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J. Levine Co. Thrives
As They Move to Diversify
"New York Times, 11/25/1991"
The showroom has marbled floors, polished chrome
and glass cases with blue neon trim. On display are hand-painted mezuzahs,
Batman and Ninja Turtle yarmulkes, and gold and silver menorahs. J. Levine
& Company is not the typlical old-fashioned religious bookstore.
"I've found that people are looking today for
presentation or atmosphere," said Danny Levine, the owner of J. Levine &
Company, a Manhattan store that specializes in Jewish books and a variety
of Judaica.
"I want the store to be the Henri Bendel of
Judaica," he said. "People should feel, wow, this is Judaism at its best."
Mr. Levine said his sales had doubled over the
last three years and estimated that sales were up 10 percent this year.
Mr. Levine believes that diversification has made his store
recession-proof.
The store, at 5 West 30th Street, also sells
religious articles and furniture to synagogues and schools and operates a
mail-order service.
"When one part of the business doesn't work, we
can turn to another," he said
In a time when many businesses have cut back,
religious booksellers appear to be thriving .
Among the Jewish books are a new translation of
the Talmud, "Chutzpa" by Alan M. Dershowitz and "The Search for God at
Harvard" by Ari L. Goldman, a reporter for The New York Times.
"In light of everything going econmically down
the tubes, we're doing surprisingly," said Rabbi Michael Monson, executive
vice presidents of the Jewish Publications Society, a non profit
publishing house that publishes 15 to 20 titles a year.
One reason for this growth is the increasing
types of Jewish books, expanding well beyond rabbinical studies. "There's
a wide range of books," said Arthur Kurzwell, vice president of Jason
Aronson Publishing Inc. "Serious theology, cook books, gay and lesbian
Jews, intermarriages, Soviet Jewry, humor, photography. We publish a new
book every two or three weeks.
Although there are no chains of Jewish
bookstores, Mr. Kurzweil notes that there are many small bookstores, as
well as larger booksellers with big Judaica sections.
But for him, J. Levine & Company and J. Roth
Bookseller in Los Angeles are "the king and queen of retail Jewish
Bookstores."
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Our New York City Store
From Generation to Generation
J LEVINE JUDAICA
The most reliable source for TORAHS
Brand new or reconditioned,
All fully guaranteed kosher starting at
$10,000
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©
2007,2008 J.Levine Books & Judaica
5 West 30th Street New York, NY 10001
TOLL FREE: 1-800-5JEWISH 1-800-553-9474 IN NYC: 212-695-6888 FAX : 212-643-1044
CONTACT US
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