Zabar's

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Zabar's is a specialty food store, founded by Louis Zabar, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is one of the best known commercial landmarks of the Upper West Side, and is known for its selection of bagels, smoked fish, olives, and cheese (see appetizing). It occurs frequently in popular culture references to the area, such as in the 1998 film You've Got Mail and on the sitcoms Will & Grace and Mad About You.

Louis Zabar (1901-1950) came to the United States through Canada from the Ukraine in the early 1920's. His father, also a merchant, had been murdered in a pogrom in the Ukraine. Louis first lived in Brooklyn, where he rented a stall in a farmer's market. He married Lillian Teat (1905-1995) on May 2, 1927 and they had three children: Saul Zabar (born in 1929); Stanley Zabar; and Eli Zabar. Lillian came to America by herself and settled with relatives in Philadelphia. She moved to New York City and met Louis Zabar, who she knew from their village in the Ukraine. Louis Zabar died in 1950 and was then the owner of 10 markets. After the death of Louis, Lillian married Louis Chartoff (1900-1978).

As of 2006 Zabar's is headed by Saul Zabar as the president and co-owner. He was attending the University of Kansas when his father died. Stanley Zabar, is the vice president and a co-owner. He was a student at the University of Pennsylvania the year his father died. Their brother Eli Zabar has his own line of specialty shops which includes the Vinegar Factory, on East 91st Street near York Avenue, and E.A.T., at Madison Avenue near 80th Street. A move and expansion in the 1970s made Zabar's one of the largest supermarkets in Manhattan.

[edit] Reference

New York Times; December 23, 1995; Lillian Zabar, Co-Founder of Quintessential Deli. Lillian Teit Zabar, who fled the pogroms of her homeland, came to the United States and became part of an American success story, died yesterday in Manhattan. She was 90, or perhaps 92 or 93. Mrs. Zabar was a founder with her husband, Louis, of Zabar's gourmet delicatessen and food emporium on Broadway at 80th Street in Manhattan. The business was started in 1934 and now has about 35,000 customers a week and $40 million in sales a year, her sons Stanley and Saul said last night.