 | Circa 1900- The First Generation: Joel Russ, an immigrant from Eastern Europe, arrives on New York?s Lower East Side neighborhood. He starts out selling herrings from a pushcart. 1914- Joel Russ opens a small shop at 179 E. Houston St. called, ?Russ? Cut-Rate Appetizers.? In the following years he and his wife, Bella, have three children, all girls: Hattie, Ida and Anne. 1940- The Second Generation: Russ? girls grew up working in the store. People loved seeing beautiful young women reaching their hands into the herring barrel. Eventually, Russ made them partners, and that?s when the store got its name, ?Russ & Daughters.? All three Russ daughters met their husbands through the store. From the 50?s to the 70?s, Anne and her husband, Herb, Hattie and her husband, Murray, ran the shop. 1978- The Third Generation: After 10 years of practicing law, Mark Russ Federman returns to the family business. He has been running the operation since then alongside his wife, Maria. 2000- The Smithsonian Institute deems Russ & Daughters, ?part of New York?s cultural heritage.? 2001- Russ & Daughters and the former tenement building in which it?s housed are accepted onto the National Register for Historic Places. 2002- The Fourth Generation: Russ, Joshua Russ Tupper, leaves his career as a Chemical Engineer to continue the family legacy by taking his place in the store. 2006- Russ' Great Granddaughter returns! After growing up in the business, fourth generation Russ, Niki Russ Federman, takes her place in the lineage. Together with her cousin, Joshua Russ Tupper, she will ensure the continuity of the tradition. |
