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CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — Reb Boruch Kievman stood outside his Kingston Avenue shoe store today with two neon green signs dominating both the display windows proclaiming “going out of business – mega sale” in bold black letters.

“23 years I own this store” he said, and when asked what the future holds for the store he answered with a shrug of his shoulders, saying we will all find out. He then asked me if I needed a new pair of shoes, “All shoes outside $10 and all shoes inside $20” he said with a smile on his face. All the shoes outside were children’s sizes.

Kievman Shoe Store Closing after 23 Years

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — Reb Boruch Kievman stood outside his Kingston Avenue shoe store today with two neon green signs dominating both the display windows proclaiming “going out of business – mega sale” in bold black letters.

“23 years I own this store” he said, and when asked what the future holds for the store he answered with a shrug of his shoulders, saying we will all find out. He then asked me if I needed a new pair of shoes, “All shoes outside $10 and all shoes inside $20” he said with a smile on his face. All the shoes outside were children’s sizes.

The shoe store is one of Kingston’s oldest stores, opened over 70 years ago in the late 1930’s.

In 1957 Reb Yitchok Schwartz A”H bought the store from the previous owners, which catered to a drastically different Crown Heights, composed of small Jewish American families and pre-war older Jewish Americans, carrying shoes for both men and woman from a company called Dr. Posner shoes which has long since gone out of business.

The store was called then “Child Life Shoes” and was run by Reb Yitzchok A”H and his wife Etel A”H until they sold it to Michel and Shloime Vishetszky in 1979 who sold it Reb Boruch in 1985 when they moved to Israel.

Reb Boruch has since owned the store and many customers, myself included, have only fond memories of shopping there. “Some come here for shoes only because the Rebbe bought his shoes here” he said, and when asked why is he closing now he answered simply “that’s it, its time for something new”.

I would like to wish Reb Boruch much success in where ever this new venture takes him!

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28 Comments

  • eli

    and by the way.

    you can still buy the shoes that was in style during the time of each of its owners. its true. you can buy shoes from circa 1930 till 1980 all in this store

  • Real Chossid

    Every time I went in this store (or just passed by) I saw R’ Boruch sitting and saying Tehillim or Learning.

  • laughing

    eli i am laughing, kid you not its true!!!!!!!!!!

    good thing is shoes were made better then so chap arain!!

    myself included only have good memories , i walked in recently and was nastolgic over the stool and the measuring foot. its the same scene!

    hatzlocha rabba and thank you!!!

  • moshe gelbstein

    There goes another kingston antique store we had heshy’s then we had goldshmids we still have machputz but I guess where lossing them all one by one.

  • sidney

    I heard Keivman is merging with the zellermeier’s.

    It’s going to be an old age name called

    cafe K home for adults.

  • tam ie vodka budiet

    to reb boruch

    much hatzlocho

    maybe you should open a small “kretchme”

    so we can have a chasidishe place to sit

    for chasidishe dvorim betailim .

    etc.

  • NOT HIS CUSTOMER!!!!!!

    Quote:
    maybe if all of us would have purchased shoes by him ……………

    maybe if he’d have a bit better cust service, then…..
    I went in this week, found a few pairs I actually liked, but was looking some more, and every time he’d turn and see me, he’d tell me that he has his way of selling shoes, and I need to follow those rules. And that I may not look with my hands (to see the pairs under the piles) I can use my eyes only.
    I would agree to make such a rule if the customer was making a big mess. But I was doing it quite neatly, and stacking the boxes back where they were after I’d finish a pile.
    I really could do with getting some shoes a bit cheaper, and I’m sure he can do with getting rid of them that quicker.
    But I guess he just doesn’t know how to let someone he doesn’t personally know get the nice shoes.
    He kept insisting he only had 1 pair of shoes in that size in the whole store, and told me if I want to find something – find it myself, and then he’d scream at me for touching.
    I’m not from NY, He’s never seen me before. If he doesn’t want to cater to everyone, he should’ve opened up a quiet place in his basement. Kingston Ave. is a place where people will stop in if they like what they see in the windows.
    Sorry for letting it out, but I was quite disgusted.

  • get used to it

    thats a kingston thing – a lot of the store owners and workers are disgustingly rude- half of them are on my black list- i am slowly buying more and more out of crown heights- because if they can’t be respectful- I don’t need to give them my business.

  • to not his customer

    please don’t feel bad about the way Mr. k treated you. He has been doing that for 27 years. Maybe thats why he is retireing?

  • to NOT HIS CUSTOMER:

    what did you accomplish by writing that? you vented yourself, but at the same time slandered an old man, an eltere chossid. keep your comments inside yourself and don’t bother hurting another jew. believe me, it hurts. i’ve been in that position.

  • Thank You

    Thank You R’ K for your years of dedication. I have shopped at your store many times and enjoy the high quality goods which aren’t found elsewhere.

  • TY

    R’ Boruch is a good man with a good heart. Thank you for your years of service to the community.

  • good see good

    i think that on every person you can say good and not so good only angels are perfect but you know what .

    an angel is nisht kein metsch.

    so we all mentschen and you can say not good about us .
    because good people see good ….

  • Thumbs Up for Speaking Up!

    It may be, that if the storekeepers knew how we felt, they’d give better customer service. Then they woulkdn’t need to close down. I’m not just talking about R’Boruch. I’m talking about quite a few people in town.
    You insist on charging extravagant prices – you’re excuse is you’re paying so much, and you need to make a dollar too. I do but don’t understand that.
    But what excuse does a storekeeper have for not helping your own customer? It doesn’t cost a penny! But it is costing them their businesses for NOT having the good service.
    We have our rights as a customer.
    Then, when their businesses aren’t flourishing, they turn to the rabbonim to pasken that we need to support the shchuna.

  • Not his Customer!

    To: To Not His Customer:
    It hurts me too! It hurts me the way the whole store turned around to look at the customer that isn’t allowed to buy shoes, just bec. I didn’t have xray vision to see the shoes underneath. He hurt my feelings! In the store! In front of atleast 10 others that were in the store.
    And every time I pass by (I live close by, so I pass it every day) it makes me upset again, that here I could’ve gotten a good pair of shoes for my child for a decent price, yet HE stopped me. He was basically telling me that if you can’t afford to pay for them at full price, then you have no right to be picky. You get the first pair offeref, or nothing!
    Yes, I apologize here, where I may have hurt his feelings, as public as I may have hurt him. I was wrong.
    Now, can he go call up all those people that were in the store and apologize in front of them, and admit to being wrong?

  • emunah girl wishing hatzlchah!!!!!!!

    is that baila rochel keivmans husband or father?she the director in camp emunah and everyone knows that she is such an amazing person…she is a role model who has changed lives.i wish only success to her and eeryone whom she accounters.