Parkway Clearance, a Norwood Mainstay, to Close By ABIGAIL GOLDMAN
Larry Rosenzweig, 64, runs the discount store today, standing in for his mother, Ruth Rosenzweig, 91, who started the family business in 1974. Since then, the East 204th Street mainstay in Norwood changed location four times but kept a broad customer base, evidence that the Rosenzweig family store is a neighborhood fixture that will be sorely missed. "I just thought they did such an incredible job for so many years. I've been shopping there since I've been in the neighborhood," said Margaret Gaughan, referring to the store as "Ruthie's" after Mrs. Rosenzweig, who injured herself last September and had to retire at 90.
Rosenzweig calls his mother the "heart of the business," and reminisced that "if someone was in need and it showed-not because they asked, because they never asked-my mother would give them something. She was one of those people that sensed a situation. It was her way of doing things." Gaughan agreed. "She just spoke to people so nicely," she said. "She has such a charisma. She made it possible for poor people to have real quality. Where else do you find that?" Parkway Clearance Center - now four racks of clothing across the length of the store, bordered by merchandise from sandals to air mattresses in front and back - got its start selling clothing left behind at the dry cleaners. When the family began collecting past-season or slightly damaged merchandise from Macy's, the store found its retail niche. The Rosenzweig family was able to sell quality goods-men's and women's clothing, cookware, bedding, shoes and accessories-inexpensively. The first location, 3070 Bainbridge, was soon too small to support the business, prompting a move to 279 E. 204th St. There would be two more moves for the same reason. "Always bigger and bigger," said Mr. Rosenzweig. The fourth and current location, 313 E. 204th St, will be the last. Rent at the store was also a factor in Rosenzweig's decision. Competing with large chain stores has proved increasingly difficult. "Price is everything," Rosenzweig said. "You have to be able to set things at a cheap enough price. Rents conflict with that. As rents go up, it becomes less lucrative." Parkway Clearance Center will close "sometime between now and July 1. "When there's not enough to see, I'll close the doors," he said. Closing the store also means leaving a group of tight-knit Norwood merchants. "This is a community," he said. People don't realize the real undercurrents of community. Storekeepers know each other. We talk all the time. It's a terrific background of people, all making a living. I hope it's not lost to the city. It's an amazing line of stores." Freilich Jewelers, across the street from Parkway Clearance Center, is one of those stores. Owner Allen Freilich, 51, has known Rosenzweig since the 1970s. "It's dreadful for me," said Freilich. "Lawrence and I are close friends." Both men are members of the local merchants association. Freilich called Rosenzweig "one of the most generous guys I ever met." From behind the jeweler's counter, Freilich mused about the change in the commercial mix on the strip. "It's the old guard leaving," he said. For Rosenzweig, the store's end looks more like a beginning. "When a door closes, a window opens," he said. "You just have to know when to jump out. I'm not going to retire. I'm going to find something to do." In the meantime, Parkway Clearance Center is clearing out. "I'm putting everything on sale," Rosenzweig said. "As we go along, it will get better and better." The disappointment of customers "does make it [closing] bittersweet," he said. "The neighborhood has been good to us. We can't complain about anything. I grew up here." Mrs. Rosenzweig has lived in the same apartment since 1948. Today, Lawrence Rosenzweig's son, Ben, 28, sits at the counter where his grandmother once sat, greeting customers until there aren't any more.
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After 30 years of outfitting Norwood residents and other loyal customers, Parkway Clearance Center is closing its doors this summer.
"My mom was at the cash register," said Rosenzweig, who grew up in the neighborhood but now lives in Brooklyn. "It was her connection to the world. She spoke to the customers. It made her happy; she stayed mentally alert. These are things you can't buy. I'm not hanging on because my mom broke her hip. When she's not around, I don't have the incentive."
