American Dream Comes True in Manhattan: Humble Beginnings to Thriving Bookstore in Midtown

3generations
Danny Levine – 4th Generation, Shawn Levine – 5th Generation, Seymour Levine – 3rd Generation

Back in 1890, Hirsch Lany, a religious scribe in Lithuania began the company now known as  J. Levine Books and Judaica. He distributed copies of the Torah and religious articles in Europe before immigrated to New York City’s Lower East Side, in 1905 where he started what would become a thriving family business spanning over one hundred and twenty years, and five generations.

The store is still, first and foremost, a family-run business. The employees introduce themselves not only by their name, but also their generation. It’s a small personal touch, but communicates to visitors a much more personal atmosphere when stepping into their store. They have also implemented this into their website and social media outlets to further convey this sense of closeness with customers no matter how far away they may be. This sense of family and tradition conveyed by the store assists customers in being included not only in the history of their family, but their “place” as well.

Lower East Side c. 1900s
Lower East Side c. 1900s

Their store is located in Midtown Manhattan, a booming metropolis of tourist attractions and international business; although, that isn’t the company’s original location. They started out on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, in 1905 and remained at that location until the opening of their Midtown location in 1986. Today, New York City’s Lower East Side is much more up-scale than it was in the early 1900’s. As Tim Cresswell writes in Defining Place, “towards the southern tip of Manhattan and to the east of center is an area – a place – known as the Lower East Side. This is an area which has been known as a place of successive immigrant groups – Irish, Jewish, German, Italian, Eastern European, Haitian, Puerto Rican, Chinese.” Cresswell also explains how  a sense of place is dependent on the changing history and general feel of a location, but its the social and economic history as well. The history of a “place” changes as time goes on, although it helps to shape the historical foundation of the location that its in.

Additionally, an article entitled Jewish Bookstores of the Old East Side, by The Spectator was published in 1906 which discussed Jewish and Yiddish literary outlets in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Admittedly the article is extremely biased and makes use of popular stereotypes of the time; however, it gives some helpful insight into the neighborhood dynamic at the time. In a small introduction produced by The Book Peddler, the publishing magazine this article was reprinted by, the reader is told that “the Lower East side harbored more bookstores per capita—and more people ready to talk about books—than any other neighborhood in New York! Reading his account, it is little wonder that 86 years later so many Yiddish bookstores are still to be found among the heirs of the original immigrant population”. These heirsjudaica_book_news2 populating the area J. Levine and Judaica started in were heavily “bookish”. The article goes on to describe the neighborhood as a primarily Yiddish speaking community, so the prevalence of books in the language  were primarily found in this part of New York.

Literature was made more accessible to those speaking Yiddish at the time, and it wasn’t all Jewish. Certain stores had Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Voltaire, Dante, Shelley, etc. There were, of course, religious texts, but the Jewish community at the time was more interested in the availability of texts in a language more widely understood than English in an immigrant community. There is still a large Jewish community in New York City today and although it is no longer on the Lower East Side, and J. Levine and Judaica is no stranger to it. Throughout their history they have worked with their community to help wherever needed, even in providing textbooks to schools. J. Levine and Judaica added books as a way to spur more business, although with book sales dropping somewhat in recent years, they have taken the backseat to their Judaica items in the store.

As times have changed, so must business tactics. J. Levine Books and Judaica began as a continuation of Lany’s work abroad, but with the addition of his son-in-law, J. Levine, it soon expanded to include a variety of different products including embroidery and sewn religious articles. More recent generations have included the implementation of more “modern” products and patterns including singing dreidels, and Mickey Mouse Yarmulkes. On their website they provide a documentary of their store which demonstrates how they’ve moved through the years and many advances they’ve made:


J. Levine Books & Judaica Documentary

The history of their store hit a bumpy road with the addition of online competition, from large companies like Amazon.com. J. Levine Books and Judaica had no choice but to join the 21st century, and have done so successfully with over thirty thousand items on their online store, and three social media outlets They have been able to change and adapt with the times. In an article by The Jewish Week, J. Levine Books and Judaica is said to have changed for modern times to stay afloat “like many traditional bookstores, J. Levine is wrestling with an adapt-or-die reality as it competes with online mega-booksellers such as Amazon. The brick-and-mortar shops have developed a variety of strategies to stay profitable and deal with declining book sales,” (Sales). In this article, Ben Sales also states that from 2000 to 2005 their sales dropped by eighteen percent due to the emergence of Amazon.com. Fortunately, they bounced back with an online store, and strong social media presence. Throughout the history of their store, they’ve adapted in order to stay in the game.

In the timeline below I’ve highlighted the ways J. Levine Books and Judaica has changed and adapted over the years to attract more business and to adjust for more contemporary times.

The most recent addition to the store’s management, fifth generation Shawn J. Levine has been instrumental in their online presence. In the documentary listed above, he articulates that although they have a great number of items available on their online catalog, they are still hoping that people will be wiling to come into their store and have more of a face-to-face interaction.

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From Left to right: David Levine, Shawn Levine, Logan Levine

J. Levine Books and Judaica accomplished what only a fraction of the immigrants having come into the country from Ellis Island were able to. They attained the “American Dream”. An immigrant man moving to New York City to be a successful religious book distributor, ends up beginning a multi-generational family business still centered on their religious ideals. Today, the store has been featured in The New York Times, AP articles, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and YouTube. Now under management of fifth generation Shawn J. Levine, with the help of his father David, the store is headed for nothing but success. In the picture to the right from left to right are David, Shawn, and his daughter sixth generation Logan. Who knows what Logan’s generation will have to bring to the business!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

Books/Articles: 

Cresswell, Tim. Place: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. Print.

“Jewish Bookstores of the Old East Side.” The Book Peddler; Newsletter of the National Yiddish Book Exchange (n.d.): 20-23. Rpt. in Brandels University Libraries ILL. 17th ed. N.p.: n.p., Summer 1992. Print.

Websites:

J. Levine Books and Judaica
http://www.levinejudaica.com/catalog/index.php

J. Levine Co.A Modern Tradition “JUDAICA BOOK NEWS”, 1981″
http://www.levinejudaica.com/catalog/moderntraditions.html

 

Images:

J. Levine & Judaica 3 generations
https://www.facebook.com/Levinejudaica/photos/a.10151070103493392.439587.43626378391/10151070103528392/?type=1&theater

J. Levine Co. Photo
http://www.levinejudaica.com/catalog/moderntraditions.html

NYC Lower East Side c. 1990s
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mulberry_Street_NYC_c1900_LOC_3g04637u.jpg

Shawn & Daniel Levine
http://www.levinejudaica.com/catalog/index.php

 

Video:
J. Levine and Judaica Documentary (Youtube)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAzpIgYtk9k
Timeline:
created on dipity.com
http://www.dipity.com/ekstranda/J-Levine-Books-Judaica/

 

 

 

 

J. Levine Books & Judaica: An Evolving Business of Family and Community

To some people, carrying on the legacy and contributions your family has brought to the community for generations is important. To not only continue the traditions, but also the work of your parents and their parents (and their parents) can be you the subject of an admirable and heartwarming tale. On the other side of the spectrum, there is the celebration of bringing in something new and fresh to the equation, though preferably with a healthy respect for what previous generations have accomplished. Taking a new turn often works best for some generations, and can also lead to an admirable and heartwarming story. As the son of doctors who spends his days studying books and games, I clearly fall into the latter category. However, not every family’s story is so clear-cut between one or the other, as is the case with the Levines.

Cover photo from J. Levine’s Facebook page, featuring Danny Levine (left), Shawn Levine (middle), and Seymour Levine (right).

For the family behind J. Levine Books and Judaica, this is a story spanning 125 years. With the tale beginning with a Torah supplier named Hirsh Lany in Lithuania, it becomes clear that quite a lot has changed in that time. Nevertheless, each generation following his arrival to America never strayed too far from their roots, sticking with the family business while gradually transforming it into the bookstore we all know and love today. This could place their heartwarming tale close to the fence on what type of story it is, but I would still say they stand firmly on the side of legacy. In spite of the changes and adaptations over the generations, J. Levine has always been a bookstore dedicated to the current needs for each generation of the Jewish community.

Key moments in this bookstore’s evolution can be seen below.

Yes, I said “evolution.” Each point on this timeline depicts a moment in which the bookstore adapted itself to better fit the needs of the community. Laura Miller refers to community as “social bonds based on affective ties and mutual support” (119), and if the story of Lany and the Levines is any indication, nothing could be more important to their business than this idea of community. This is evident in the company’s first transformation from Lithuanian to American. While the Jewish community was dying out in Lithuania, it was growing in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Lany simply followed to where he could continue to serve in mutual support for the community.

The Levines display the works of professionals from throughout the community.

Though none of the future changes or decisions were as drastic or urgent as what Lany had to do, each generation followed in his footsteps and continued to alter the function of the bookstore as time went on. When their times came to take charge of the family business, Joseph and Seymour both looked to the community (though this is much more obvious in Seymour’s case). These adaptations are similar to trends Miller noted in other bookstores, which expanded the nature of their businesses to include services and goods beyond bookselling. It wouldn’t be until Danny’s run of the store when we would see additions such as Batman-inspired Judaica and Zionist Action Figures, but for their part, Joseph and Seymour’s expansions greatly altered the initially narrow function of J. Levine into something that would continue to contribute to an ever-evolving customer base and community.

J. Levine continues to evolve, keeping up with the digital age with their website allowing for online orders and assistance to members of the global community. However, appeasing the global community is only part of the picture. J. Levine’s success is owed to how the company has coexisted with the local community. As it turns out, the Lower East Side was the perfect place for a Jewish bookstore to set up shop. According to an old (and admittedly biased) article from The Outlook, the Jewish community of the Lower East Side was obsessed with Yiddish literature. Nowhere else had the author seen such a collection of cooperating bookstores (though their cooperation may not have quite as close to the level of “trust-evil” as he implied). Though flawed in its portrayal of the community, the article does get at the spirit of a neighborhood that showed tremendous support for endeavors in knowledge and culture such as the bookstore.

Of course, this support was mutual. While the customers in the community hungered for Yiddish texts (and other Jewish goods), the salesmen were ready to sate that appetite with the right book. Wanting to have the right books for regulars in the community is not an uncommon trait for independent bookstores, and has been a sentiment shared by various owners, such as Madge Jenison of Sunwise Turn. Just as each generation behind J. Levine had been ready to adapt to the needs of the community as a whole, so too were they capable in satisfying individuals within the community. Danny attributes the success of J. Levine to the dedication of booksellers such as Rabbi Philip Kastel, who knew their full stock of books just as well as he knew every one of their customers during his time as a manager, just as much as he does to his family’s ability to adapt.

Such dedication to the community has been the central theme of J. Levine’s story for five generations, and it shows no sign of changing. The family legacy of the Levines is not just the bookstore, but also their devotion to the community. This dedication has taken different forms with each generation as the store evolved, but each turn and variation was each son’s take on fulfilling their fathers’ legacy. I might not be the most qualified to tell you what this story all means in the end, since the responsibilities I’ll be taking up in life are wildly different from my father’s. For that, you should read the anecdote in this article about Seymour. You might find what he says to be admirable and heartwarming.

 

Sources

Images

Danny, Shawn, and Seymour Levine

Levines with Display

Timeline: “Expansion”

Timeline: “Today”

Timeline

Dipity: J. Levine Books and Judaica History

Texts

Jenison, Madge. Sunwise Turn: A Human Comedy of Bookselling. New York City: E.P. Dutton & Company, 1923.

“Jewish Bookstores of the Old East Side.” The Book Peddler Summer 1992, 20-23.

Miller, Lauren J. Reluctant Capitalists. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Websites

J. Levine Books & Judaica

J. Levine Books & Judaica in the Media

J. Levine Books & Judaica on Facebook

J. Levine: Who We Are

The Jewish Week

New York Times: The Media Business

J. Levine and Judaica: Present, Place, and People

              When one thinks of New York City’s Midtown Manhattan, they think of the iconic sights and sounds of Broadway and the bustling tourist attractions spotted throughout the area. It’s known for being at the center of everything, with the widest variety of businesses in the city. With the Broadway shows, the Diamond District on West 47th, and Korea Way on 32nd, Midtown is a widely diverse area of the city. However, there is a large Jewish community in the area as well. And in the heart of where these community locations are centered, nestled between importing companies and other international businesses, is a small family owned Jewish bookstore called J. Levine and Judaica, captured below in a street-view thanks to Google Maps.


J.Levine and Judaica Google Street View (View Larger Map)

                     J. Levine & Judaica’s close proximity to “culturally elite” community with locations such including Broadway, universities, and even other bookstores suggests a higher amount of focus on “the life of the mind” a concept in which Laura Miller brings to light in her book Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. She begins by quoting a statement made by Len Riggio (former head of Barnes&Noble) which suggested that selling books can be done in the same way as selling a product like toothpaste. She responds by writing: “[t]o sell books like toothpaste appears to reduce what books represent -the life of the mind- to something as generic ans purely utillitarian as toothpaste,” (97). People entering J. Levine and Judaica are looking for a more personal experience that they would not find by entering a “toothpaste minded” store like Barnes & Noble. The staff in the store can do more than point you in the right direction, they can tell you about each and every item in the store and something about it that isn’t written on the leaflet.

Daniel Levine, President of J. Levine & Judaica
Daniel Levine, President of J. Levine & Judaica

Although they do have an online store, they do want to keep their close “community feel” to their business. Their website has a small “instant-message” email that pops up once you’ve been perusing the site for a while, asking if they can help you with anything. I gave my email information, and have been emailing them to find out more information. Danny Levine emailed me back, stating that they “rely on Google and Yelp to interact with our surrounding neighborhood. My son Shawn, 5th generation uses Facebook and Twitter to spread our message online. We work closely with all the synagogues, schools and JCCs in Manhattan.” They are interested in an open communication with the cultural and educational institutions in their surrounding area, which brings back this “life of the mind” concept I mentioned earlier. In the short documentary on their website, Shawn says that “it’s really important to maintain that personal connection, we want to see our customers happy we want to see the actual smile on their face. Some of our customers, they want to come in to the store to shake our hand; we’re happy to help them online, but we really enjoy developing relationships with our customers. We are a very personal company.” At their store, they not only want to help someone find what they’re looking for, but to develop more of a personal connection between the store and it’s customers. They want to talk about this culture they share with their customers, and really have person to person interactions that invites their customers into their world.

In Tim Cresswell’s book Place, he write that “place is also a way of seeing, knowing and understanding the world. When we look at the world as a world of places we see differeht things. We see attachments and connections between people and place. We wee worlds of meaning and experience,” (p.11).  J. Levine & Judaica has become one of these bridges between people, meaning, and experience. With a menorah placed proudly in the center of its logo, they have become one of the country’s largest and most well known Judaica stores. Their online presence is not particularly flashy, and their store isn’t standardized, but they know the significance of every item in their inventory. They understand the importance they bring to their community, and want to shake that customer’s hand to cement that real person to person relationship in their store. J. Levine & Judaica is doing so much more than selling books, they’re bringing people together. You can’t do that with toothpaste.

 

Sources: 

Websites:

http://www.levinejudaica.com/catalog/index.php

http://www.levinejudaica.com/catalog/in-the-media-i-18.html

www.google.com/maps

Texts:

         Cresswell, Tim. Place: A Short Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. Print

Miller, Laura J. Reluctant Capitalists: Bookselling and the Culture of Consumption. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2006. Print.

          
Personal Correspondence: 

president (personal correspondence, January 27, 2015)

Images:

Danny Levine photo: (http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-bookstores-writing-new-chapters-in-competition-with-internet/)