outrank everyone in the store. “We match things for them and take things in and out of the dressing room to them. They like the attention.That customer attention endured amyriad of changes in the clothing world: table displays gave way to mostly hanging clothes; visits from Vanity Fair and Levi salesmen gave way to 800-number orders, and food conglomerates such as Sara Lee gobbled up the likes of Hanes and Flaytex.“We’ve always been what we call from popular to moderate price, Sidney Rosenblum said. “To most people, that would mean in between Dillard’s highest and Fenney’s highestThe store entertained offers tomove to area shopping centers inrecent years, but the Rosenblumswouldn’t have it.They feel comfortable with theirlatest choice: the building and property already are drawing bidders’ interest, the merchandise embarks on agoing-out-of-business sale next week and the Rosenblums head for greener pastures in January.Their grandson, who plays for a playoff bound Texas high school football team, called to invite hisgrandparents to the game.Business-bound, they had to turn him down.tt“But we said wait till next year, said Andree Rosenblum. “He’ll be ajunior. Next year, we’ll see that.ttCorrectionWestside Primary School second-graders Jared Isaac, Robert Soutee, Ranesha Thomas, Cierre Montgomery, Diandra Kerne, Krystal Burton and Sedrick Barze made the 3 5-3.9 honor roll for the first six weeks.School officials inadvertently listed these students’ names in the 3 0-3.4 category, and that list was published recently in the Daily Star,SUNDAY STAR(USPS 000 299)Pubkshed every Sunday by Hammond DadyStar Publishing Co., Inc at 725 S Morrison Blvd , Hammond, La 70403 Second class postage paid at Hammond.La.POSTMASTER Send address changes to Daily Star, PO Bo* 1149, Hammond. La. 70404TELEPHONE: (504)345 2333Anuta New* Bureau, 748 7553 Toll Free to Hammond Office 1 800 844 2333.Single copy price: 75 cents.SUBSCRIPTION RATES:Horn# dtfcvary of tha Oariy Stir and Sunday St* by cam* Of mot Of rout* $ 7 p* month Daily Si* and Sunday St*by man 1 year $102 6 month* $51, 3 month* $25 50; i month $3 50 Sunday St* anty by mad. 1 year $48 6 months $24 3 months $12 Latatiani randoms add 3% ttata sates tai tor m*i subscriptions Call 345 2333 batwaan Sam and 5 p m Monday through Friday to start or stop subscriptions(ICtrii-ii!1I
Newspaper Details
Hammond Sunday Star
Hammond, Louisiana, US
Sun, Nov 14, 1993
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
East B.
LA, USA 14 May 2020
Other Publications Near Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond Daily Item
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